Friday, September 25, 2026
What Is UXPALOOZA?
(you-ex-puh-loo-zuh)
noun
A celebration exploring the intersections of UX and AI.
Level up your UX value by learning how to responsibly use AI and enhance your UX career.
A UXPALOOZA 2026 ticket includes access to the one-day virtual summit and networking event as well as session recordings.
Explore trends.
Hear from AI experts on best practices, methods, and tools for UX innovation and success.
Leave inspired.
Obtain practical insights and resources to achieve your UX career goals no matter your career stage.
Gain connections.
Connect with researchers, designers, strategists, and leaders in UX during our dedicated networking session.
2026
UXPALOOZA Speakers
Check out our invited global experts in UX and AI.
Schedule subject to change; All times are in the eastern time zone.
| Time (ET) | AI & UX TRACK | UX CAREER GROWTH TRACK |
|---|---|---|
| 10:40 - 10:55 | Welcome & Opening Remarks  Rajesh Kalidindi, UXPA International | |
| 11:00 - 11:50 | Agents Are Your New Users: How Interfaces Work for AI, and How to Test Them  Llewyn Paine, Llewyn Paine Consulting “Agentic traffic [is] growing so fast that bots have now passed human traffic online for the first time in the Internet's history.”
- Matt Prince, CEO of Cloudflare, June 6, 2026
The boom in AI agent traffic reflects a growing trend: human users are delegating digital tasks to agents. But when the agent fails, it’s the human user who gets frustrated.
As engineers focus on building better bots, most organizations are overlooking a more immediate fix: adapting their digital interfaces for AI agents. And UX researchers are uniquely positioned to define and guide this work.
In this talk:
I’ll explain how AI agents experience digital interfaces.
I’ll walk through the research methods and technical infrastructure you need to run effective tests.
And I’ll share why this work has unique strategic value in the current moment." | Shape Your AI-Relevant Self  Jason Mesut, Resonant AI isn't just changing what we do, it's challenging who we are. As tools evolve faster than job descriptions, staying relevant means knowing yourself well enough to adapt without losing your edge. And more importantly your self.
Jason will draw on 21 years of developing engaging visual frameworks from his Shaping Design toolkit to help designers, leaders, and teams do exactly that: understand their capabilities more clearly, navigate the identity shifts AI is forcing, and make sharper decisions about where to invest their development.
You'll leave with practical tools and frameworks to define what makes you distinctly valuable in an AI-augmented world — and a clearer sense of where to focus next. |
| 11:50 - 12:00 | Lobby Break | |
| 12:00 - 12:50 | “Partner” or “Parrot”? Confronting the Myths and Metaphors About AI  Leo Hoar, UXR Institute The unique power of AI has spawned a cottage industry of myth-weaving. Some of it overestimates: AI is sentient; AI will take all our jobs. Some of it underestimates: AI can’t reason; AI is a black box; AI is nothing but a “stochastic parrot.” This session will squarely confront some of the AI myths most relevant to UX and product work with real studies that help us understand what’s real and what’s myth. You’ll leave with a more clear idea of where to draw the line between human and AI in your work, and hopefully become a more intentional, grounded appraiser of AI. | They Will Never Get UX. You're Gonna Win Anyway.  Ryan Rumsey, Second Wave Dive Your colleagues will never understand what you do. Good thing you don't need them to! In this energizing talk full of laughs and gasps, Ryan shares his most cringe-worthy career moment and the realization that changed everything. Learn how to create real impact when the deck is stacked against you, how to find agency when you have zero power, and why your skills are secret to feeling valued and heard. |
| 12:50 - 13:30 | Virtual Networking  Jen Romano, UXR Coach | |
| 13:30 - 14:20 | Stable Skills in an Unstable World: What Endures When Design Work Keeps Changing  Beth Chappell, Articulate AI tools have become remarkably good at helping us produce. They are also evolving at a pace few of us have experienced before. New models, workflows, and platforms seem to appear every week, leaving designers wondering which skills are worth investing in and which may be obsolete by next quarter.
So, what are the skills that become more important as the tools become more capable?
In this session, I'll share a collection of lessons drawn from moments when I needed to teach designers concepts that couldn't be outsourced to AI. Whether introducing new methods or helping teams tackle increasingly complex challenges, the challenge was rarely access to information. It was helping people build judgment, frame problems, recognize patterns, facilitate decisions, and apply what they knew in unfamiliar situations.
Attendees will leave with practical approaches for developing the kinds of capabilities that remain valuable long after today's tools have been replaced by tomorrow's. | Underemployed or Overemployed: Adapting With AI in UX  Joi Rogers, Claws x Code UX moves at the speed of money, and staying employed means moving with intention. This session breaks down how to read the shifts, identify transferrable skills, and stop white-knuckling your way through tools that change every quarter.
Expect real talk, not theory and 1-2 tactics you can use immediately, a workshop component, and straight answers about how to thrive with AI. Built for practitioners who are underemployed and hunting, or overemployed and drowning — either way, the fix starts with knowing what actually makes you shine. |
| 14:20 - 14:30 | Lobby Break | |
| 14:30 - 15:20 | Design Sprints in the AI Era: Balancing Speed, Friction, and Human Judgment  Steph Cruchon, Design Sprint Ltd After 150+ Design Sprints over the past ten years, Steph has seen the format adapt to major shifts in how teams work, from going fully remote during COVID to the arrival of AI.
And despite being created more than a decade ago, Design Sprints have surprisingly become even more relevant today.
AI changes the speed of almost everything. But in a Design Sprint, faster is not always better.
So where should AI step in? Where should it stay out? And what happens to the role of human judgment when teams can generate, explore and prototype faster than ever?
In this talk, Steph will share what a decade of running Design Sprints has taught him about navigating that new balance. | From Manual UXR to UXR-on-Steroids (Session Sponsored by Flowres)  Jiten Madia, Flowres  Adrienne Guillory, Usabiliy Sciences A chronological journey of how UX research (UXR) tools evolved; and how that impacts UXR work today. Session Sponsored by Flowres
About Flowres:
From participant recruitment and fieldwork, to analysis and slide creation – all available on a single platform. flowres.io's virtual backroom integrates seamlessly with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet, so researchers can work with familiar tools while managing the entire project in a single, connected workspace. |
| 15:20 - 15:30 | Lobby Break | |
| 15:30 - 16:20 | Keynote Session - AI as a UX Partner: Leading Change in an Ever-Evolving World  Jeta Surman, American Express  Jade Schiffer, HubSpot  Clara Kliman-Silver, Google In this panel, senior UX leaders: Jeta Surman (American Express), Jade Schiffer (HubSpot), and Clara Kliman-Silver (Google), share how they’re reshaping their teams and practices by embracing AI as a true partner in UX. They’ll unpack what works, what doesn’t, and how they lead with clarity and confidence through constant change. Expect candid insights, practical strategies, and real-world lessons from leaders building AI‑native organizations and actively shaping the future of UX rather than waiting for it. | |
| 16:20 - 16:30 | Closing Remarks Rajesh Kalidind, UXPA International | |
Workshop: Building Interactive Components Emily White
(Continues until 12:30 PM)
Serverless Architecture Patterns Michael Brown
Effective Database Indexing Sarah Green
Don't miss out!
A UXPALOOZA 2026 ticket includes access to the one-day virtual summit and networking event as well as session recordings.
Sponsorship Opportunities
Engage with a global community of user experience professionals!
Have questions? Email us at uxpalooza@uxpa.org.
