yas! Sign me up!
Join a community of the most supportive, growth-oriented minds in the UX field and transform the status quo of what it means to be human-centered in our work, our industry and our personal lives.
Be a part of a supportive community of people you can safely grow with & learn from?
Learn how to craft genuinely inclusive & equitable user experiences?
Become more confident talking about hard subjects and answering questions that don’t have easy or obvious answers?
We serve professionals who are disillusioned with the status quo in the UX Industry and who want to help it live up to its ideals of empathy and inclusion. Do you want to:
Our Purpose
Gain the language and frameworks needed to better influence and advocate for people in profit-centric conversations?
We offer a 5-week live dynamic course that helps UX professionals deepen their awareness and practices in navigating deeper UX topics with humility, openness and courage so that we can understand how to craft equitable, inclusive experiences, know how to navigate UX topics that don’t have easy or obvious answers and transform the status quo of what it means to be human-centered in our professional & personal lives.
The Humanity-Centered Masterclass
Introducing
Build a life-changing foundation for becoming more human-centered towards yourself and the people your work impacts.
Come for the Course
You'll have access to a growing online community (on a private, ad-free platform) of growth-oriented professionals, monthly discussion themes, curated resources, new & innovative voices, guest speakers, thought-provoking conversations, professional networking and more!
Stay for the Community
Next live Cohort Starts:
SUNDAY, MAY 16TH @ 1PM CST
MONDAY, MARCH 22nd @ 9AM CST
Registration opens:
*Course runs for 5 consecutive Sundays from 1pm CST - 230pm CST
"To call Vivianne Castillo a mere 'user experience researcher' is to miss the power of her world view."
Ellen McGirt
Senior Editor @ Fortune,
Co-Chair of The CEO Initiative
I bring 7+ years of psychology and research experience spanning multiple contexts, cultures, and industries and my work and opinions in this space have been written about in Slate, Fortune, ELLE Magazine, Fast Company, and the Huffington Post.
I’ve always struggled with the jargon and cliches of our industry around being human-centered. Coming from a counseling and human services background, where I tackled issues like shame, empathy, vulnerability and compassion, I recognize that while we can’t control what is happening around us, we can control what’s happening within us and how we proactively work and address deeply human problems to improve the world around us for the better.
My hope for this course and community is to bring together UX professionals who want to move beyond the jargon and cliches of our industry so that we can create an equitable, inclusive and more humanity-centered future.
By joining HmntyCntrd, you become a member of a community that is the future of our field, a community that will create new conversations, opportunities, and practices that will deepen and revolutionize the way human-centered experiences are defined.
Here's to choosing courage over comfort.
hello,
I'm Vivianne Castillo!
meet the Founder of hmntycntrd
she/her | Twitter: @vcastillo630
HmntyCntrd is made possible by a small team of amazing people dedicated to challenging the status quo within UX through intentional, practical & thoughtful support to its members.
Vivianne Castillo, Alba Villamil & Sekai Farai leverage their intersectional expertise across anthropology, counseling, and sociology to create unique tools and training that support all the aspects of your personal and professional development.
our approach to
uX is holistic
A LITTLE ABOUT our facilitators
Alba Villamil (she/her)
Twitter: @albanvillamil
Alba N. Villamil is an independent User Experience Researcher who specializes in designing for the social sector. Her projects focus on underserved populations such as refugees, low-income parents, and formerly incarcerated youth. In addition to working with community organizations, she has also worked on projects with the Harvard Kennedy School and Rochester City School District.
SEKAI FARAI (she/her)
Twitter: @SekaiFarai
Sekai Farai is an anthropologist clinging wistfully to the belief that research can save the world. Funded to provide anthropological understanding of the NYC startup ecosystem in the early 2000s, Sekai parlayed that experience into working with tech companies to translate user knowledge into actionable product direction. Her insights have straightened out wayward roadmaps for companies like Microsoft, Google, Uber and Airbnb. Her growing research venture studio humankind is on a mission to include everyone in designing a world that meets their needs. And she means everyone.
Our core principles lie in creating a better future for ourselves and our industry.
Before we begin the work of transforming the status quo of what it means for UX professionals to be human-centered in our work, our industry, and our personal lives, we must first cover skills and practices that will help engage in deeper conversations, new opportunities, and new growth.
Facilitator: Vivianne
Community Core Principles
Module 1
Most researchers rely on their empathic abilities in their day-to-day work but the presumption that we’re all equally capable of developing and applying empathy in a meaningful way is a challenge worthy of an overdue conversation.
Together we'll learn how to make our empathic abilities observable and readable within our organizations and for our users. If you're ready to discover the methodological approach that can undergird your research when empathy is unavailable, let's dive in and move in a new direction: forward.
Facilitator: Sekai
The (Mis)Application of Empathy
Module 2
Cultural humility is rooted in a deep awareness and respect toward individuals of other cultures. But to do this, we face the challenges of our own cultural biases and prejudices, as well as the fact that we cannot possibly know everything about other cultures.
What we can do, though, is approach learning about the experiences as a lifelong goal and process that helps us grow personally and professionally. We’ll cover topics like emotional resistance (e.g. anxiety, defensiveness, anger, guilt, remorse, etc), how to handle emotional responses to self-revelations and accountability, the impact of culture-bound and class-bound values, and more.
Facilitator: Vivianne
The Barriers & Resistances to Cultural Humility & Competencies
Module 3
As the design industry has evolved, so have our ethical challenges. How do we ensure that our tools and processes don’t expose users to more harm than good? How do we balance stakeholder needs with our desire to produce more inclusive, equitable designs? How do we hold ourselves accountable for past and current work? We’ll explore resources you can use to develop your own professional ethical stance and navigate these challenges.
We’ll cover the tools and resources you need to develop your own professional ethical stance with context and systems in mind.
Facilitator: Alba
The New Challenges of Ethical Research & Design
Module 4
Take in all the misconceptions people have of what you do, add the stressful process of conducting quality research within a given timeframe and budget, combine that with the struggle for power and influence within our teams and between stakeholders, sprinkle in your personal problems and professional insecurities, and add the difficulties of burnout, self-care, and compassion fatigue.
Bring all this together, and you’ll realize how many struggles and roadblocks UX professionals face on the path to creating effective, human-centered solutions. Let’s learn how to overcome them.
Facilitator: Vivianne
The Unspoken Hardships of the UX Professional
Module 5
YAS! let's do it!
CHECK FOR ANY GOOSEBUMPS, FIST PUMPS, OR OH YEAHS AS YOU READ!
What's Inside The Course
We've worked with professionals from
these companies (and more!)
Sara Wachter-Boettcher
"Our industry is facing a long-overdue reckoning—one that demands changes to our values, team norms, and design processes. To do that, we need every UX professional to learn new skills—like facing tough conversations, deepening their cultural awareness, and holding themselves and each other accountable. That’s why I think HmntyCntrd is so crucial right now—and a worthy investment for any team."
Author of Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech
Need Help Convincing Your Employer?
Check out "How HmntyCntrd Can Benefit Your Company" and hear why you should join from leaders who are dedicated to changing design and tech for good!
+ 5 In-Depth Core Modules
+ Personalized small group sessions
+ Curated resources, books, podcasts, and articles to spark your growth & creative ambition
+ Monthly webinars with innovative, boundary-pushing UX & UX-adjacent professionals
+ Programming in the community to continue connecting, sharing, and growing together
+ Lifetime and exclusive access to programming within the HmntyCntrd community
Here's what's included
What to expect
Watch & Learn more
Not Sure If it's right for you?
Testimonial:
Responsibility to Personal Growth
Testimonial:
Making the Change Real
AUBREY BLANCHE
“HmntyCntrd is without question what we as creators and designers of the future need: a space to come together to connect and develop ourselves and our creative process in a way that moves us forward toward actualization rather than traps us in a never-ending inertia loop of tech-enabled human suffering. It cannot have come at a more crucial and impactful time.”
Director of Equitable Design & Impact @ Culture Amp
alec levin
“This initiative is long overdue. For a long time we’ve been talking the talk of being human-centred, but not doing the work and that’s about to change. The team at HmntyCntrd has the experience, resilience, and dedication required to help move the UX industry forward to a place of understanding and thoughtfulness towards others. This is a great opportunity for all of us to learn to be better designers, researchers, and people.”
CEO & Co-Founder @ UXR Collective
LINDSEY SIEGEL
"I was slightly nervous to enter the cohort with a not-so-traditional UX background as I have 8+ years of integrating DEI into talent management systems. I finally feel like I found 'my people.' These people being folx who care about integrating ethics, DEI into design principles and practices. Ultimately, I found myself in a community of people who challenge the status quo and who seek to build differently - to build for all. The curriculum, the facilitators, and the design of the session simply reflected that."
Manager, Talent Experience @ Salesforce
Cristen Torrey
“Like most researchers working closely with product development teams, I am deeply committed to listening to people and building tools that improve their lives. But it's not enough, and I aspire to do more to address structural inequality wherever I can. I want to build products that redistribute power. I want to build research teams where everyone belongs. I want to connect with research participants around the world in ways that go beyond the transactional. Wanting isn't the same as doing, and reading about inequity isn't the same as fighting it. I'm excited about HmntyCntrd, because it's a chance to talk, reflect, and engage in a dialogue with a supportive community.”
Director of Research @ Figma
Jared spool
"OMG! I learned so many new ways of thinking about UX work. I'm focusing more on equity and inclusion in all aspects of my research and design work, making sure I'm taking the lived experiences of others into account. I’m so grateful for Alba, Sekai, and Vivianne for giving me the opportunity to see the world in a new way."
Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Center Centre-UIE
A: Nope! Think of the 5-week online course as part of the onboarding into the community. Before we begin the work of transforming the status quo of what it means for UX professionals to be human-centered in our work, our industry, and our personal lives, we must first cover skills and practices that will help engage in deeper conversations, new opportunities, and new growth.
Q: Can I just join the community without doing the course?
1
A: Now you'll have access to the course content and can continue to grow in the online community. We'll have monthly themes and discussions, guest speakers from new and innovative voices, opportunities for member of the community to give (and practice!) their own UX-related talks, live Q&A and AMA sessions with your hosts and peers, and more!
Q: Okay, so I complete the course ... then what?
2
A: Sure! If extending empathy is a part of your job or you're curious about how to help others in more intentional, thoughtful ways, then feel free to join! This course and community is specifically tailored towards UX (and CX) professionals, so think of it has a human-centered bootcamp.
Q: I'm not a UX professional or student; is this still for me?
3
A: Neither! The community is hosted on a platform called Mighty Networks. We want our community to enjoy a noise-free, ad-free space of their own, one that is not owned by big corporations that are powered by ads and motivated to make money from our personal data. Just sayin.
Q: Is the online community hosted on Facebook or Slack?
4
A: Yes, but don't fret! The pre-work and homework will both be life-giving and growth-oriented.
Pre-Work: Pick one! Either listen to Brene Brown's "The Power of Vulnerability: Teachings of Authenticity, Connection, and Courage" (available on audio only on Audible) or read Brene Brown's "Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone" (please purchase from your local book store and support small businesses!). Complete this before the first day of your cohort.
Homework: this will vary with each module and will be a mix of readings, discussions, personal-reflection activities, and more.
Q: Will there be any pre-work or homework for this?
5
A: Those who want to get the most out of the course should expect to spend ~ 2.5 hours a week during the 5-week course.
~1.5 hours: Every Sunday from 1pm CST - 230pm CST we'll dive into a new module for 5 weeks. This will also include time for you to connect with your pod (a small group of peers who are in a similar place in their growth journey) and time for live Q&A.
~1 hour: Engaging in the coursework and discussions with a cohort of your peers between our sessions.
Q: My time is limited. When are the modules presented and how much time will I need to set aside each week for the content?
6
A: Don't worry, we got you covered! We know that people have different learning styles, so we deliver the content to you in multiple ways. You can watch the course live and interact with your peers, you can download the slides from the course and review it on your own, you can engage the video/audio recording of the course modules on your own time, or you can read the transcription! There you have it, four different ways for you to ingest the content and continue on your professional and personal growth journey.
Q: How is the content delivered? Are you flexible to different learning styles?
7
A: Don't worry, we have your back! We offer a 7-day refund policy after the day 1st day of your cohort.
We want to make sure that you're able to fully invest in yourself, so if after 7 days from the start time of your first module you feel like this isn't a fit for you at this time, we will give you a full refund!
If you still have questions, please feel free to email us at hello@hmntycntrd.com and we'll get back to you within 1-2 business days!
Q: I think I’m in! But what if I join and then realize this isn't for me?
8
let's Ch00se courage over comfort — together.
Come for the course.
stay for the community.
Next Live Cohort Starts:
sunday, May 16th @ 1pm CST
Registration Opens:
Monday, march 22nd @ 9am CST
January 2021 Cohort Sponsors
sponsors
Gold Sponsors
Interested in potentially becoming a HmntyCntrd Sponsor for our May Cohort?
Email us at hello@hmntycntrd.com learn more!
