Why Paradigm Shift?

This year our theme is ‘Paradigm Shift’. We want to bring together interested parties with the aim to explore how designers should be reacting to the major changes currently impacting society, from technology to politics to climate. Discussions will cover dealing with the shift, how we respond to it, and how we critique, appropriate it and start being proactive. The day will be split into 3 strands roughly focusing on ‘Opportunities’, ‘Challenges’ and ‘The New Normal’.

We have chosen this theme as we believe that as designers, we all have an important role to play in navigating the rapid changes facing society. Through the day we hope to offer a forum to discuss how best to navigate the challenges ahead.

This year we have speakers hailing from industry and academia. They will be delivering talks on topics such as the impact of AI on UX / design, using strategic design to navigate the poly-crisis, media access for people with complex communication needs, multispeciies design and more.