Stephen P. Anderson is a design leader focused on workforce learning and organizational development.
For more than two decades, Stephen has worked in most areas of product strategy & design, both on the frontline and leading teams to create great experiences. His messages are often timeless in their application, with recurring themes of learning through play, entrepreneurialism, and human perception threaded throughout his diverse body of work.
As a keynote speaker (and former gradeschool teacher), Stephen loves to explore the quirky connections between games, play, learning, interactive visualizations, and other exciting topics. He is known for sharing original ideas that inspire attendees and leave them challenged with practical tools that can be used in the workplace.
Stephen is available for training, talks and workshops — at conferences and for organizations.
“favourite talk at this year's #CanUX. Awesome and applicable to so much.”
— Pierre Chevrier @jpchev Nov 14
“At #CanUX today @stephenanderson gave a fascinating talk on game design and interaction design. Closely related but very different.”
— Alan Cooper @MrAlanCooper Nov 12
“Magnificent, thought provoking talk on board games and #uxdesign by @stephenanderson #CanUX”
— Anton McConville @antonmc Nov 12
“@stephenanderson just gave a crazy inspirational talk #gamify everything #gamedesign #CanUX #UserExperience”
— Shamima @shamima Nov 12
“Teaching us through the experience - @stephenanderson No.1 presentation of #mktfest”
— Anna Rehakova @annarehakova Oct 22
“My favorite underlying theme of most @stephenanderson talks is to keep having fun, no matter what you’re doing. #CanUX”
— Boon Sheridan @boonerang Nov 12
“Wow! Really impressed by Stephen Anderson's thoughts at #CanUX Thx! @stephenanderson”
— David Mackey @dbmackey Nov 12
“.@stephenanderson’s talk is singlehandedly making #CanUX worth every effort to attend. Kick-ass!”
— Martin Kuplēns-Ewart @mkuplens Nov 12
“Really liked the talk from @stephenanderson on #mktfest .. refreshing after all those nothing-but-data presentations. Experience matters.”
— Janina Dvorakova @Dzanyna Oct 22
“Thanks to @stephenanderson I once again feel the urge to expand my expertise from Analytics to UX. #mktfest”
— Lukáš Čech @cataLuc Oct 22
“Positive, humble and generous speaker who knows how to (re-)ignite the spark of creativity amongst his audience.”
“Incredibly well structured. The pacing was excellent and the activities engaged the audience well. I found the use of personal examples compelling and they provided just enough guidance for participants.”
“Here it is the day after and I'm still thinking of some of the things I learned. I'm even applying it to new ideas. Nice work!”
“I re-gained confidence in my ability to create, and in the ecosystem of creativity itself… The whole workshop felt like a nudge to unlock what is ‘already there’ in us, with just the right tools and concepts to enable that, plus enough pointers to let us dig deeper on our own.”
“One of the best workshops I've been able to take part in.”
“I was engaged the entire time! I would definitely seek out other opportunities to hear Stephen speak again.”
Since 2006, Stephen has spoken at more than 100 design, technology, business, and marketing events across dozens of countries, including SXSW, TEDx, UX London, Interactions (Argentina), HOW Design, UX Week, UX Tokyo, UX Salon (Tel Aviv), Marketing Festival (Czech Republic), and many more!
Creating just enough structure (and no more!) to facilitate dialogue around difficult topics. Good for meetings, workshops, and all types of gatherings.
Exploring our innate desire to take on challenges and learn through failure and accomplishment.
Using space and visual encodings to aid in cognition and understanding.
What are the habits of highly innovate people, and how do you help others develop these habits?
Uncovering the personal narratives that drive behaviors and fuel individual and team conflicts.
How can we enable groups to learn—and learn together—to better respond to increasingly complex challenges.
Aligning organizations around the customer experience.