UX Connect 25 Program

Held in Aarhus on June 10 - 11

The conference is tailored for everyone working with design and sustainability, from beginners to experts, and features 2 packed days with a carefully curated mixture of talks, workshops, activities and world class facilitators, thought-provokers, speakers and session leads.

Below you can find what we consider the almost final conference program. Keep in mind — a good conference is a people product, so changes might happen.

Program

Monday, June 9
17.30 - 22:00 Social event
Everyone who is in town is invited to join us for an informal dinner

Tuesday, June 10
8:30 - 9:30: Breakfast and registration
9:30 - 9:45: Welcome & Opening
by our host Jens Hofman, Vertica and our moderator Janus Boye, Boye & Co

In this opening session, Kristina Larsen from VIA University College will lead a conversation with Thorsten Jonas on the big topics in design and sustainability today.

Thorsten is a Sustainable UX and Responsible AI consultant, keynote speaker and founder of the SUX Network.

He is guiding teams and companies in crafting sustainable, responsible and ethical digital products and co-leads the UX committee for the UX chapter of the W3C Sustainable Web Design Guidelines.

As co-host of the SUX Podcast, he interviews thought leaders from around the globe and shares insights and strategies for integrating sustainability into product design processes.

His passion for the outdoors and mountaineering drives his commitment to making sustainability a fundamental aspect of user experience and digital design.

Great design doesn’t happen in a silo—it requires seamless collaboration between designers, developers, product managers, and stakeholders. But aligning different teams with competing priorities can be a challenge.

In this session, we’ll explore practical strategies for cross-functional collaboration, breaking down silos, and ensuring that design decisions balance user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility.

10.50 - 11:20 Coffee & networking

more details coming soon

12:30 - 13.30 Lunch

Everybody talks about the importance of the customer experience, but how do you actually build a holistic customer experience across all your different touchpoints along the customer journey? And how do you use that to drive repeat customers?

Anja will share from her journey what it takes for a small team to make a big impact in a large, complex and international organisation.

More details coming soon

14.30 - 15.00 Coffee & networking

When people have a task to complete, they often behave like water, finding the easiest and fastest way to get from A to B and complete their task.

Ho do we convince people that the workflow that we designed is better than what they do today?

People often behave like water, they find workarounds to get their job done and then they repeat it again and again. They continue flowing and deepening the ravine that they have formed, until it doesn’t feel like a workaround any more, and it becomes the main workflow (or river flow). So how do you reroute that body of water or workflow to run in a new path?

This is one of the hardest things that we as designers have to do. Often we are not equipped for that and it’s not always part of our toolbox. So what can we as designers do to support this change? Without it, all the work that we’ve done and invested in, is useless.

Great UX doesn’t stop at the interface—it extends to every touchpoint, from the way we build digital products to how we shape relationships, teams, and communities.

In this talk, Karla shares her journey from designer to "experience architect," exploring how UX principles apply beyond the screen.

Through personal stories and real-world examples, she’ll reveal how thoughtful design influences leadership, client relationships, and the broader digital landscape. Join this session to explore how the way we experience things influences everything we do and why thoughtful design matters in every aspect of life.

16.30 - 17.00 Coffee & networking

17.00 - 18.00 Lightning talks

As the name suggests, lightning talks give speakers a limited amount of time to make their presentation – no more than 10 minutes. They may or may not include slides.

Because lightning talks are brief, it requires the speaker to make their point clearly and rid the presentation of non-critical information. This, in turn, helps keep the attention of the audience. It also means many ideas can be presented in a short amount of time.

Talks:
* coming soon. get in touch if interested!

18.30 - 22:00 Social event

Everyone is invited to join us for an informal dinner

Wednesday, June 11

6:30 Morning Run

We meet in front of Vertica for a relaxed 25 minute run

8:30 - 9:30 Breakfast and networking

9:30 - 9.45: Morning welcome - what did we learn yesterday? Plans for today

As we design key interactions with our services, what tensions can we observe that require us to strike a perfect balance?

More details coming soon

10.30 - 11.00 Coffee & networking

More details coming soon

Enterprise Design Thinking (EDT) shouldn't be limited to a select few—it should be a tool for everyone, regardless of role or background. At IBM, we're on a mission to build an open, supportive community where anyone can access the resources, mentorship, and training they need to grow their design thinking skills in the Nordics.

In this talk, we’ll explore how fostering a supportive EDT community helps individuals upskill, gain confidence, and apply design thinking in their everyday work, while ensuring that design thinking is not just a framework, but a mindset embraced by all. You’ll hear about the challenges we’ve faced, the strategies we’ve used to democratize EDT, and how you can apply these lessons in your own organization.

Join us as we bridge the gap, making design thinking a shared language that empowers everyone to create meaningful, human-centered solutions and experiences.

12.30 - 13.30 Lunch

More details coming soon

Key lessons learned, big questions and what happens next

2.45 - 3:00 Goodbyes and see you next year!