UX Conferences, Events and Meetups: the definitive list
A great way of learning more about User Experience and getting in touch with professionals who share the same passion as you is to attend UX Conferences and UX Events happening every year around the globe.
The events listed below are the ones we have been to or would like to attend in the near future. Make sure you charge your smartphone, bring some business cards in your pocket and consider including one of these design events before or after your next trip.
See also: our favorite UX tools.
Our global events wish list:
IA Summit
Focused on Information Architecture • 20 to 90 minutes sessions, besides the workshops • Big names like Morville, Dan Brown, but open to any submission
✈ Location: US (city may vary)
Interaction
Interaction Design Association (IxDA) initiative • Broader theme about design and tools • For students, professionals and design community
✈ Location: not fixed, world wide
UX Week
Four days of community, inspiration and skill building for professionals • Straightforward themes and schedule • Big companies and cases
✈ Location: San Francisco, CA
User Interface Conference
Design inside the business • For designers and managers of the industry • ⅔ of workshops, ⅓ of talks
✈ Location: Boston, MA
An Event Apart
Several events during the year, pick the best date and place for you • Intensely educational two-day learning session • For designers, developers, writers, managers
✈ Location: US (city may vary)
Interact
Every two years since 1984 • Academic topics on HCI • Supported by the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP)
✈ Location: Worldwide (2013 was in Africa)
UX Lisbon
“The biggest European event for UX professionals” • Great speakers (like Luke Wroblewski) in past editions • Workshops on research, design and strategy
✈ Location: Lisbon, Portugal
UX London
3 days of inspiration, education and skill development for UX designers • A specific topic each day • Awesome venue
✈ Location: London, England
European IA Conference
Workshops and talks • Broad range of topics, from academy to cases • Focused on (but not only) Information Architecture
✈ Location: Europe
UX Sofia
UX design and usability conference • Workshops and seminars • Tour around Bulgaria
✈ Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
NordiCHI
Every other year in a Nordic country • Papers, demos and a Doctoral Consortium • Competition for Students
✈ Location: Nordic Countries (Europe)
UX Australia
Conference and hands-on workshop • Many speakers from the Australian community • Big names like Dan Saffer and Donna Spencer
✈ Location: Melbourne, Australia
Interaction South America
The South American edition of Interaction, with worldwide speakers • Workshops, papers and cases • All lectures in English, Portuguese (or Spanish) and Sign language
✈ Location: South America (country may vary)
World IA Day
Simultaneous events in different cities across the globe • Each edition focuses on a specific theme in Information Architecture • Brought to you by The Information Architecture Institute
✈ Location: Everywhere
World Usabiity Day
Worldwide event with a local touch • Simultaneous events in different cities across the globe • Each edition is focused on a theme in Usability (2013 — Healthcare)
✈ Location: Everywhere
UX Conference
Conference on User Experience design • Hints, thoughts and discussions on business and design • In Europe
✈ Location: Lugano, Switzerland (last two editions)
UX Mad
Inspiration is the tone • Different faces and themes • Fair price and good perks
✈ Location: Madison, WI
UX Strat
Focused on the strategic side of UX • More about customer experience, less about design and interface (which is great) • Recently-created event, first edition in 2013
✈ Location: Atlanta, GA, US
UX Fest
One day only • Sessions divided in 3 main categories: Design & Behavior, Business & Branding, Development & Optimization • Product demos included
✈ Location: Boston, MA, US
Convey UX
Trends in UX • Great speakers • And you get to visit the Experience Music Project in Seattle
✈ Location: Seattle, US, WA
Lean UX NYC
Lean, lean, lean • 3 days of UX, MVP, kanban, design thinking and business • 20-minute talks and workshops
✈ Location: New York, NY, US
Delight Conf
One day of talks, one day of workshops • Big names from big companies (and startups too) • “For brands and professionals who care about making experiences people love”
✈ Location: Portland, OR, US
Push Conference
Coders and UXers, unite! • Speakers from different backgrounds and expertise • Multiple inspirational themes
✈ Location: Munich, Germany
Blend Conference
Only face-to-face conversations: no device allowed and no wifi :) • Diversity of themes, speakers and public • Organized by the local community
✈ Location: Charlotte, NC, US
Events about creativity and technology
SXSW Interactive
More than a week of music, film and creativity in one single event • Keynotes, workshops and showcases about cutting-edges technologies and ideas • UXers: keep updated on trends for the year
✈ Location: Austin, TX, US
99u
Two days of talks from creative visionaries • Focused on idea execution rather than idea generation • UXers: if you dream big, listen from successful people how to become one by doing it
✈ Location: New York, NY, US
Emerge Conference
Two days of conference about world’s challenges and transformational change • For university students and young professionals • UXers: for the young designers who are willing to change the world
✈ Location: Oxford, UK
Pivot
A gathering of leaders and thinkers of the social business • 2 days and more than 50 sessions of “the most deeply interactive conference ever” • UXers: social business is, in the end, all about user experience
✈ Location: New York, NY, US
Smashing Conf
2 days of talks and workshops on how designers and coders “work and play” • topics from atomic design to career insights • UXers: challenges at work that we share with our fellows designers and coders
✈ Location: Freiburg, DE
Internet of Things Events
Papers, demos and workshops about the new frontiers of the Internet • Cutting-edge researches aiming to change the interaction between humans and objects • UXers: learn about upcoming challenges for designing interaction beyond mobile-tablet-browser
✈ Location: Cambridge, MA, US
dConstruct
Two days of workshops + one day of conference about the intersection between technology and culture • Talks from designers, musicians, researchers, comedians • UXers: inspiring (and unusual) talks for those who create digital products
✈ Location: Brighton, UK
Cyberworlds
International conference about cyberworlds (virtual worlds, telepresence and e-life) • Speakers from universities and companies around the world • UXers: understanding the basis of virtual worlds
✈ Location: Yokohama, JP
Service Design Conference
2 days of conference for students and professionals • International speakers and cases • UXers: for those who want to design user experiences holistically
✈ Location: World Wide (country may vary)
OFFF
International design festival • Space to exchange products, projects and ideas • UXers: for those who are interested in visual design and art
✈ Location: Barcelona, New York or Paris (may vary)
The Feast
A conference about innovation to solve the world’s challenges with big names and big ambition • Talks, workshops, hands-on activities and a global dinner party • UXers: you can join the proposed challenges without leaving your hometown
✈ Location: New York, NY, US — dinner: worlwide
Future of Web Design
Workshops and 2 stages of talks about the hot topics in web design • Big names from the industry • UXers: keep on track with web design and learn some new html and css tricks
✈ Location: New York, NY, Us (city may vary)
Get together with local UX groups
IxDA
IxDA intends to improve the human condition by advancing the discipline of Interaction Design. IxDA has multiple groups around the globe that organize local events and leverage local knowledge sharing.
UXPA
The User Experience Professionals Association supports people who research, design, and evaluate the user experience of products and services.
Meetup
A great hub to search for local UX events around your area, or even to create your own. Plenty of UX groups that meet regularly in major cities around the world.
UX Book Club
The UX Book Club seeks to enhance the abilities and knowledge of user experience professionals, while building a passionate local community. 100+ local book clubs in many different cities.
Follow up on new events in your area
The links below are updated regularly and display local UX events filtered by city, topic, price and other criteria. Great tool for searching for events in a specific location and date. Make sure you save these links on your bookmarks too :)
