So long, and thanks for all the fish.
They say that all good things must come to an end. Today we’re announcing that after six wonderful years, Jam is closing down.
To this day, we have thoroughly enjoyed everything we’ve done together. Our events were fun, different, and a pleasure to organise and run. You brought them to life and we couldn't be more grateful for all the great moments we enjoyed in your company.
In this announcement, we’d like to share the rationale behind this decision.
2020 has had a disastrous impact on society and the economy as a whole. From a business standpoint, companies operating in the events industry have been hit particularly hard.
Our revenues crashed, and we lost a considerable amount of money in deposits paid to venues – including Hawker House, who we were saddened to hear, are also in the process of closing down.
We successfully ran several online events throughout the year, but it quickly became clear to us that it was going to be impossible to recreate the experiences we'd created in the past, online.
But we didn't throw in the towel. At the end of the year, we attempted a pivot, and launched – Jam Club – an online community for our most committed members.
Our vision was to build a thriving space for growth-minded product leaders, offering intimate virtual workshops every month.
Pivoting from an in-person events company to an online community has proven significantly harder than we’d originally hoped, and the losses we accumulated in 2020 have proven too significant for us to overcome. And so now we’d rather stop here, celebrate the journey, and say a proper goodbye.
What now?
We’ll keep Jam Club open for the next six months. We won’t be moderating it or running any workshops, but you'll be able to access all workshop recordings, discussions, and member profiles. We hope you’ll be able to use it to reconnect with friends made at past events.
To claim your free invite just drop us a note at hello@makingjam.io.
You can also find all past talk videos on our YouTube channel.
Thank you
A huge thank you to our amazing team of staff and volunteers; Marta, Sunil, Jessie, Maria, Francesca, Stephen, Joan, Monica, Ecem, Steve, David, Michael, Mahtab, Eva, Gizem, Antoine, Jeff and all those that helped run our events every year. We’re deeply grateful for the friendship, shared memories, and support you’ve shown us over the years. We couldn’t have achieved everything we did without you.
Thank you to Doug and Chris at Intelligent People. You supported us from day one, and have always been a pleasure to work with.
Thank you to all our speakers and workshop instructors for all the brilliant content you’ve delivered over the years.
And thank you, for the good times we created together.
Seb & Mathilde
About
Blog
Remote Research –– This Doesn't Feel Weird at All
Remote research, we've always done it but now we've been forced to. It's a useful tool, really useful in fact when you think location isn't an issue, when we think that we can continue to gather insight and drive a project forward despite a global pandemic. But let's face it, chatting to a total stranger through a screen is weird and the insight gathered is only useful when all influencing factors are considered and accounted for.
Based on years of experience as a UX practitioner I’ll deliver some case studies which showcase the good, the bad and the ugly sides of remote research. We’ll talk about how customer research has developed throughout lockdown and call out the lessons for the future. You’ll learn about what goes on behind the scenes to prepare for remote research and apply some practical techniques for making the whole thing a little less weird.
Summary
Remote research in itself has its challenges but stick the social, emotional and environmental impact a global pandemic on top of that and you have to tread carefully. This workshop will reflect on some tales of lockdown research and explore ways to apply these learnings as we look to the future.
Who it's for
Researchers, come and share your stories and work on shaping your approach to remote research. Product owners, design and experience managers, come and understand when and why remote research should be used and get a feel for the careful planning that goes into hearing the voice of your customers.
Key takeaways
By the end of this workshop you’ll see remote research from a whole new perspective and be equipped with a set of considerations for how to approach and make the most of this methodology. We’ll look at remote research as a whole, but we won’t avoid the important knowledge gained as a result of continuing to gather insight during the pandemic. I hope to reassure you of the value of remote research, give you the confidence to conduct it and give you practical skills to remove some of the weirdness from zoom calls with strangers.
About the instructor
Amy is a Senior UX consultant at Foolproof. She works within project teams, managing and delivering a range of user experience projects. Her focus is around gathering customer insight and developing findings into informed recommendations, which provide value for both clients and their customers. She has years of experience conducting and providing guidance across a range of methodologies.
A big part of her role at Foolproof is demonstrating the value of customer research to clients, working with them to integrate the voice on the customer into their projects and demonstrating how a user-centered design approach drives value for both the clients and their customers. Amy's job allows her to channel her creative skills and natural curiosity to find out ‘why’ into considered design solutions that will ultimately enhance user experiences.
Before Foolproof Amy worked for 7 years across a range of roles in the retail industry. Much of the knowledge she gained working with users in the physical environment supports her thinking and approach to digital design challenges.