Emotions consume 80% of our lives, while the other 20% is intellect (Lough, 2006). Yet when it comes to service design, it still feels uncomfortable talking about emotions in particular in government. With this statistic in mind, can we really afford to ignore emotions when designing services?

This talk covers the what, the why, and the how of designing for emotions, sharing tools and techniques to help move conversations from dark art to serious strategy.

In this talk, Kerrie combines theoretical models, real-life case studies, and practical techniques to help participants curate their own toolkit to embed emotions in their agile practice.

Ever wonder what it’s really like to go from being a hands-on UX designer to leading a team in Big Tech? Or maybe you’re experiencing that “fear of missing out” when you see others chasing the “dream” design job?

In this talk, Tsvetelina will share an honest look at her journey from an Individual Contributor to a Design Manager, highlighting both the positives and the tougher parts you don’t always hear about.

We’ll explore:

• The realities of climbing the UX career ladder and transitioning into management.

• How FOMO shapes our perceptions of success - and what’s the reality of being part of Big Tech

• Honest comparisons of the UX work in startups, agencies, and Big Tech, so you can figure out which path might fit you best.

Come away with practical guidance, honest reflections, and actionable strategies—minus the industry hype. Whether you’re weighing your next career move or simply curious about what it means to lead in the ever-evolving UX field, this session will help you gain clarity on how to forge your own path to success.

Collaboration is not merely a "nice-to-have" attribute; it is a vital skill for modern teams and organizations. The most innovative and forward-moving teams anchor themselves on strong collaboration and trust as core values.

In this presentation, Yana Mazdharova will delve into effective strategies for fostering good interpersonal relationships within cross-functional teams. She will explore the contributions designers bring to the table, and offer practical insights gleaned from real-world corporate, freelance, and startup settings. Yana's expertise and experience will provide attendees with valuable knowledge and actionable steps to enhance their collaborative efforts and drive success in their projects.

Conceptual and abstract design is great, but sometimes, for users to get their jobs done in the most efficient way, why reinvent the wheel?

In this talk, Ryan explores the roots of common UI patterns, and their physical origins, and how this has helped him in his design journey, being neurodivergent. He then expands this into marketing strategies, product design and a real example of his award winning Service Design of the UK’s first paperless mortgage experience.

We begin by explaining the concept of literalism with real examples like car dashboards, UI components like accordions & carousels, and iconography like floppy disks!

Taking it up a level, Ryan talks about product-level literalism, and how companies/products like Lyft, Google Sheets and FaceTime have embraced it to their advantage for adoption and showcase 2 real case studies:

1. Jones Knowles Ritchie’s work with Dominoes pizza to redesign the product of packaging, using user research to inform the design using literalism.
2. Ryan's own, award-winning, design whilst at NatWest, of the UK’s first paperless mortgage experience.

Finally, we close with some future concepts, on how we can reverse modern technology, to embrace literalism, to bring back nostalgic dopamine from days of old.