CHIFOO

What CHIFOO does

CHIFOO (Computer Human Interaction Forum of Oregon and SW Washington) is a volunteer-run, non-profit professional community organization headquartered in Portland, Oregon, that serves UX designers, product designers, design leaders, and aspiring UX professionals in the Portland metro area and SW Washington. Its core offerings consist of an annual themed Speaker Series (running since at least 2015, with themes including "Using UX for Good," "Resilience," "Serendipity," "Happiness," "Inspired to Create," and "Somewhere in Advance of Nowhere" for 2026), in-person social events such as the annual Sellwood Park picnic and pub socials at venues like Migration Brewing and Steeplejack Brewing, a public Video Archive of past presentations from 2020-2026, and an annual Membership Program. Programming is delivered in-person at rotating Portland venues, virtually via a recurring Zoom meeting link, and in hybrid format, with no proprietary technology platform underlying the offering.

The organization's go-to-market is community-led: events are promoted through the chifoo.org website, newsletter signup, Eventbrite for in-person registrations, and Zoom for virtual lectures, while audience reach is extended through co-hosting partnerships with AIGA PDX and Portland Design Thinkers. The revenue model is hybrid, combining annual or periodic membership dues (pricing not publicly disclosed) with per-event admission charges for non-members ($10 per individual, $20 per family at socials), while many virtual lectures remain free and open to the public. There is no parent company, no institutional investor or private equity backing, no disclosed funding, and no equity holders; the organization is governed by a volunteer Executive Council and operates without a fixed office, running programming across borrowed or rented third-party venues.

Name

CHIFOO

Legal name

CHIFOO (Computer Human Interaction Forum of Oregon and SW Washington)

Website

https://chifoo.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CHIFOO is a volunteer-run, non-profit professional community organization in Portland, Oregon that serves UX and product designers through an annual themed Speaker Series, social events, a public video archive, and a membership program delivered in-person and via Zoom.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional UX Community Services

akta.pro primary industry

Public Lectures & Speaker Series (MPAGACAI)

Keywords

• UX community events
• User experience meetups
• UX speaker series
• Professional design networking
• HCI educational programming

Headquarters

HQ city

Portland

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual or periodic membership fees that provide access to free events, member-only benefits, and the Portland area's premiere UX meetup community.
2. Event Admission Fees: Social events charge $10 for non-members and $20 per family. Members typically receive free admission to social events. Some lectures are free and open to the public while others may have associated costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CHIFOO is a volunteer-run, membership-based UX community organization that hosts an annual themed speaker series, in-person and virtual lectures, and casual social events (including an annual picnic and pub socials) for UX and human-computer interaction professionals in the Portland, Oregon and SW Washington region. It sells annual memberships and charges small per-event admission fees while offering many lectures free via Zoom, and it maintains a public video archive of past event recordings.

Product overview

CHIFOO is a Portland-area professional community organization (not a software product company) that provides educational programming and networking opportunities for UX designers and human-computer interaction professionals. The core offerings consist of annual themed speaker series featuring expert presentations on UX, design, AI, and technology topics; social events including annual picnics and pub socials; a video archive of past event recordings; and a membership program. Events are delivered in-person at local venues, virtually via Zoom, or in hybrid format.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Annual Speaker Series Themed annual educational program of speaker presentations and workshops on UX, design, technology, and human-computer interaction topics, delivered in-person at Portland venues, virtually via Zoom, and in hybrid formats for UX/HCI professionals in the Portland metro area.
• Social Events Casual networking gatherings for CHIFOO members and the broader Portland UX community, including annual picnics, pub socials, and end-of-year celebrations held at local Portland venues. Members attend free; non-members pay $10 per individual or $20 per family.
• Video Archive Publicly accessible on-demand video recordings of past CHIFOO speaker presentations and lectures, available on the Video Gallery page and covering multiple years of programming (2020-2026).
• Annual Membership Program Annual paid membership that provides UX/HCI professionals in the Portland area with member benefits including free admission to CHIFOO social events and participation in the local UX professional community.

Quantifiable outcome

• Multiple speaker series per year covering topics from AI in design to career wellness

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AIGA PDXcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 June 2026CHIFOO partnered with AIGA PDX for June 2026 events to combine energy, meet more local professionals, and celebrate the Hybrid Design book release. This partnership allows both organizations to expand their reach and provide cross-community learning opportunities.
• Portland Design ThinkerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 June 2026CHIFOO partnered with Portland Design Thinkers for combined events including the Hybrid Design book talk. Both groups share common interests in Portland design community and plan to continue combining efforts for future events.
• Hybrid DesignminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 4 June 2026CHIFOO hosted a talk featuring Dora Drimalas from Hybrid Design presenting on their book 'Curiosity in All Things'. The event was co-hosted with AIGA PDX and Portland Design Thinkers.
• Portland Design ThinkerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 December 2025CHIFOO collaborated with Portland Design Thinkers for end-of-year social events at Migration Brewing, combining their communities for networking and celebration.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Smashing Conference: Design and web development conference series with strong community focus, workshops, and meetups. Smashing is an emerging peer with significant thematic overlap to CHIFOO's speaker-and-workshop programming, but at a national/international event scale.

Direct peers

• Interaction Design Association (IxDA): Global membership organization for interaction designers, running local chapters, an annual conference, and educational programming. IxDA is the closest global peer to CHIFOO, operating the same community-led UX education and networking model at much larger scale.
• AIGA Portland: Local Portland chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design. AIGA PDX is a direct community peer and active co-hosting partner with CHIFOO, serving the same local design community with overlapping speaker events and social programming.
• Portland Design Thinkers: Portland-based community organization running design thinking events and social gatherings. Portland Design Thinkers is a direct peer and active CHIFOO partner, jointly hosting book talks, picnics, and end-of-year socials for the same local design audience.
• User Experience Professionals Association (UXPA): International professional association for UX practitioners, offering local chapter events, conferences, and networking. UXPA is a direct peer to CHIFOO, sharing the same volunteer-led model of professional community education for UX practitioners.

Others

• Rosenfeld Media: UX publishing and training company producing books, podcasts, and workshops for UX practitioners. Rosenfeld Media is an adjacent ecosystem player that overlaps thematically with CHIFOO's UX education mission but operates commercially rather than as a community.

Broad incumbents

• Nielsen Norman Group: Established UX research and training firm offering paid courses, reports, and workshops. NN/g is a broad incumbent in CHIFOO's space, offering UX education as a commercial product rather than a community service.
• AIGA (national): National professional association for design with a broad portfolio of programming, conferences, and chapters. AIGA national is a broad incumbent that overlaps with CHIFOO's design community mission but at much larger scale and across multiple disciplines beyond UX/HCI.
• IDEO U: Online design education platform spun out of IDEO, offering courses on design thinking and human-centered design. IDEO U is a broader incumbent that monetizes the same UX/HCI educational content CHIFOO offers for free to its community.

Regional players

• BayCHI: Bay Area chapter of ACM SIGCHI, hosting speaker events and meetups for HCI and UX professionals. BayCHI is a regional peer running a structurally similar speaker-series community model in a different Pacific-adjacent metro.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/chifoo
• Facebookfacebook.com/CHIFOOpdx
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/charleslambdin

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CHIFOO