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 some of our invited global experts in
UX and AI.
We will announce
more speakers soon!
SESSIONS (listed by Speaker)
Stay tuned for the full event schedule! All times will be in the eastern time zone.
Stable Skills in an Unstable World: What Endures When Design Work Keeps Changing with Beth Chappell
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with practical approaches for developing the kinds of capabilities that remain valuable long after today’s tools have been replaced by tomorrow’s.
Design Sprints in the AI Era: Balancing Speed, Friction, and Human Judgment with Steph Cruchon
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.
“Partner” or “Parrot”? Confronting the Myths and Metaphors About AI with Leo Hoar
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.
Shape Your AI-Relevant Self with Jason Mesut
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.
Agents Are Your New Users: How Interfaces Work for AI, and How to Test Them with Llewyn Paine
“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.”
Underemployed or Overemployed: Adapting With AI in UX with Joi Rogers
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.
Virtual Networking with Jen Romano
Get ready for some high-speed networking!
Join us for a fun and fast-paced virtual event where you’ll be paired up with a variety of professionals for quick, one-on-one conversations. It’s the perfect way to meet new people, expand your network, and make meaningful connections in a dynamic and engaging online environment. We’ll handle the pairings; just bring your best elevator pitch!
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.
