Program

Welcome to Design Matters

Ingrid gave a warm welcome and open this year’s conference.

She gave an introduction to the 3 themes:
– Minimal Tech
– Design + Activism
– Are we on the same page?

The creation of SHINE and what to consider when attacking a T-Rex with a torch light

In 2018, Fox & Sheep wanted to try something new. So, they left their comfort zone of cute characters and bright colors and set out to a new adventure: A mindful app for the whole family that doesn’t feed on the player’s dopamine levels.

In this talk, Timo provided insights on how Fox & Sheep approached their project with SHINE, analyzing what worked and also what went horribly wrong.

Design Language: How Duolingo Learned to Teach Everyone

Duolingo is the most popular tool for learning a language in the world. With over 300 million users, how do they personalize everyone’s learning experience? Serious learners want to be challenged, but casual users just want to do something more productive than zombie-scrolling through social media posts.

Beth went behind the scenes to see how Duolingo uses Design to solve intractable business problems, whether it’s personalizing flows for their diverse user types or the makeover of Duo – their beloved owl mascot -.

The Power of Authenticity

Crafting a message that sticks requires a motive, an identity, and an honest approach to both, which begs the question, “do you believe in what you design?”

In a modern landscape overflowing with communication, visual storytellers have the power to guide the narrative, exposing the public to new ways of thinking and seeing. Yet, with great responsibility comes the absolute need to be authentic and resist the pitfall of turning activism into trend.

Sydney led the audience in a candid conversation about this topic, diving deep into how she challenges design-norms, while staying true to the mission at hand.

We Do More Than Transfer

WeTransfer is used by millions – it impacts people on a deep level. With numbers that high, how do they make sure people don’t lose connection on a personal level?

On the other side, they do so much more than just transferring files. Thomas talked about how WeTransfer is trying to bring this across, and what kind of role design plays there.

The Deliberate Practice of Boredom

We spend so much of our mental energy trying to optimize our time or improve our creative productivity, but boredom is necessary for our creative work. As creatives, the best way to improve our creativity is by deliberately adding boredom and non-work time to our schedules.

Jeannie guided the audience in defining the right kind of boredom that helps people design better, giving practical and concrete suggestions.

“Ethics” and Ethics

Facebook is fishing for our email passwords, Amazon is listening to our conversations for laughs, Tik-Tok spying on our kids. The fact that we see so much dirt on the surface, makes it likely, that it’s even worse under the surface.

The solution for all of this: “Ethics”. Design ethics! Tech ethics! Business ethics! Ethics for AI! But is it?

Night Talk

With British humor and distance to himself, Mr Bingo turn things around. He exposed the audience to Hate Mails, drawings of naked people and provocative drawings of the British Queen. 

Everyone loved the company of Mr Bingo, listening to his personal story uncovering how he went from being a designer to an artist, how he crowdfunds art projects and co-creates together with his fans.

Get caught in Awinbeh's dreamy sound and vocal

Awinbeh Ayagiba is a local rising artist. He invited the audience into a dreamy world of an endless search for the new and unknown.

Awinbeh’s sound is a heavy, dark and minimalistic mix of R’n’B, Urban, and Rock, filled with grandiose pop.

He just released his single “New!”.

Dive deep into a Goss’ universe of left-field pop and soulful lyricism

Goss is one of its leading lights of Denmark’s future-facing pop scene. 
 
Behind Goss is Mads D. Kristiansen, formerly known as one half of Reptile Youth. 
Now, he is touring as Goss, which is the sound of an artist who is set to deliver something special. 

Welcome back!

Sam welcomed everyone back with a warm and energetic introduction talk.

This Emptiness Is Normal

Astrology has helped humans make sense of the world for 2,500 years, but it’s never been as popular as it is today.

In this talk, design lead Andrew Lu shared how Co-Star managed to translate the complex spiritual practice of astrology into a practical and easy to use tool that can help us better understand who we are and how we relate to each other.

Let Me Think: Why Workflows Matter

Why do our desktop apps interrupt us? Why are they full of options that are confusing and irrelevant? Why doesn’t software follow our flow of thought, or better yet, our unique workflow?

Nikoline explained how designers at Unity design workflows that inspire and allow creatives to achieve their vision. The application of designing for flow and creativity goes way beyond the creative industries. The talk showed how the design team at Unity works with focus, affordance, and context to keep people in the zone.

Designing a New Way of Play

In this talk, Roberta and Sven told the story of how LEGO designed a new product, combining physical play with a digital experience.

Roberta shared how product design and communication design go hand-in-hand, influencing the future way for kids to play.

Open Design

As designers, we’re pretty familiar with the idea of “designing openly” and of sharing often with our teammates. Designing openly, however, is only a stepping stone for truly open design.

At Figma, they define open design as opening up the definition of who can become a designer, opening up their processes to include their teammates, and finally, opening up the ability to work with the greater community as a whole.
This talk explored how they’ve been embracing open design at Figma, and how it could define the future of the design industry.

Creating inclusion in play

Do you want to create an inclusive design? Amazing! The ambition to make the world a better place is always great, but finding the right language and process to start and implement the actual work can be much trickier.

In this talk, Petter shared how Toca Boca started to define what they mean by diversity and how they include it in their products. He also shared some other types of support structures they use in their mission to create apps that feel inclusive for kids all over the world.

See You Next Year! - Time for a Drink

Farewells can be sad, but we rather see them as a “see you soon!”. So, we celebrated the end of our conference and the amazing two days with a very last toast, all together.