UX Week

UX Week
Name	UX Week
Status	Defunct (as conference series)
Genre	Conference
Frequency	Annual
First	2006
Last	2019
Country	United States
City	San Francisco
Organizer	Adaptive Path

UX Week UX Week was an annual user experience design conference and festival that brought together designers, researchers, product managers, technologists, and creative directors for multi-day workshops, talks, and networking in San Francisco. Founded and produced by the design consultancy Adaptive Path, the event assembled practitioners and leaders from companies, institutions, and design studios to present case studies, methods, and emerging practices. The program emphasized hands-on learning, professional development, and community building across product design, interaction design, service design, and research.

Overview

UX Week served as a hub connecting practitioners from organizations such as Apple Inc., Google LLC, Microsoft Corporation, Facebook, Inc., and Amazon (company), alongside design firms like IDEO, Frog Design, Pentagram, Smart Design, and Huge (company). Attendees included staff from technology platforms such as Spotify Technology S.A., Twitter, Inc., LinkedIn Corporation, and Adobe Inc., and research groups from institutions like Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, and University of California, Berkeley. The conference featured speakers affiliated with museums and cultural organizations including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Modern Art, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and The British Library. Sponsors over the years included Intel Corporation, IBM, Salesforce, Atlassian, and Dropbox, Inc..

History

Adaptive Path established the event following earlier workshops and salons led by founders connected to Jared Spool, Indi Young, Kim Goodwin, and Dan Saffer; the conference debuted amid growth in the tech sector in the mid-2000s alongside events such as South by Southwest, CHI (conference), and Design Week (UK). Over time, the lineup reflected contributions from leaders like Don Norman, Brenda Laurel, Bill Buxton, John Maeda, Katie Dill, and Leah Buley, and intersected with industry milestones at companies including IDEO.org, Mozilla Foundation, Nielsen Norman Group, and Adaptive Path (firm). The event evolved through economic cycles, responding to shifts driven by platforms like iOS (Apple), Android (operating system), and cloud services from Amazon Web Services, until Adaptive Path wound down the series after its acquisition-related transitions and changing conference landscapes influenced by organisations such as Eventbrite and broader shifts seen at Web Summit and Google I/O.

Format and Programming

Programs combined intensive workshops, panel discussions, keynote addresses, hands-on labs, and evening social events similar in format to offerings at TED Conference, AIGA conference, and OFFF Festival. Workshop leaders included practitioners from IDEO, Frog Design, Cooper Hewitt, and academic labs at MIT Media Lab, Stanford d.school, and UC Berkeley School of Information. Sessions covered topics implemented at companies like Airbnb, Inc., Uber Technologies, Inc., Lyft, Inc., Pinterest, Inc., and Square, Inc.—ranging from design methods used in projects for NASA, National Institutes of Health, and World Bank. The schedule often incorporated case studies that referenced products from Netflix, Inc., YouTube, Slack Technologies, and GitHub, Inc..

Notable Speakers and Workshops

Keynote and workshop contributors included prominent figures associated with Don Norman and The Nielsen Norman Group, creative leaders tied to Pentagram and IDEO, and academics from Carnegie Mellon University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Speakers and instructors included practitioners who have worked at Apple Inc. design teams, Google LLC research labs, and Microsoft Research; named figures who participated across years included Jared Spool, Kim Goodwin, Dan Saffer, Indi Young, Leah Buley, Bill Buxton, John Maeda, Brenda Laurel, Erika Hall, and Alan Cooper. Workshops covered techniques used by teams at Amazon (company), Adobe Inc., Spotify Technology S.A., and Facebook, Inc. and drew on case histories from IDEO.org, Frog Design, Huge (company), and Smart Design.

Awards and Recognitions

While UX Week itself did not function as a formal awarding body like Lovie Awards, Webby Awards, or Design Museum Awards, the conference highlighted work that had received recognition from institutions such as Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Interaction Design Association (IxDA), and publications including Wired (magazine), Fast Company, A List Apart, and Smashing Magazine. Presentations often showcased projects that had been finalists or winners in competitions like the Core77 Design Awards, Red Dot Design Award, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

Impact and Reception

UX Week contributed to professionalization of practice among designers employed at firms like IDEO, Frog Design, Pentagram, and Adaptive Path (firm), and influenced teams at technology companies including Google LLC, Apple Inc., Microsoft Corporation, and Amazon (company). Coverage and commentary appeared in outlets such as Wired (magazine), The New York Times, The Guardian, and Fast Company, and community responses echoed in forums run by Medium (website), Medium (platform), GitHub, Inc. repositories, and Meetup. Alumni of the conference went on to lead initiatives at institutions like Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, MIT Media Lab, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and startups funded by investors connected to Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Y Combinator.

Category:User experience design conferences