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.

Most people see bikes as low-maintenance by default — but without the right support, even the best products can break down or under perform. At Canyon Bicycles, we’re using service design to change that perception and help riders care for their bikes in ways that extend their life and performance.

This talk explores how post-purchase experiences can drive more sustainable product use, and how UX plays a critical role in building systems that support longevity.

10.50 - 11:20 Coffee & networking

There’s a big push to implement AI everywhere, hoping for better productivity and faster decisions. To get the best out of any AI, it helps to start with good quality data.

So what are we doing to measure our error rates and data quality?

In this workshop, we will compare our thoughts on error rates, including trying a new five-aspect framework for errors to see whether we think it is helpful.

Data quality isn’t static. We’ll consider how data might deteriorate over time or in other ways, and share our ideas about how we are measuring that, too.

We’ll wrap up with “tips and next steps”: an opportunity to consider what we now need to find out or do differently.

Participant takeaways:

• What do we think good data quality is? How are we currently defining it?

• How are we measuring error rates and data quality at the moment?

• How much do we know about the consequences of errors in our data?

• What ways of measuring error rates and data quality are practical and where can we make improvements?

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 digital services, we often encounter different kinds of tensions that cause us to choose between various spectrums of thinking.

To name a few; business needs vs. user needs, branding vs. usability, novelty vs. familiarity. Great design should always consider a range of perspectives, but we can’t always rely on our intuition to figure out the best direction.

This talk explores what we can do to strike the right balance, and ways we can be more daring without taking big risks.

10.30 - 11.00 Coffee & networking

To be blunt: Most search solutions are often underestimated and don’t work that well – yet it plays a crucial role in both user experience and business performance, in particular when it comes to e-commerce.

In this session, we’ll look at why search (still) matters and how UX work around it extends far beyond just designing a nice-looking input field and displaying some usable search results.

Based on insights from user testing, we'll explore how your users can appear downright "ungrateful" and at times seemingly wildly unrealistic in their expectations of what your search function should be able to do.

We’ll unpack how designing for search is just as much about the invisible logic behind the interface – algorithms, data structure, and the ability to match intent – as it is about visual design.

We’ll also look at the classic build-or-buy dilemma: Should you build your search engine from scratch using, say, Elasticsearch? Or are platforms like Relewise or Algolia a better fit? We’ll discuss the pros and cons of different approaches.

A short hands-on exercise will highlight a key truth: Without clean and structured data, even the smartest search engine will struggle to deliver relevant results.

Finally, we’ll take a look into the future. What impact will AI, semantic search and conversational interfaces have on user experience – and on the way we work with search going forward?

Let’s work together to make search (finally) work

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!