We'll open the doors a little early and let folks in. Sometimes, we have surprises, sometimes, we play music, sometimes it's a little quiet. Get there a little early to be ready for kick-off!

Starting the event!

Cybersecurity Needs Human-Centered Design: Find the Right People, Ask the Right Questions

If you design digital products, you are designing for the security user experience—even if you have never thought of it that way before. The design decisions you make influence the security (and privacy) choices users make and the actions they take.

We live in an ecosystem where everything increasingly relies on the security of systems: from hospitals, to our water supply, to cars and robots. So the stakes are high: disruptions to these systems mean people can get hurt. Further, technology like AI agents—services that will know nearly everything about us and will take actions on our behalf—mean security and privacy are more important than ever.

Heidi Trost, Author of Human-Centered Security

Heidi Trost is a UX leader who helps cross-disciplinary teams improve the security user experience. With a background in UX research, Heidi does this by helping teams better understand the people they are designing for, as well as the security threats that may negatively impact people and systems. Heidi is also the host of the podcast Human-Centered Security, where she interviews security experts and people who design for the security user experience.

Heidi led the UX research team for cybersecurity software company Secureworks and has helped tech-focused teams at startups, nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies rethink their digital experiences.

As a UX designer, where do you come in? You understand your product better than your users ever will—including the potential security threats that directly impact your users. You are in a unique position to address those threats and protect your users from them.

Expect to leave with confidence on how to apply human-centered design principles to security: human-centered security. You’ll know areas of the user experience where security impacts the most and have the tools to focus your efforts there (bonus: this is where your organization stands to gain—or lose—money). Finally you’ll learn how to find the right cross-disciplinary teammates and ask better security- and privacy-related questions so you can build products and systems that are secure by design. Not only that, you’ll have a human-centered security framework at your disposal: something you can leverage immediately.

15 minute break.

It’s 2025. You should have a DesignOps Roadmap.

As a DesignOps practitioner, you are responsible for getting DesignOps initiatives executed in an orderly fashion. In Peter Boersma’s view, this means that you should maintain a roadmap for DesignOps, and work with others to get the initiatives on it done. The maintenance part already consists of at least five different activities, and for the execution part you will need people with the DesignOps Mindset to help you.

Peter will show how he has done this in the past, including examples of DesignOps initiatives from IKEA, Miro and ServiceNow.

Peter Boersma

Peter Boersma helps organisations increase the chances of good design happening. Before becoming a DesignOps consultant, Peter was DesignOps Manager at Miro, supporting the team of 45 researchers, designers, and writers. There, he worked with the design leaders on defining the DesignOps roadmap and helping cross-functional teams execute DesignOps initiatives.

In previous roles as designer and design manager at companies like ServiceNow and Adaptive Path, he always worked on improving design processes, defining career ladders, or clarifying roles and responsibilities of designers and their peers in product management and engineering.

Peter has spoken and taught workshops at more than 50 design-related conferences and has hosted the Amsterdam UX Cocktail Hours since 2001.

On LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/pboersma

15 minute break.

A Day in the Life of a Human: How Information Architecture Can Improve Our Daily Experience with AI

Imagine AI mishaps straight out of Rick and Morty, where poorly structured systems create chaos instead of convenience. Ethical design can prevent these scenarios and help AI make your day smarter and more seamless. By applying Information Architecture (IA) principles, we can optimize daily AI interactions—from organizing morning routines and boosting workplace productivity to offering on-demand emotional support.

Frameworks like LATCH (Location, Alphabet, Time, Category, Hierarchy) and mental models provide the foundation for structuring AI systems that foster transparency, personalization, and accessibility. These tools also address critical challenges such as data bias and content moderation, ensuring that human-AI relationships are not just functional but empowering.

As the world gets closer to the point where artificial intelligence touches nearly every aspect of life, IA offers a roadmap for creating more intuitive and meaningful digital experiences that truly meet human needs.

Jennifer Sassi
Jenny Sassi brings 15+ years’ experience in Information Architecture and Product Design to meet the needs of customers ranging from eCommerce, FinTech, healthcare, government and military. In her spare time, she volunteers for World IA Day – Richmond VA Chapter, plays piano and cello, and entertains her little dog, Scrappy.

15 minute break.

A brief and incomplete history of UX Design on the World Wide Web: 1989–2019 (Or the last 30 years or so of the future)

In the beginning Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web. Most of us today just call it “The Web”. Before that, the internet was motes of order in chaos, islands of information segregated by a seemingly impenetrable ocean with no clear and easy path to travel between them. The internet could, in theory, connect all of humanity, but it needed an easy to use and understandable system for people not so well versed in the vagaries of the command line prompt. It needed the web.

In this session, Jason follows the development of the WWW and how design has never been the same since.

What Attendees will learn

The origins of the Web from a scientific curiosity to the dominant human communication platform.
The early struggles web designers had with web safe colors, table layouts, and the CSS Box Model amongst others.
How the Dot Com Bubble bursting in 2000 led to technical progress on the web.
How the iPhone rewrote the book for UX design.
How marketing terms like “Web3” obscure the history and future of the Web.

Jason Cranford Teague
Jason is a Web pioneer having designed the first Web based publication in 1994. In the thirty years since, he has worked on numerous products applying creative problem solving techniques to find solutions that innovate and satisfy. In addition to having written books and articles on digital media design, he is a sought after international speaker, worked with the W3C to establish Web design standards, taught UX Design at Drexel University, and is currently an advisor to the University of Richmond’s Customer Experience Program.

Jason recently started a digital strategy consulting agency — CranfordTeague.com — focusing on improving educational outcomes by creating digital experiences to meet students’ individual needs for learning.

He and his wife live in beautiful Greensboro, NC, USA. They are the parents to two children and two cats. In addition to his consulting work, Jason is the author of the children’s book Yuri Was Very Brave (www.yuribrave.com) about Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space.

15 minuted break.

Should Screening Embryos Be Frictionless? Designing for Ethics in High-Stakes Healthcare

In the age of frictionless design, the drive to simplify complex processes often overlooks the ethical weight of decisions, particularly in healthcare and reproductive technology.

When it comes to screening embryos, should user experience prioritize ease and efficiency, or should it deliberately introduce friction to prompt reflection—or even limit availability on certain platforms? This talk invites UX designers to examine how their design choices shape not just user behavior, but also the ethical outcomes of deeply personal and consequential decisions.

Through real-world examples and thought experiments, we’ll explore how principles of user-centered design intersect with bioethics in high-stakes contexts. We’ll tackle questions of accessibility, empathy, and equity while discussing how to design systems that balance usability with informed, deliberate decision-making. Attendees will leave with actionable insights for navigating complex emotional landscapes and a clearer understanding of their role in ethically shaping the future of healthcare technologies.

Meag Doherty
Meag is a UX leader and bioethics fellow at Harvard Medical School, specializing in the intersection of design, technology, and ethical innovation in science. With a background in experience research and design for medical research and healthcare delivery, she bring expertise in operationalizing value-driven practices and creating equitable, user-centered solutions in complex fields. Passionate about making science more open and accessible, Meag explores how design can empower informed, ethical decision-making in emerging technologies.

15 minute break.

Unlock the power of self-awareness and strategic storytelling

Building your legacy in UX and unlocking the right opportunities starts with self-awareness and the ability to tell your story in a memorable, impactful way. This talk is designed to elevate your career by combining guided reflections with practical examples to help uncover your unique strengths, motivations, and achievements.

You’ll leave feeling empowered to identify and articulate the true value you bring to your work. You'll gain a renewed sense of purpose, a toolkit to reshape your career narrative, and the confidence to seize new opportunities.

Meltem Naz Kaso

Mel is a UX Career Coach and helps tech professionals (re)build their careers. She uses a unique framework inspired by UX methodologies to help her clients grow their careers with passion and self-awareness. She’s a UX Research leader with a decade of experience in both in-house and consultancy roles. Her last full-time position was at Glovo, where she was a UX Research Manager and Staff UX Researcher.

Mel helps her collaborators gain clarity on their strengths, career direction, or specific areas of specialization, with many overcoming impostor syndrome. They build or strengthen their brands outside of work through networking, publication, or public speaking. Mel helps folks thrive with their job search, gaining notable salary increases and successfully negotiating job offers. She also coaches founders to build purposefully, ensuring they ask the right questions and conduct research at the right time. She offers webinars, group coaching sessions, and trainings.

She is a frequent writer at UX Collective, and also writes at Mind the Product and Fast Company.

Wrapping up the day.