This is a guest post that collects the thoughts of four students from REAP who attended Fluxible. The post originally ran on the REAP blog.

Running for two days over the weekend (September 14 and 15), and now in its third year, Fluxible is becoming Canada’s premier UX (User Experience) conference. Held in downtown Kitchener, Fluxible boasted over 170 attendees, 15 speakers, and a variety of specialized workshops focused on designing great user experiences.  As well, Mark Connolly, REAP’s UX Fellow in Residence, who co-directs Fluxible with Bob Barlow-Busch, has made special efforts to welcome REAP.

REAP is proud to have helped sponsor such a marquee event. As part of its sponsorship, REAP sent four REAP students — including Paula Bacanate, Rhiannon Ball, and Julia Meriel – to participate in, and learn from, the wide range of Fluxible talks and workshops.  As apprentice designers, students, and entrepreneurs, these students made the most of a rare opportunity to learn about effective design, network with potential employers, and pick up some insider secrets about how to join the profession.

Reflecting their enthusiasm and commitment to UX, our students share some of their personal reflections:

“Fluxible gave me a great overview of what UX design is outside of the classroom, and the types of UX methods that are practiced professionally today. Additionally, I got to meet incredible designers and entrepreneurs from the Silicon Valley, Australia, and Kitchener. I would definitely recommend this conference to any person who is in the technology field.” — Paula Barcante

“More than anything, I was amazed by the sheer amount I learned in two short days. One of my greatest takeaways was how pervasive the application (and need) for UX design is. Up until this conference, I had mentally kept UX in a box, only to be used for obvious applications like website, software, and new product design. However, speakers and attendees alike came from different backgrounds and industries, and spoke about UX in many surprising contexts from theatre to marketing to physical spaces.” — Rhiannon Ball

“The speakers and my fellow conference attendees have given me the extra motivation I needed to think seriously about expanding my skillset in design and applying it to my work in any field. From Fluxible, I leave with a clearer path of my future, inspired to be extraordinary in every aspect of design, research, and most of all, life altogether. This experience was truly a privilege, and I have every reason to believe that Fluxible can help inspire the undergraduate students at the University of Waterloo in every way that I have been inspired. Thank-you very much to REAP for the amazing opportunity, this weekend was incredible!” — Julia Meriel