The Best UX Design Conferences in 2021 — The Definitive Guide
Design conferences are not only events and workshops, but also new acquaintances, opportunities, and positive emotions. You can watch videos and take courses for a very long time, but live communication cannot replace anything. The most important thing at any UX conference is the people who are there. You will be able to find like-minded people, acquire a dozen useful acquaintances, gain new knowledge, and get acquainted with design experts. In this blog, we will tell you about the best UX events.
Best UX Design Conferences in 2021
1. Confab 2021
Date: Virtually on May 5-7, 2021
Location: Minneapolis, United States
"Confab 2021- The Content Strategy Conference" is an event for people who care about making content better for their users and organizations. And no, you don't have to be a content strategist to attend! If you plan, design, build, or manage content, Confab is where you belong.
The main components of the conference are:
1. A three-day live broadcast featuring keynotes, panel discussions, fireside chats, and various virtual antics
2. Small-group discussions and watch parties throughout the event, moderated by speakers and attendees
3. The exclusive Confab Slack workspace where you'll engage in ongoing conversations about the program; meet new friends with common interests, and reconnect with old pals
4. The on-demand video library featuring dozens of pre-recorded talks by new voices and experts across many industries and specializations; you'll also have access to full recordings of the live broadcast after the event—unlimited viewing for 365 days
2. UXDX APAC Conference 2021
Date: Virtually on 4-5 March 2021
UXDX APAC Conference 2021 is an online conference that will deliver live and on-demand content through case study talks, panels, and workshops. The mission of the conference is to deliver real change in teams, helping them take a full-systems view of software development. UXDX helps teams shift from working in projects to autonomous product teams delivering real business and customer value. It bridges the barriers between Product, UX, Design, and Dev to help organizations create successful product teams!
3. Canvas Conference 2021
Date: 18 March 2021
Location: Cineworld - Birmingham Broad Street, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Canvas Conference 2021 is a four-day digital product and experience conference, sharing actionable insights from makers, to makers. You can expect to see a collaborative schedule that touches on all things digital and product. There are no high-level overviews or brand evangelists, just real people, in the work, sharing their experiences and learnings. The speakers of this conference are at the cutting edge of their particular discipline or industry and will share their insights of building exceptional digital products and experiences.
4. UX Copenhagen 2021
Date: 25-26 March 2021
UX Copenhagen 2021 – Denmark's most inspirational human experience conference, covering subjects like user experience, content, strategy, and research under a new theme for each year. We will present you with two days filled with superb content from 20+ speakers, hands-on workshops, inspiration, networking, new knowledge, and new insights.
5. UX Istanbul
Date: 6-8 April 2021
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
UX Istanbul is the first International User Experience and Usability Conference of Turkey and the region. We are the first UX conference in Turkey and we have been gathering UX professionals from World's lead companies for the past 6 years. In UX Istanbul 2021, we will meet on virtual platforms and the conference will last for 4 days. We'll listen to sector professionals and have workshops digitally.
6. University of Illinois Web Conference
Date: 7-9 April 2021
Location: Champaign, USA
The University of Illinois Web Conference will feature three-day conference for web designers, developers, social media marketers, content managers, and other web professionals within higher ed and beyond. Are you a web programmer, designer, content strategist, web administrator, UX designer, IT pro, programmatic manager, social media marketer (you get the gist!) with an interesting topic, project, or case study to share.
7. World-Class Designers Conference 2021
Date: 18-19 Feb, 2021
World-Class Designers Conference 2021 is a 24-hour Inter-Continental event, connecting designers around the world, to talk and learn about impactful design stories and practices which inspire and facilitate the growth of designers. WCD Conference 2021 is more than just a conference; it helps to build a design community in Africa. Every ticket an attendee buys sponsors 1 year of online design education, mentorship, and job opportunities for 1 aspiring African designer.
8. UX Australia 2021
Date: 24-27Aug, 2021
Location: Sydney, Australia
UX Australia 2021 is a four-day conference dedicated to all things User Experience, design, and more! The event program for 2021 will include conference presentations every morning from Tuesday through to Friday, followed by practical workshops in the afternoon. This year we're refocusing the conference to concentrate on design as a whole. While the conference will still largely focus on UX, we hope to also include presentations about adjacent areas of design!
UX Australia 2021 will be held as a hybrid style event, hosted in Sydney and broadcasted online via Zoom Webinar. The event schedule will still include local and international presenters covering topics and ideas relevant to experienced practitioners, newbies, and everyone in between.
9. Interact London 2021
Date: 14 Oct, 2021
Location: London, UK
Interact London 2021 is a leading design conference that explores the roles that digital design, user experience, artificial intelligence, strategy, and everything in between play in today's society. Theme - Designing Tomorrow. The speakers and talks presented represent a mix of 'philosophy and practice' from some of the most accomplished thinkers and practitioners in their fields.
10. CanUX 2021
Date: 4-6 Nov, 2021
Location: Ottawa, Canada
CanUX 2021 is a four-day showcase of modern experience design trends shaped like Canada's premier annual UX event, featuring hands-on workshops and a world-class mix of amazing presentations, with plenty of chances to find inspiration, learn, exchange ideas and make new friends. In terms of format, CanUX is a weekend plenary conference featuring fantastic speakers from all over the world. The conference is preceded by a day of hands-on workshops. We are the longest-running and largest annual experience design event in Canada and are constantly looking for ways to create one of the most inclusive, affordable, world-class UX conferences right here in the Great White North.
11. UXRConf Anywhere 2021
Date: 24-26 Feb, 2021
Location: Online
UXRConf Anywhere 2021 is the one time of year where we can focus on ourselves, as a community. It's a place where we can learn, connect, and excel in our craft together. It's a time when we can spotlight the new ideas and talented people that are changing our industry every day.
12. Design Thinking Virtual Experience 2021
Date: 13-14 April 2021
Location: Online
Design Thinking Virtual Experience 2021 isn't your typical user conference. The event gathers the many practitioners, in and outside of the design function, who's identified Design Thinking as a useful problem-solving tool. You'll gain the insights and inspiration you need to operationalize Design Thinking both functionally and as a business strategy. By participating in the Design Thinking Virtual Experience 2021, steps as you approach particular problems, you're able to unlock the power that results in innovative ideas and experiences your clients are thrilled with, successfully differentiating yourself from competitors.
13. UXinsight Festival 2021
Date: 14-16 April 2021
Location: Online
UXinsight Festival 2021 is an international UX research conference. The aim of the event is to give the UX research field and community a boost by sharing knowledge, experiences, and ideas. Researchers from all over the world will share some great ideas that came out of struggles.
- Activities to make you smile and boost your skills:
- Natural and insightful networking with relevant connections
- A supportive and innovative community
- Time zone friendly start times
- Recordings for all ticket holders – watch whenever you want!
- All talks have captions in English
14. UX & Product Conference 2021
Date: Feb 2021
Location: Online
UX & Product Conference 2021 is a virtual conference where the brightest UX & Product minds debate fresh ideas. New ideas happen when old ones are challenged and debated. So instead of having speakers run through the same talks that you can probably find on Youtube anyway, the UX & Product Conference is built around a new format. Speakers will come in pairs. Each of them pitches their view on a topic, followed by a moderated debate and a group discussion.
15. UXLx Masters 2021
Date: 10-12 Feb 2021
Location: Online
UXLx Masters is an exclusive 3-day online event where masters of UX will share a lifetime of knowledge and experience. Choose from 12 interactive masterclasses from the greatest experts in the industry that will help you hone your skills and learn best practices.
16. ADDC - App Design & Development Conference
Date: 23-25 Jan 2021
Location: Barcelona, Spain
ADDC is a single-track international conference for iOS & Android developers and UX/UI designers in Barcelona, Spain. ADDC aims to create an opportunity for designers and developers to meet, find new ways to work together, and get inspired in an open, inclusive, and collaborative space.
This event is part of these collections:
- Design Operations
- Design Tools
- Development
- Graphic Design
- Motion Design
- Visual Design
17. UXD Healthcare
Date: 14 April 2021
Location: London, UK
UXD Healthcare has a diverse range of subject matter experts who will share their experiences and insight into user-centered design and Healthcare UX.
18. Denver
Date: 11-13 Oct, 2021
Location: United States
An Event Apart Denver is a three-day conference with an intense focus on digital design, UX, content, code, and more, giving you deep insights into where we are now and where things are going next.
19. San Francisco Event
Date: 13-15 Dec, 2021
Location: San Francisco
An Event Apart San Francisco is a three-day conference with an intense focus on digital design, UX, content, code, and more, giving you deep insights into where we are now and where things are going next.
20. Big Design
Date: 13-15 Dec, 2021
Location: Dallas, United States
Formed on a dare over 10 years ago, Big Design believes people are better together. So, we can create opportunities for people to learn, share, and grow. Experience, wisdom, and creativity solve problems, which is on full display at Big Design.
Conclusion
The UX conferences and events are some of the most convenient ways to understand your place in the UX industry. And update your understanding of where you are in comparison with competitors, leaders, and the younger generation. In UX design conferences, the UX professionals and leaders from product or service companies will share their experiences and answer your questions. By attending these UX conferences and events, you can avail yourself of the opportunity to chat with industry peers about processes, UX practices, and design everyday life.
