Theme 2025: Designing with Intelligence – UX in the Age of AI
We are entering a new era of design — one where interfaces fade and intelligence becomes ambient, embedded, and adaptive. Artificial intelligence is no longer about chatbots or assistants that wait for commands. It is integrated into our devices, our workflows, and our habits — learning from us, adapting to us, and reshaping how we engage with technology.
“We’re not designing apps anymore. We’re designing companions.” — inspired by Patricia Reiners, AI for UX Specialist
This year’s theme asks us to explore: What does UX mean when screens are no longer the center? How do we design for gesture, voice, emotion, or invisible feedback? What role should we play when AI is learning and acting on our behalf? Where do ethics, inclusivity, and trust fit in these new contexts?
Where Trends Are Going: UX & AI
For those designing local events, here are four key directions shaping the future of UX in the age of AI. These are not just technical evolutions — they are cultural, social, and deeply human:
- Invisible Interfaces – From smart glasses to ambient agents, UX is moving beyond the screen. Designing for voice, spatial interaction, and subtle feedback is now a core challenge.
- Predictive and Contextual Personalization – Experiences are becoming responsive to time, place, emotion, and behavior. UX is no longer static — it adapts moment by moment.
- Emotional Intelligence and Affective UX – AI systems are learning to recognize emotion and mood. Designers must consider affective states in how systems respond, notify, or adapt.
- AI as Co-Creator in the Design Process – Designers are now working with AI — not just using it. From idea generation to wireframes and copywriting, AI is becoming part of the team.
These points are offered as inspiration. You’re invited to interpret them based on your culture, language, audience, or area of expertise.
Our Global Responsibility
As UX professionals, we are not only shaping experiences. We are shaping systems that influence decisions, behaviors, and society at large. “Let’s make GPTs and all deep-learning AIs more humane.” — Don Norman, July 27, 2025
In his most recent call, Don Norman reminds us that we must act like other responsible scientific communities — building technology with care, ethics, and a deep sense of humanity.
This year, we invite everyone to reflect on: How do we design systems that are inclusive, transparent, and safe? How do we prevent overload, bias, and manipulation? How do we embed ethics into every design decision, not just at the end?
We are no longer designing tools. We are designing relationships, companions, and cultural systems.
What We Invite You To Do
IxDD 2025 encourages local organizers to interpret this theme freely. There is no right format — what matters is meaningful connection and reflection. Your event can take the form of a talk or panel, a hands-on workshop, an exhibition, screening or design installation, a classroom project, or community conversation, or even a micro-event in your studio, company, or city. We encourage: interdisciplinary participation, elevation of underrepresented voices, culturally relevant interpretations of the theme, and experimental formats and approaches.
Everyone Can Celebrate IxDD – IxDD is for everyone.
You don’t need to be a designer or an organizer to take part. Every person can contribute something meaningful — a post, a quote, a thought. 
Ways to participate: Share a quote or a short insight about this year’s theme, publish a post on Instagram or LinkedIn, invite a local school or company to get involved, or reflect in your language, your way. 