Web Directions Conffab
Stream and download nearly 1,000 presentations from hundreds of world leading experts at 50 conferences…and counting
With free and paid levels, keep up to date with all that's happening in our industry at your own pace.
What's next in the world of digital design, product and strategy?
Next may be a brand-new event from us, but its DNA goes back to our earliest days.
Imagine a super concentrated day of our most engaging keynotes and talks. Opportunities to connect meaningfully with others who get excited about this stuff as much as you do.
That's Next which will help you chart what's next in product, design and strategy.
If your focus is front end development, we've got you covered with Web Directions Developer Summit taking place right before Next.
Covering cutting edge technologies and practices current in front end engineering–from the back, to the front, of the front end and is created for Javascript developers, Front end developers, React developers, Full Stack developers, Design Engineers, Front End Engineers, UI Engineers, Product Engineers, Design Systems experts, and Engineering leadership.
Featuring world leading speakers and the topics your team needs to be on top of now.
A full day of deeply experienced, thoughtful speakers, providing insights to help you as a product, design and engineering leader, and chart the future for your career and organisation.
Throughout the day the folks from Playgrounded will enhance our learning experience.
Over the last 50 years human-centred design was embraced by companies seeking to develop better experiences and to drive innovation. However, there is mounting evidence that placing the consumer at the centre of the design process is actually harming human wellbeing, as its narrow focus is damaging the global systems essential to our prosperity.
Life-centred design – an emerging design framework – obliterates the idea that humans are at the centre of everything. It expands human-centred design methods to consider all creatures and the planet.
Life-centred design extends the human-centred model by adding a responsibility perspective. This includes carefully considering the environmental (i.e., the impact on the planet and ecosystems) and ethical (i.e., the unintended consequences for people and communities) values of design proposals alongside technology, business and human concerns.
"Since the release of Thaler and Sunstein's famous Nudge book in 2008, the popularity of nudge theory has skyrocketed, with over 200 Nudge units now operating worldwide. The appeal is clear: small, low-cost interventions yielding measurable effects on large populations. But have we leaned too heavily on these individual-level strategies? Critics argue that while nudges are effective, they often neglect the bigger picture—overlooking the systemic factors driving human behaviour. In this talk, we'll explore the potential of tools from systems analysis to bridge the gap between the current practice and the potential of applied behavioural science to develop and implement value-creating systems-level change."
Sentient Design is the already-here future of intelligent interfaces: AI-mediated experiences that feel almost self-aware in their response to user needs. This is so much more than chatbots (and also much less, in exciting ways). Sentient Design moves past static presentation to transform user experiences into radically adaptive stories, conceived and compiled in real time. This experience design will animate the next generation of our craft.
There’s a lot, a lot, a lot going on here—tons of new opportunities, tons of new pitfalls. How do we realize the benefits while contending with the risks? Designer Josh Clark shares a framework of principles and techniques that you can apply in your own work today (yes, today!). It’s about AI, but also not.
By focusing on people instead of technology, Sentient Design offers a chance to build systems that bend to human needs, instead of the reverse. Josh explains how we can do it.
In this era of post-scarcity where the volume of data across the world doubles in size every two years and everything is one ChatGPT prompt away, the question arises: How do we channel this abundance into innovation and creativity? Jack Zhao delves into the evolution of data visualisation over the past decade, examining its trajectory through the interplay of data, people, and purpose. This exploration aims to equip the audience with practical strategies to foster innovation.
Stories Still Fucking Matter in a Data-Driven World.
We’re living in the age of information overload. Time is precious. Why not cut to the chase and absorb knowledge in its purest form?
Because that’s not the way knowledge works.
Sometimes, the only way to really get at the truth is through a lie. And that’s not just a metaphor — it’s a fundamental aspect of how our brains work, how we learn, and how we grow.
Jon Bell, a designer who tackled disinformation at Twitter, will present a collection of inspiring feature ideas for the future of social media. Some concepts were explored by his team but never implemented, while others draw inspiration from emerging platforms and still others go further afield in challenging our ideas of what social media can be. This talk will imagine what a truly great social media experience could look like, offering a blend of practical, tangible feature ideas and broader long term goals.
Jon Bradshaw knows marketing –as an executive, consultant, and highly respected voice for decades in the industry. Here he challenges the $700 billion martech industry with eye-opening evidence on the limitations of data-driven advertising.
Drawing on recent research and his own expertise, Jon will discuss why broad-reaching, contextual ads often surpass targeted approaches, both in effectiveness and cost-efficiency. This session will question long-held beliefs and encourage a critical reevaluation of how we use data in marketing. And of the dominant privacy-intrusive business model of the mar-tech industries.
Digital money has taken on a rather bad reputation of late, but what if the transfer money could be as frictionless, and inexpensive as the exchange of information enabled by the internet? Just as TCP/IP transformed the way information was exchanged, and drove the cost of that transfer inexorably lower, the interledger protocol, a W3C standard, aims to do that for payments and the transfer of value.
Already connecting traditionally unbanked communities into the world’s financial systems, the protocol opens opportunities for new business models and value exchange.
How might it transform what we do online and in the physical world?
The next big idea for the web? Rewilding it. We need to treat it like a damaged and degraded natural habitat – it’s a huge, scary job to fix the web’s many social and economic harms, and its monocultural fragility, but a few key and courageous changes will help it to regenerate itself.
To get there, we need openness and competition, interoperability, transparency about how we fund key infrastructure like browsers, and lots of room for new business models.
This keynote will inform and inspire you, empowering you to think bigger and better about how we build and maintain a web that supports us all.
On November 28th the day before Next is the rare chance to spend a day with UX and Design legend Josh Clark and his new workshop Sentient Design.
Sentient Design is the already-happening future of intelligent interfaces—experiences that feel almost self-aware in their response to user needs. These are AI-mediated experiences that adapt to humans, instead of making us adapt to them. Sentient Design moves past static info/layouts and embraces UX as a radically adaptive story, experiences that are conceived and compiled in real time based on your intent in the moment.
This workshop explores the AI-powered opportunities that lie beyond the chatbot—and that will animate the next generation of our craft. This transition demands fresh perspective, technique and process. It also introduces new challenges and dangers. Sentient Design provides a framework for conceiving, exploring, and delivering this new kind of experience.
Attend Next by itself, or add our Developer Summit or the extra special Josh Clark workshop Sentient Design.
There's great bonuses for you and your organisation when you attend as a team
$1995
Includes
$1495
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$795
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$895
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$695
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$295
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In-person conferences and workshops are fully catered (morning and afternoon tea and lunch) including any dietary requrements. Our conferences feature amazing coffee (and more). Next also features a closing reception.
Streaming passes include access to the conference livestream on our very own platform Conffab, includiing live captioning and chat, access to the stream on demand after the event and to the conference videos when they become available.
We know it's valuable to attend, to learn from our experts, and make connections in the industry. So, to make our events as affordable as possible, we have special pricing for a range of attendees.
If you're paying you're own way–contractor, freelance, consultant, independent–whatever you might call yourself use the code freelancenext when you register, and pay just $495.
If you work in education–as an educator or otherwise for an educational institution, then you'll pay just $495 with the code edunext
As a not for profit, register with the code nfpnext, and pay just $495.
Not everyone is ready, or able to get back to in-person events. Others find online conferences provide greater accessibility. So we'll be streaming Dev Summit, on our very own streaming platform Conffab.
Drawing on our lessons of hosting over a dozen online conferences in recent years, streaming attendees will get live captions, and be able interact with in-person attendees, ask speakers questions, and feel a close as possible without being at the venue.
Web Directions Next 2024 will take place in November at an exciting new venue–The Frank Gehry architected Dr Chau Chak Wing Building at UTS.
There are numerous public transport options, and parking available close by.
If you're coming from out of town, there are many hotel and serviced apartment style accomodation options in and around the area.
Keen to connect with those in the industry shaping its direction? Then Next is for you.
We work closely with our partners and their technologies to deliver world leading online conferences. Contact us totalk about how we can help you be even more awesome.
With free and paid levels, keep up to date with all that's happening in our industry at your own pace.
John Allsopp has been working on the Web for nearly 30 years. He's been responsible for innovative developer tools such as Style Master and X-Ray, and his ideas formed the foundation for Typekit, now Adobe Fonts, and the entire concept of Responsive Web Design. He's spoken at numerous conferences around the World and delivered dozens of workshops in that time as well.
His writing includes several books, including Developing With Web Standards and countless articles and tutorials in print and online publications.
His "A Dao of Web Design" published in 2000 is cited by Ethan Marcotte as a key influence in the development of Responsive Web Design, who's acclaimed article in 2010 begins by quoting John in detail, and by Jeremy Keith as "a manifesto for anyone working on the Web".
John brings his deep knowledge of and passion for the web and all things digital to every aspect of Web Directions.
Co-founded and now run by John Allsopp, Web Directions has for nearly 2 decades years brought together leading developers, engineers, visual, IxD, UX and product designers, Art and Creative Directors, product managers indeed everyone involved in producing web and digital products to learn from one another, and the World's leading experts across this vast field.
We spend our lives thinking about what comes next, keeping up with trends in technology, practices and processes, and filtering the hype, to make sure you don't miss trends that matter, and don't waste time on hype that doesn't.
We promise attending one of our events will leave you significantly better versed in the challenges you face day to day, and in solutions for addressing them.
For over a decade, we've worked hard to create inclusive, fun, inspring and safe events for the Web Industry.
As part of our commitment to these values, we've adopted a code of conduct for all involved: ourselves, our speakers, our partners and our audience.
If you have any concern or feedback, please don't hesitate to contact us.