On September 16–17, Europe’s UX community will once again turn its attention to Vienna, where the uxcon vienna 2026 conference will be held in the historic building of the University of Vienna. The two-day event will welcome professionals working in UX design, UX research and digital product development with more than fifty talks, workshops and professional sessions. This year’s programme places particular emphasis on the rise of AI, the transformation of user research and the business value of digital products.
600 UX professionals are heading to Vienna
The event will be hosted by the University of Vienna, where 52 professional sessions will take place. Organisers expect around 600 participants from 43 different countries to travel to the Austrian capital.
The conference is primarily aimed at UX researchers, designers, product owners and customer experience professionals, but the programme also covers a wide range of topics that may appeal to a broader professional audience interested in digital product development, AI or the way technology companies operate.
AI is already reshaping the UX profession
Artificial intelligence is one of the strongest themes in this year’s programme. Several sessions will look not only at how designers can use AI tools, but also at how AI is changing the user experience itself and the role of the profession.
Elizabeth Churchill, a well-known expert in Human-Computer Interaction, will discuss how intelligent technologies are changing the interaction between people and digital systems. Barbara Kofler, a design professional at eBay, will explore why the right prompt alone is not enough to design the behaviour of an AI product, while Christian Gonzalez, UX Research Lead at Google, will focus on scepticism towards AI.
Jonathan Kahati from Microsoft will speak about some of the less obvious challenges involved in developing AI features, while Lizette Spangenberg will examine the harm that can be caused by algorithmic systems that fail to adequately account for certain groups of users. Her workshop will illustrate the issue through examples including faulty biometric systems, insensitive recommendation engines and automated solutions that exclude vulnerable users.
Wise, Qonto, Netflix and Nielsen Norman Group take the stage
The uxcon vienna speaker line-up also includes professionals from several companies well known in the worlds of fintech and digital finance.
Didier Hilhorst, Vice President of Design at Qonto — who previously worked with Uber as well as Robinhood and Trade Republic — will explain why good design is also a business decision. Wise will be represented by Design Director Nikki Godley, whose work focuses on the design processes, systems and platforms supporting the company’s international expansion.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to hear from experts from Netflix, Microsoft, Google, Anthropic, Nielsen Norman Group and Back Market, among others. James Lang, Head of User Research at YouTube, for example, will examine how the role of researchers is changing as they move from advisory positions towards becoming more active creators and product builders.
From dark patterns to the future of UX
The programme will not focus exclusively on technology. Privacy activist and noyb founder Max Schrems will explore the legal boundaries of user experience optimisation and the point at which an efficiently designed digital interface can become manipulative or turn into a so-called dark pattern.
The conference will also devote particular attention to the changing nature of the UX profession itself. As part of the “Pulse of UX” research project, the organisers are examining how professionals are experiencing the industry’s current transformation, what new expectations they are facing and how much uncertainty has been created by the technological changes of recent years.
Alongside theoretical talks, the event will feature hands-on workshops, panel discussions and community programmes. The conference will be preceded by a warm-up gathering on the Danube Canal on September 15. After the two official conference days, the first-ever Future Builders event will take place on September 18, focusing specifically on the future of product development teams and aimed at experienced design, engineering and product professionals.
Vienna will become one of Europe’s UX hubs in mid-September
The uxcon vienna programme clearly shows that in 2026, professional discussions around UX extend far beyond the design of interfaces and user journeys. From the operation and business value of artificial intelligence to data protection, algorithmic decision-making and the future role of professionals, the event will address a range of issues that could shape the digital products of the coming years.
uxcon vienna 2026 will take place on September 16–17 at the University of Vienna, Universitätsring 1. Tickets and further information about the conference and its related programmes are available on the event’s official website: https://www.uxcon.io/
(Cover image: AI-generated)
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