Skip to main content
News & Events

UX Speaker Series

text illustration with words in a starburst pattern (innovation, discovery, service, business, technology), and HCDE UX Speaker Series Winter 2026

Each winter, the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering welcomes designers, researchers, and technology leaders to campus for a 10-week UX Speaker Series. Join us on Thursday afternoons to hear how industry experts are shaping the future of user experience across sectors.

2026 UX Speaker Series

 Thursdays, Winter Quarter
January 8 – March 12
4:30 – 5:20 p.m.
Sieg Building, room 134

All events are free and open to the public. Talk details and recordings will be posted here as they are available throughout the quarter.

January 8

Liz Juhnke

UX Principal Designer, Home Depot

Go Big or Go Home

📝   Details 

January 15

Eva Snee

Director of User Experience, Databricks

UX Research in a Changing Industry

💻   Watch 

January 22

Sena Janky

UX Manager, Fluke Corporation

Designing Influence: UX Advocacy Across An Organization 

💻   Watch 

January 29

Julie Kientz & Emily S. Lin

HCDE, UW
Practicing Democracy Project, Harvard Kennedy School

A Fireside Chat on Human Centered Design for Civic Tech

📝  Details 

February 5

Julie Zhuying

Staff UX Manager, Gemini AI Security, Google

Beyond the Screen: UX Leadership in the Era of AI

📅  Save 

February 12

Nicole Washington

Product Designer II, Xbox

Early-In-Career Advice: Ask Me Anything

📅  Save 

February 19

Yuan Zhuang & Rajiv Pennathur

Senior Manager, User Experience Research, Expedia (Yuan Zhuang)
User Experience Researcher, Expedia (Rajiv Pennathur)

Thriving in a Changing World

📅  Save 

February 26

Dr. Matt Klenk & Dr. Matt Hong

Toyota Research Institute
Director, Future Product Innovation (HCAI) (Matt Klenk)
Senior Research Scientist (Matt Hong)
📅  Save 

March 5

Carolyn Wei

UX Research Lead, Instagram, Meta 
📅  Save 

March 12

Jess Holbrook & Mike Davidson

Head of UX Research, Microsoft AI  (Jess Holbrook)
Corporate VP, Design & User Research, Microsoft AI  (Mike Davidson)
📅  Save