Previous Events

Give a Scrap; What Makes a Designer…a Designer?; Expressing the Value of Design; There’s No Planet B

The 10th edition of Design Matters looked looked into the skills designers need to stay relevant in the face of societal and technological changes, like AI, and how designers can prove the business value of design. The event also explored trends, like Maximalism, and relevant topics such as Social & Environmental Sustainability.

Some of the speakers: Canva, Terrascope, Musixmatch, Pinterest, Too Good To Go, and more.

See the full program designmatters.io

Craftsmanship Strikes Back; Design, What’s Next?; How To Design A Society

The fourth edition of Design Matters Tokyo looked into the fusion of design, innovation, and entertainment in Japan, which weaves together traditional craftsmanship with cutting-edge technology. The conference explored emerging topics and tech such as extended reality, responsive reality, large language models, spatial design, realtime 3D, soundscape design, and new design processes that use AI.Finally, the event explored how to design for minorities and how to harness design to create functioning societies.

Some of the speakers: JetBrains, Ubie, Necessity.Ink, Volvo Cars, Google, and more.

See the full program designmatters.jp

E-gov, e-health, and fintech, Scandinavian Design Philosophy, the Design Superhero

This is the very first edition of Design Matters taking place in Lagos, Nigeria. The conference delved into how designers can work with e-government, fintech, and e-health in West Africa, how the Scandinavian design philosophy can and has inspired other cultures, and how the social role of a designer can be compared to a superhero.

Some of the speakers: McKinsey & Co, Alerzo, Brass, Planday and more.

See the full program designmatters.ng

The AI Generation, +, The Power of Unity, Leading with Craft

At the 9th edition of Design Matters, we explored how designers can work with and for AI, how designers can design for their communities but also how communities can support designers, and what it is like to be in the “trenches” of designing a product or a service.
Some of the speakers: Adidas, Duolingo The New Yorker, Babbel, Pleo, New York University.

See the full program 2023.designmatters.io

AI + Design, Planet-centric Design, Designing for Well-being

At the 3rd edition of Design Matters Tokyo, we explored the emerging topic of AI, how designers can make the world a better, more sustainable and accessible place, and how designers have the power to design for their own and others’ well-being.
Some of the speakers: Magic Leap, Sony, IDEO, Headspace, teamLab, Notion, Rakuten.

See the full program 2023.designmatters.jp

The intersection of Design and DEI

This online Masterclass, based on the book Diversifying Diversity by Poornima Luthra, was made for all design practitioners and leaders wanting to acquire more in-depth knowledge in regards to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and acquire frameworks to design for intersectionality.
Some of the speakers: the LEGO Group, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, James Weldon Johnson Professor Reginé Gilbert.

See more at designmatters.io/deidesign-masterclass

Responsible Design in Practice, A superhero? No, a Designer!, Revolution from Digital Design

In January 2023 Design Matters landed in Mexico for the first time with a hybrid conference. Together with international and Latin American designers, we explored how designers can be seen as “superheroes”, their ethical responsibilities, and the power they have to foster change through their practice.
Some of the speakers: PayPal, Runway, Nike, Volvo Cars, Watershed, IBM.

See the full program 2023.designmatters.mx

What are we responsible for?, Decolonizing Design, A little pick-me-up

The eighth edition of Design Matters (hybrid) explored what responsibilities designers hold in making the world more inclusive, fair, and accessible. With the help of indigenous designers and expert, we also looked at ways in which designers can indigenise design and finally, we looked at data visualisation and AI:

Some of the speakers: Notion, Twitter, Zeroheight, Zalando, Github, Flo Health.

See the full program 2022.designmatters.io

Embrace your fuckups, Designing for remote collaboration, the Scandi approach to design

The second (hybrid) edition of Design Matters Tokyo looked at how designers can treasure their failures to turn a design upside down for the better. We talked about digital experiences and products that are embracing a remote lifestyle and we analysed some of the Scandi design values such as functionality, elegance, and a hierarchically-flat mentality.

Some of the speakers: Adobe Design, UsTwo Tokyo, Dalton Maag, Takram, Google Play, Kontrapunkt.

See the full program 2022.designmatters.jp

Post-Pandemic Design, Design Code, Colors!

The seventh edition of Design Matters was hybrid, both in-person and online, again. We explored the ways in which people work have changed during the pandemic and how design can address these changes. We also discussed how to incorporate generative design in our work and how we can use AI as a design tool, and finally, we delved into all possible interpretations of color in relation to design.

Some of the speakers: Pablo Stanley, Miro, Sketch, Dropbox, SAGA Space Architects.

See the full program 2021.designmatters.io

Next Gen Design, Real Fake, Scrappy Creative

The sixth edition of Design Matters went hybrid, both in-person and online, for the first time. We explored the blurred line between real and fake, and looked into how Next Gen designers are coming up with creative and unique solutions to solve today’s problems with design. We also discussed new creative methods and approaches that could lead to new interesting ways of working in the future.

Some of the speakers: Twitter, Spotify, Adobe, Dropbox, Mozilla Corporation.

See the full program 2020.designmatters.io

Scandinavian Design Philosophy, Creative Empowerment, The Designer’s Role

January 2020 saw the launch of our first pop-up Design Matters in Japan. Together with international and Scandinavian designers, we explored the most important and relevant topics for digital designers, in a series of talks.

Diving into design methods and processes in 4 practical workshops on UI and UX design, we learned new techniques, actionable design skills, and found new inspiration.

See the full program 2020.designmatters.jp

Minimal Tech, Design & Activism, Collaborative Tools for Design

In the fifth of Design Matters we explored how to create less intrusive digital products to avoid a tech burnout. Together with the audience we discussed how design can give minorities a voice and fight for the planet. And lastly, we looked into how collaborative tools are changing the way designers work, taking teamwork to a new dimension.

Some of the speakers: Duolingo, Slack, Figma, Behance, LEGO.

See the full program 2019.designmatters.io

Designing for Change, Mixed Realities, Being a Rebel

In the fourth edition of Design Matters, we addressed what roles and responsibilities designers hold in a world that has an increasing need for change. We talked about how designers can create immersive experiences in mixed realities, and how being a “Design Rebel” can bring innovation and generate outstanding designs.

Some of the speakers: Minecraft, The Outline, Headspace, Dropbox, Medium.

See the full program 2018.designmatters.io

Conversational UI’s, The DNA of Product Design, Embracing Failure

In the third edition of Design Matters, we explored how we can design products without a visible interface. We also explored how to make the “design DNA” extend to all the touchpoints of a product. And finally, we discussed failure, and how embracing and accepting it can lead to great design solutions.

Some of the speakers: Spotify, Netflix, Vox Media, Uber.

See the full program 2017.designmatters.io

Fun and Casual Design

In the second edition of Design Matters, we went on a highly personal, informal and jolly journey to discover and break down the borders between users and interfaces. It was all about making the experience engaging and amusing!

Some of the speakers: Slack, Emojipedia, MailChimp, Google, BuzzFeed.

See the full program 2016.designmatters.io

Game-Changers in Digital Design

In the first edition of Design Matters ever, we gathered designers from all over the world. They shared their insights, learnings, and ideas on how to disrupt tradition and change the rules within digital design.

Some of the speakers: Airbnb, Clue, Volvo, BBC, Spotify, and MailChimp.

See the full program 2015.designmatters.io