GEDS founder and SXSW advisor Gulay Ozkan shares her SXSW2021 recommendations
As part of SXSW 2021’s Design and Space track advisory boards, I wanted to share my recommendations for the top sessions to watch out for at this year’s online event. Different from the festival’s routine, all conference sessions will be available on-demand, with channel content posted on the same day they air.
This year’s event has fewer sessions than the previous in-person festivals. So, I expect the content quality in this year’s event to be even higher than in previous years.
Here are my picks for you:
By Jess Holbrook
When: Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Availability: On-Demand
Human-centered design as a term has been around for some time. However, factors such as the environment and all living beings and now AI have made people think whether this conception of design centered on humans has run its course. Jess Holbrook of Google will talk about how we combat this and what’s next for design. His talk will go back to the relational aesthetics movement and thinking deeply about group participation and the role of the user. This is an important topic that you may want to follow.
2- Psychology in Architectural Design
By Joel Anderson and Stacey Speck from Cushing Terrell, Tamie Glass from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, and Sam Gosling from the University of Texas at Austin Psychology
When: Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Availability: On-Demand and Live Chat with Speakers
In the strategic design space, user research is quite common and has become an industry norm. It would be interesting to see the approaches of the architecture world and how they are used in practice. In this session, the speakers will focus on the questions such as: Can space shape the experience? And, How can we design spaces that encourage healing, learning, and productivity? In this session, research results of better understanding emotions people value in different spaces of the built environment will be shared. The research focuses on common areas in offices, healthcare facilities, education, and retail space. I would recommend this session to see the context of user research in architecture.
3- Designing the Hyperloop Passenger Experience
By Sara Luchian of Virgin Hyperloop, John Barratt of Teague, Jakob Lange Of BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, Joel Beckerman of Man Made Music
When: Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Availability: On-Demand
Designing the hyperloop passenger experience is certainly an attractive title for any creative. Speakers from disparate industries are coming together to share how Virgin Hyperloop approached designing its passenger experience, ensuring that the future hyperloop travel experience is inclusive, immersive, and intuitive. Can’t wait.
4- 2021 CX Report: Safety Eats the World
By John Maeda
When: Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Availability: On-Demand
One of the classics of SXSW is John Maeda’s CX report. This year’s theme is
“Safety Eats the World” in the wake of the cancellation of SXSW 2020. The presentation will cover the trends for greater human safety in the workplace and at home in experience design and technology for both the private and public sectors.
With SXSW2021, we will experience a new generation of online event.
5- Creative Machines: AI & The Future of Design and Media
By Ian Beacraft
When: Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Availability: On-Demand
We’re all aware of the fact that machines will be part of creative production. Futurist Ian Beacraft will talk about how synthetic media and computational design are inspiring all sorts of machine-assisted creativity and how they’re changing the overall creative process. He will share some cutting-edge tools to demonstrate their power, show their impact on workflow, and see how they’ll power the future of new platforms like the Metaverse. All creatives should follow the discussions about machines joining the creative production.
By Loren Grush of the Verge, Alexander Macdonald of NASA, Daniel Suarez of Delta-v, Joe Landon of Lockheed Martin
When: Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Availability: On-Demand
This session is part of the Space track but when I was looking at it, I found its context moving. It points out that space could be the next “Gold Rush.” A host of voices in fields as diverse as finance and astrophysics have predicted that Earth’s first trillionaires will be minted in space through asteroid mining, 3D printing, and satellite servicing. Exciting!
7- Design for our Changing Times
By Benjamin Hubert of Layer
When: Wednesday, March 17, 2021, 7:30 PM to 7:55 PM
Availability: Channel Content
The pandemic has certainly had a huge impact on how we design things. Award-winning design entrepreneur Benjamin Hubert of strategic design agency LAYER will share his insights into using design to meet the challenges of the pandemic and post-pandemic era. A current hot debate.
8- Bruce Mau: Designing for the Cluster
By Bruce Mau
Thursday, March 18, 2021
Availability: Channel Content and Live Chat with Speakers
Bruce Mau is an author and design entrepreneur who will focus on how the problems he calls “the cluster” – pandemics, racial and social justice, climate, food insecurity, and governance – are interrelated and have their origins in a fundamental crisis of empathy. Hopefully, he will also share how to redesign them.
9 – Forging a New Social Contract for Big Tech
By Margrethe Vestager of the European Commission, Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen of the government of Denmark, Senator Amy Klobuchar, United States, and Tristan Harris of the Center For Humane Technology
Friday, March 19, 2021
Availability: Channel Content
Governments and society realized that Big Tech’s impact on society is a big issue. I personally also follow these discussions and have written a piece on the topic. This SXSW session brings experts from the European Commission, the Danish government, the U.S. Senate, and former Google design ethicists to discuss the role of technology companies in the 21st Century and what a new “social contract” could look like for Big Tech – in both Europe and the United States. I wouldn’t miss it.
10 – Mentoring and Networking Sessions, Exhibitions, and Online XR parties
This year’s mentor sessions also offer a great chance to connect with industry experts such as David Dylan Thomas, Christine Park, Douglas Scott, Bessie Lee, and Jessie McGuire.
The networking sessions offer the opportunity to meet people through XR parties and some private sessions that require passcodes provided by the hosts.
You should also check creative industries exhibitions.
