Rethinking the User eXperience Paradigm

This talk revisits the foundational paradigms of HCI to ask what comes next for UX in public services. It critiques the dominance of market-driven strategies that flatten experience into standardized personas, and cultures of silence—especially at the margins. The talk proposes a paradigm shift toward critical, intersectional, and liberatory UX practices that prioritize transformative experiences over centred optimization and the illusion of control.

About the speaker:

Dr. Tony D. Sampson is a Reader in Digital Communication at the University of Essex’s Essex Business School. His research and teaching mainly explores the emotional, sensory, and affective experiences of digital worlds.