WDC is a grassroots community conference for anyone who makes stuff for the web. Join us for a day of talks, chats and laughs, and an evening of more chats and more laughs.
* that we could afford on an indie conference budget while corporate events hoover up every ounce of industry mindshare to shill their own products.
With talks covering topics from across the web and beyond. You're sure to leave the wild and wonderful wold of WDC with smidgens and tidkits of amazing advice.
WDC2024 schedule of talks and events
In her 8 years working on design systems, Amy has witnessed incredible advances in our ability to make things more efficient. But is that a good thing?
In this talk, Amy explores the downsides of speeding up and scaling our existing practices, and what happens when we use design systems instead as agents for meaningful change.
Join me on a journey as a Customer Service Representative through the eyes of a UXer. With over half a decade of experience in various customer-facing roles abroad and in the UK, I will tell a tale demonstrating the similarities and lessons learnt during my transition into the vast and forever-changing world of UX Design.
What does it take to build a good community, and how can we set members of those communities up for success? In his talk, Josh will use his experience of building tech communities for the past 15 years to dig into the makeup of a good community, and how we can all work together to make our industry a better place.
TBC
At Smartbox we create technology that gives people with complex access needs a voice. This talk will explore the people we meet, discuss how we build interfaces for them to participate in conversation and how it interacts with the platforms and services that we are expected to engage with. It will explore our inclusive design practice and highlight how any organisation can bring more unheard voices into their processes and development.
Web Components are a way to enrich standard HTML with new behaviours by creating custom elements! Join me as I share my experience of developing complex design systems as well as custom open-source tools, all with the power of Web Components.
When we create things people love, they are more likely to buy them and advocate for them, right? As designers we all know this, but in uncertain economic times there is pressure to ship fast and design later.
In this talk, we'll explore how to make a strong case for doing things right from the start. Through a real world example, I’ll share insights on measuring success for an executive-level audience, highlighting strategic approaches to gain investment and demonstrate value. Finally, we'll discuss how to measure the before and after of projects, effectively communicating success and the transformative impact of research, ensuring that its value is recognized and acted upon. Good design is good business, so let’s prove it.
CSS is the most powerful design tool in the world. Typography, layout, animation, it can do it all and well. So why aren’t we supposed to actually design with it? How did it get relegated to a mere implementation tool, for realising design work created with lesser tools? It doesn’t make sense. Not until you look at the dysfunctional way web design and front-end development has evolved, according to an illegitimate "logical versus creative" binary..
The Golden Guinea - View map
WDC is taking place at the Watershed, an independent cinema and creative arts centre on Bristol's harbourside. They've been championing the creative arts for forty years and have served as WDC's home for the last seven. We love it here, and know you will too.
