spydergrrl consulting is led by Tanya Snook, a user experience designer who designs end-to-end services, content and applications with the goal of balancing the needs of users with those of the internal staff who deliver services. As part of this work, she has designed and delivered workshops since the mid-2000s in both the public and private sector. Her experience facilitating and attending collaborative sessions led to the creation of the Workshop Workshop to help designers better structure and lead their workshops.
Known online as spydergrrl, Tanya is best known for popularizing the phrase “UX Theatre” to describe the superficial posturing that some organizations do in the place of proper user experience design. With her research, she has developed a reference poster, presentations, articles and she was published in FastCo.Design (UX Design has a Dirty Secret).
Tanya speaks on a variety of UX and leadership topics. Here is a sample of her presentations/ speaking engagements:
- Beyond UX Theatre: Real Impact in AI, Mental Health, and Leadership – Tent Talks (2024)
- UX Theatre on UX Podcast (2021)
- The Unstuck Meeting (2021)
- Service Design in a Rush (2021)
- Designing a Culture of Design (2021)
- State of Canadian UX – CLUE Symposium, Ottawa (2019)
- Canadian State of UX report – CanUX (2018)
Tanya is also a founder and co-host of CanUX Conference, which takes place in Ottawa, Canada.