The speaker begins by discussing the challenges of user experience (UX) in open-source software development, such as the lack of intuitive designs, inconsistent behavior, and a lack of investment in designers. However, they also highlight the positive aspects of UX in open source, including the avoidance of dark patterns and the spirit of sharing among the community. The speaker then goes on to talk about their own experience as UX designers at OpenProject, an open-source project management and collaboration software. They explain the company's structure, their goals for improving UX, and their approach to incremental upgrades and standardizing elements through a design system. The speaker also discusses the importance of balancing UX optimizations with feature development and the need to communicate with users and maintain consistency. They conclude by outlining their plans for the future, including more UX work, testing, integration with other tools, better theming, and accessibility. In the Q&A section, the speaker answers questions about the role of the CEO in the product team, the importance of user feedback, and the possibility of external designers contributing to the project.