We hosted a small researchers meet up at work last week, and it turned out to be a perfect blend of catching up with friends, meeting new faces, and diving into some pretty interesting conversations.

Emilia, one of my colleagues at SEB, kicked things off with a presentation about research on our home loan calculator and how we made improvements with a short reflection on the design and development process. It is always interesting to see how passionate everyone is about their work, and it was a good reminder of the different perspectives that come into play in design.

After Emilia's presentation and Q&A session, I had the chance to catch up with some friends I hadn’t seen in a while who were also at the event.

Meeting with a few Tallinn University HCI master students who were interested in design and research processes at SEB was another highlight of the day. I was in their place not too long ago, studying in the same program, wondering about similar things. It made me think about how far I’ve come since those days.

Just before leaving the event, I managed to catch up with a former professor from my studies. We had a short discussion about persuasive design. Who knows, maybe I end up combining my daily work with some PhD level research project.

Overall, the meeting was a refreshing break from the usual routine. I left the event with new ideas in my mind.