Keynote speakers
Jesse ShowalterSenior Product Designer and Founder @GFCOpening Keynote: Designing for positive behavioural change: Cultivating mental well-being and kindness through design
This talk will examine the intersection of design, mental health, and kindness, highlighting the importance of intentional design interventions in shaping individual behaviors and societal attitudes. Through real-world examples and practical insights, attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how design can be leveraged as a tool for promoting personal well-being and fostering a culture of kindness in our communities.
Jesse Showalter
From Texas to Stockholm, Senior Product Designer and Creative Director Jesse Showalter—known for his charisma, over 16 years of design experience, nearly 400k subscribers on his design education YouTube channel, and multiple Adobe Behance live streams—joins us as a keynote speaker this year. Jesse is committed to leveraging design as a catalyst for positive behavioural change and is dedicated to creating digital experiences that resonate with users and elevate brand identities.
Dr. Setor ZilevuSenior UX Researcher @MetaClosing Keynote: Designing AI with Humanity in Mind
In this talk Setor will explore the integration of human-centric methodologies in AI development, focusing on understanding and predicting human behavior to create more intuitive and effective AI interactions. Will highlight the crucial role of transparency and education in AI development, emphasizing the need to empower users with clear insights into how AI systems operate, make decisions, and utilize data.
This transparency fosters trust and enables informed user interactions with AI technologies. Examine the necessity for AI systems to be scalable and capable of evolving over time, underscoring the importance of designing systems that can grow and adapt to technological advances and changing societal expectations. Advocate for increased collaboration among UX designers, AI researchers, engineers, product managers, and end-users in the AI development process, emphasizing that interdisciplinary input leads to more comprehensive and human-focused AI solutions.
Dr. Setor Zilevu
Dr. Setor Zilevu is a Senior User Experience Researcher at Meta on the Generative A.I. team, where he is one of the lead researchers for Meta AI. Dr. Zilevu was previously a professor at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering and lead researcher at Google. He has nearly a decade of experience in Human-Computer Interaction and Artificial Intelligence. His dedication to merging UX and AI together to improve how we research, design, and develop assistive technology earned him recognition as a 2022 Innovator Under 35 by MIT Technology Review.
Speakers
Jimmy LarssonManaging Partner, Business Design Director @Gullers GruppThe Future of Business Design: Balancing Profit, People, and Planet
In today's competitive landscape, understanding marketing logic as a designer is crucial. This session explores how business and service design provide a solid foundation for achieving triple bottom line results. Discover how balancing Profit, People, and Planet can lead to sustainable success and contribute to a better world.We'll delve into real-world case studies that demonstrate why this approach matters.This engaging talk will explore practical strategies for integrating marketing insights into design processes and how this synergy can drive triple bottom line outcomes. Whether you're a designer, marketer, or business leader, you'll gain valuable insights into creating impactful, sustainable business models.Key Takeaways:- Learn how to interpret marketing objectives through a designer's lens for more effective collaboration- Understand how business and service design principles can be applied to achieve triple bottom line results- Gain insights into measuring and communicating results of your design workJoin us to unlock the potential of Business Design in creating a more sustainable and prosperous future for all, while bridging the gap between marketing objectives and design execution.
Jimmy Larsson
Jimmy Larsson is an experienced leader and innovator in Business Design with over 17 years of experience driving insight-led cultures and creating transformative work for clients.
His expertise spans strategic design, innovation, analytics, branding, and marketing, backed by a Master's degree in Digital Management focusing on Business Innovation, an MBA in Brand Management, and certifications in Business Innovation and Management.
Jimmy has built and led cross-disciplinary teams of up to 20+ at leading consultancies, implementing mixed methods to improve productivity, quality, and innovation for Fortune 500 companies.
Recognized internationally, he has been named one of 25 innovative individuals reshaping engagement in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, and ranked #35 out of 100 people making Sweden a better place by Shortcut.
Stefanie KruseFreelance UX Designer @reThink ProductTIER1 How to bring sustainability into every one of your projects
Do you want to make your work more sustainable? This talk explores the ecological, social, and economic aspects of sustainability in UX design. We'll examine the impact of UX design on these areas in real-world tech projects and how to integrate sustainability into our work.Takeaways:
- Understand the interplay between sustainability and UX design in real-world projects.
- Learn how to enhance existing tools and methods to incorporate sustainability.
- Gain insights from practical examples of sustainable UX design.
- Access a resource library with practical tools and methods for applying sustainable UX.
Deceptive design patterns are tricks used in websites and apps that make you do things that you didn't mean to, like buying or signing up for something. Why do they work in the way they do, what are the health effects of these patterns, and how do they shape our interaction with digital solutions?
Stefanie Kruse
Stefanie is a Hamburg-based UX designer with 10+ years of experience in tech. She combines her background in business and computer science with a passion for great user experiences. Today, helps impact startups and sustainable brands create accessible and sustainable user experiences. With her work as a designer and speaker, she advocates for responsible digital products.
David de LéonFreelancing Designer, Researcher & TrainerThe gentle art of design feedback
One of the surest and cheapest ways to quickly improve a piece of design is to get some feedback. Yet, design feedback is one of the most underused and under-appreciated design tool that we have. Why is that? The barriers to effective feedback are both practical and psychological. In this talk David will teach you how to give feedback without pissing anyone off. Then, he will share some unusual ways of thinking about feedback that will make it feel very different the next time you receive some.
David de Léon
David de Léon is a designer and researcher with 25 years of academic and industry experience. You can tell by his hair and beard that he has been doing it for a while.
At the start of his career, David worked a decade for Sony Mobile with user research and design and innovation of mobile phone interfaces. Towards the end of his tenure at Sony, he reviewed all the design output produced by the UX teams in Sweden, Japan and China. It was then that he became obsessed with the factors that contribute to effective and impactful feedback.
That obsession resulted in a pack of cards of design critique questions and a book to be published next year.
Cecilia Steen, Service Designer @SEB & Chris Lindgren, UX for Kids @FreelanceTIER1 Don't leave the kids behind!
In a world that is becoming increasingly digitalised, children are often excluded due to the lack of appropriate digital services. In this talk we will share lessons learned from the child-centered design process of SEB Neo - a financial service for children and their guardians. You will get a sneak peak into the production, research insights, and our effort in democratising financial literacy.
Cecilia Steen, Service Designer @SEB & Chris Lindgren, UX for Kids @Freelance
Cecilia Rahlgård-Steen is a Service Designer at SEB, with great knowledge and experience within strategic research in the field of exploration and innovation.
Chris Lindgren has been a consulting expert in kids’ UX at SEB. She currently works as a Senior Play Designer at Toca Boca. As a board member of the Designing for Children's Rights association Chris advocates ethical, inclusive design for kids.
Emily AndersonFounder @AmpersandTIER3 The Power of Emotional Design
Having experience working amongst highly regulated, and emotionally charged industries, Emily's core purpose is to raise awareness of the impacts products and services can have on the people experiencing them, and the consequential impacts to businesses. Emily spent many years designing unhappy paths, context, inclusion, behaviours, emotions. Now, her mission is to help as many designers and businesses bring this thinking into their day-to-day thinking.
Emily Anderson
Having experience working amongst highly regulated, and emotionally charged industries, Emily's core purpose is to raise awareness of the impacts products and services can have on the people experiencing them, and the consequential impacts to businesses.
Emily spent many years designing unhappy paths, context, inclusion, behaviours, emotions. Now, her mission is to help as many designers and businesses bring this thinking into their day-to-day thinking.
Jorge AlonsoProduct Designer @BBVA via NateevoTIER2 Building bridges: Creating common grounds between expert design and “fuzzy” design
This talk will explore how the production process has revolutionised design and transformed the role of designers. Jorge will discuss the evolution of design, the emotional journey of designers, and the importance of empowering minorities and fostering community through innovative solutions. Real-life examples will illustrate how designers have made impactful changes in their local environments.
The session will conclude with reflections on the broader impact of design, emphasising the importance of a thorough design process over the final result.
Jorge Alonso
With nearly 8 years as a UX/Service Designer, Jorge has spent the past 2.5 years working with BBVA Holding as a consultant at Nateevo, in Spain. As a psychologist, he believes in living the experiences he designs to align business strategies with user needs through evidence-based research. Viewing design as a reflection of society, he focuses on facilitating meaningful interactions between people and objects. Committed to the idea that “the process is more important than the result,” he prioritizes a thorough design process to explore and solve problems effectively.
Mansooreh Shahtalab, UX Design Manager & Dimitar Minovski, Senior UX Researcher @EricssonTIER1 Crunching numbers to support inclusive product xperience
Ever think about the unsung heroes who keep us all connected—like the field techs installing network gear on rooftops and masts around the world? Picture yourself climbing a mast in middle of nowhere and still making a foolproof installation.
The talk covers what does inclusivity mean for Ericsson and how to make sure every field technician, no matter their expertise or language, stay safe and efficient on site. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at one of our latest usability tests, packed with real-world data, geeky statistics, and practical insights.
Mansooreh Shahtalab, UX Design Manager & Dimitar Minovski, Senior UX Researcher @Ericsson
Mansooreh is an interaction designer at heart, with expertise in the user experience field. Currently, she focuses on establishing effective design processes and fostering a design-centric culture within a complex organization. Her approach centers on creating impactful change through incremental improvements while guiding the organization to understand the value of design. Even in the B2B space, where users may seem distant, she believes they are always reachable and strives to ensure that user-centered thinking is integrated into every aspect of the business.
A former data analyst turned user experience researcher, Dimitar is on a quest to dig deep into human psychology and behavior. After years of exploring how autonomous vehicles and humans could co-exist on the roads, while completing a Ph.D. on the topic, Dimitar's focus today at Ericsson is on a much broader topic—how the internet is shaping society and what that means for the future of mobile technology.
Sanni NyströmProduct Designer @SJ via CartinaTIER2 Improving the digital experience for travellers affected by a traffic disruption
How hard can it be to present information about the train traffic? To inform travellers if their train is on time or delayed? It turns out that it is not easy peasy. At least not if you want to align the information in different channels.
In this talk, you will hear Sanni share how SJ (a Swedish railway company for passenger traffic owned by the Swedish state) improved the experience of receiving and acting on information about delays in train traffic, all to make it better for travellers.
A story of working towards the sweet spot of user needs, business value, and feasibility in product development.
Sanni Nyström
Sanni Nyström is a product designer who has a passion for design and problem-solving, especially in close collaboration with cross-functional teams. Apart from working with design Sanni, likes to co-organise meet-ups with Femmes in UX, and ski down mountains covered in powder.
Zoe BockastenProduct Design Lead @Nordnet BankTIER3 Making time for innovation
The concept of innovation has taken over popular culture the past 15 years, each time promising a massive shift in how we live our lives. How do we take this term that has become so abstract and bring it into our daily design work? This talk will explore what innovation means to our personal development, to the growth of your design team, and to the products we build. Most of all, how do we carve out time for this important work alongside all the other urgent tasks at our door.
Zoe Bockasten
For the past 10 years, Zoe has been tinkering with product design in fintech, gaming, and B2B spaces. Starting out her design journey at Canada's top startup incubator, the DMZ at Toronto Metropolitan University, she made her way to the Stockholm design community in 2017. The design field is often the one organisations turn to when looking for innovation, whether tackling systematic change or bringing moments of delight to customers, and in each role her team was tasked with just this, and now she's bringing these stories to the SXC stage.
Raquel MachinSr. Design Manager @EasyParkTIER2 The Future of Accessible Design Systems
In this talk Raquel will talk about how integrating accessibility into design systems from the ground up can create more efficient digital experiences. You will learn how to build accessible foundations from day one, how to scale accessibility consistently across platforms and foster a culture of inclusion through design systems.
Raquel Machin
Raquel is a Product Design Lead with over 15 years of experience collaborating with industry leaders like Volvo, Spotify, and BBVA. Her expertise lies in creating scalable design systems, leading cross-functional teams, and delivering core experiences across multi-platform ecosystems. She is passionate about shaping more sustainable, future-proof digital experiences.
Workshops
Burcu Arsoy, Design Lead @Electrolux & Vaida Pakulyte, UX Lead @TechnigoPURPLEWorkshop: Decision Making Unravelled
Sources suggest that the average person makes 35,000 choices per day. Some of them we make without thinking, and some are more complex that require mental processes. So how often do we reflect on how we make decisions, individually or in a group? How well do we know our preferences, and how effectively do we communicate those? We'll try out different tools to foster easier and better decision making both in our personal and professional lives.
Burcu Arsoy, Design Lead @Electrolux & Vaida Pakulyte, UX Lead @Technigo
Burcu Arsoy is a multi-disciplinary designer with over 15 years of experience in various design disciplines. In the last 10 years, she focused mainly on Service and UX Design. Her responsibilities have evolved over time into design leadership.
Vaida Pakulyte is a UX researcher and designer. She has worked in IOT, Fintech, E-commerce and believes that products and services must add value to people’s lives and society. Creating an intuitive and user-focused product or service is easier said than done, but aiming towards that and contributing to user wellbeing is what motivates her daily design decisions. Vaida is also passionate about personal leadership and making unique perspectives visible through mentoring in the design field.
Linda StenmarkDesign Lead @MUM ExperiencePURPLEWorkshop: Tech trend spotting and how to utilize these trends to achieve a better world
New trends come and go and the changes in society and the world affect us every day. Especially in technology, change happens fast.
Join Linda Stenmarks workshop to discuss current trends related to UX and digitalization. How do tech trends affect people's lives? How can we benefit from this progress to build the society we want?
She identifies trends on the horizon such as sustainability in tech, stereotypes in design, product versus service, behavioral design and gamification, digiphysical experiences and creating services with AI. How might we utilize these trends to achieve a better world?
Linda Stenmark
Linda is specialized in inclusive design and facilitating the creative process. She has been working as a consultant since 2010 on digitalization projects and with leadership. She balances creativity and solution focus perfectly and engages the audience with interactivity, quirks and interesting observations.
She has a thing for trying out new ways of working and shares her reflections and learnings on Instagram @EnKoppUX.
Fintan Collier & Johannes Wigh-PoulsenUX Craft Leads @ValtechPURPLEWorkshop: Unlock your Professional Purpose
Would you like to fine tune your development plan or enable your team’s collective learning? Studies have shown that not having purpose in a career can lead to lower levels of job satisfaction, poorer performance and increased work-related stress.
Join us for a 40 minute workshop to unlock your professional purpose through a series of creative exercises, deep reflection and open discussions. Finding purpose in your career will lead to higher resilience in the face of setbacks, enhanced problem-solving abilities/creativity, and improved ethical decision making.
We will delve into your core passions, skills, and values for you to align with the changes you want to see in the world.You will leave this workshop energized, with a fresh foundation for personal development and a renewed confidence in your career’s trajectory.
Fintan Collier & Johannes Wigh-Poulsen
Fintan Collier is a Senior UX Designer and has led the career guidance product design at Arbetsförmedlingen, and now focuses on designing products for users with disabilities. As the UX Craft Lead at Valtech he has increased Craft Circle participation three-fold over the last twelve months through a program of explorative learning events.
Before focusing on Design, he held numerous marketing roles in Sweden, Ireland and Hong Kong and authored “Change Careers Without a Pay Cut” with his learnings from finding purpose in his career.
Johannes is a strategic and outcome focused UX designer within B2B.
Danwei Tran Luciani, VP of Product & Miriana Giai Gischia, Lead Product Designer @DetectifyPURPLEWorkshop: Networking and Envisioning Utopias: Design's Role in Crafting a Better World
Ever wondered what your ideal world could look like? In this light-weight and interactive workshop combined with networking, we'll explore the possibilities of a brighter future. We'll share our dreams, challenge assumptions, and co-create a vision for a world that sparks joy and inspires hope.No matter your design background, this workshop and network opportunity is an invitation to dream big, connect with fellow visionaries, and discover the transformative potential of collective imagination.
Danwei Tran Luciani, VP of Product & Miriana Giai Gischia, Lead Product Designer @Detectify
Danwei is currently working at Detectify, a Swedish cyber security company, leading Product. Her work ambitions include shaping a product vision that is exiting for both product teams and commercial teams, designing the best experience possible for each individual in the product division, and demonstrating how focus on user value brings positive impact on the business.
Miriana is the Lead Product Designer at Detectify. With a background in UX/UI consulting for the Swedish public sector, she's passionate about creating accessible design solutions while aligning teams and people towards common goals.
Anna Rátkai, UX Researcher @Kind Commerce & Stefanie Kruse, UX Designer @reThink ProductPURPLEWorkshop: Sustainable User Journey Mapping
Let’s get practical! In this interactive session, you’ll work in small groups to practice sustainable user journey mapping.
We'll provide the user journey framework, and you’ll brainstorm and sketch ideas to enhance sustainability in your projects. You’ll learn how to integrate sustainability into user journey mapping, consider sustainability holistically using the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and extend your positive impact as a designer.
Additionally, your group will refine an idea and pitch it to the plenary, practicing how to effectively “sell” sustainability initiatives to stakeholders.
Anna Rátkai, UX Researcher @Kind Commerce & Stefanie Kruse, UX Designer @reThink Product
Stefanie is a seasoned freelance UX designer from Hamburg with over 10 years of experience in tech. Stephanie combines her expertise in business and computer science with a passion for creating exceptional user experiences, helping impact startups and sustainable brands.
Anna is a UX researcher, speaker, and sustainable design advocate. She is the force behind Kind Commerce, your go-to place for sustainable e-commerce design ideas. Anna is also passionate about building the local Gothenburg UX community by organizing meetups.
Moa Bogren & Jens Wedin@Studio Manfred PURPLEWorkshop: Critical Design from Theory to Practice
The more dependent we get on technology, and the more impact design and product decisions have on our everyday life, the more important it gets that we have methods to calculate and explore future risks with these decisions. Because it impacts us not only as individuals but as a society and our planet.
Moa Bogren & Jens Wedin
Moa Bogren has over ten years of experience working with product and tech in roles such as Customer and user Research, UX and Data in a wide variety of different fields and organisations.
Jens Wedin has 24 years of experience in design, research, and leadership. Jens is the co-founder and CEO of Studio Manfred and co-founded State of Design and Design Leadership Community in Sweden.
Digital Workshops
Caroline StrömgrenHead of Design & Communication @Frank famYELLOWOnline Workshop: Go Beyond Usability: Designing for Positive Change
In today’s digital world, functional design is just the beginning. How can we add an unexpected spark that encourages users to shift their behavior naturally, without feeling persuaded? In this workshop, we’ll explore how emotional design can inspire positive change through subtle, empathy-driven elements.
Discover how to go beyond usability and design with purpose, crafting experiences that resonate on a truly human level. We’ll dive into key psychological principles of design, examine real-world examples, and engage in group activities where participants will apply these concepts to a real-life case with a genuine impact on our planet.
Caroline Strömgren
Caroline's 17 years of experience spans brand design, strategy, and experience design. She is driven by a commitment to creating impactful customer experiences—whether through UX, communication, art direction, or product and service design—all aimed at solving real problems.
Prior employers are Smith, Pond Brand Innovation, PwC Experience Consultancy with clients such as SJ, Stadium, Axfood, SEB and Bris.
Melad MuntherAccessibility Specialist @Useit YELLOWOnline Workshop: Designing with Invisible Ink: How to Annotate for Accessibility
The designer plays a crucial role in establishing the foundations for an accessible user interface. By implementing accessibility annotations, the designer ensures that developers have the necessary specifications to build upon and testers have the information needed to verify that the product meets the designer’s expectations.
In this workshop, we will explore what accessibility annotations are and how to use them to enhance features like keyboard navigation and the screen reader experience.
By defining accessibility requirements early on, you eliminate guesswork in the development process and ensure that accessibility is integrated into the product rather than added later. This approach reduces costs and time while improving the overall user experience for all types of users.
Melad Munther
Melad is a certified accessibility specialist dedicated to helping organizations ensure their digital products are usable by everyone, regardless of ability. He has shared his knowledge with government agencies, large private companies, small startups, and aspiring students. His expertise lies in supporting cross-functional teams by educating them, breaking down requirements into actionable steps and creating guiding material and processes.
Audrey RossSenior Content Designer @SkylightYELLOWOnline Workshop: Beyond process and punctuation: Auditing your design guidelines for more effective delivery
Style guides, templates, editorial processes – there are lots of tools and best practices that we create for consistent and excellent content and design work. And there are lots of resources on making those tools for your product. But once it's all down on paper, how do you know if they’re working? We don't just set and forget with our designs, and we shouldn't with our governance and processes either. We need to test, measure, and iterate. This session will walk through practical strategies, templates and learnings to make your guidelines and resources have more impact now and as your product grows.
You'll come away with:
- Definitions of success for your governance and content tools
- Strategies for evaluating their tools and processes
- Steps to take when you find opportunities for improvement
Audrey Ross
Audrey is a content designer who helps organizations help their people through clarity and connection. She has spent her career in non-profits and civic tech, working on a variety of high-impact problem spaces including international justice and government digital services. Most recently, Audrey has focused on government platforms that improve how public health data is reported to improve the health and well-being of all citizens.
