Design thinking is a popular way for creatives to solve problems and find innovative solutions for clients. The various design thinking processes, tools, and techniques have even begun to be adopted by social and business organizations because of its effectiveness for focusing on the client or user. One of the best ways to connect with others about this trending design thinking approach is at a conference where designers, innovators, executives, and business leaders discuss its impact and methodologies. The following design thinking conferences are some of the most popular from around the world. Give them a look to see what might be happening this year. Contact us if you’d like to put on your own design thinking conference for your organization -virtually or on-site.
RGD DesignThinkers
This conference is the premiere conference for design thinking in Canada. Operating annually, DesignThinkers offers an inspiring two day event that allows attendees to exchange a variety of ideas in the areas of design thinking, communications development, and branding. For progressive creatives looking for a leg up in their process, the attending DesignThinkers can be transformative.
Design Sprint Community Events
Google’s original Sprint Conference was an invitation-only gathering for design sprint practitioners. Today the design sprint community meets through Google’s Global Sprint Chapters and community events such as those run by Design Sprint Academy, which bring together executives, designers, and facilitators who use sprints to test ideas quickly.
Smashing Conference
Created with the understanding that experiential learning is a powerful tool, Smashing Conference gives attendees an inside look into the way designers and developers utilize design thinking in creating web applications. This conference is brand new and offers a wealth of interactive plenaries and sessions. Featuring speakers from around the world, it is definitely a design thinking conference to keep tabs on.
Service Design Week
This design thinking conference is focused on optimizing the customer experience through service design. This may be a great option for you if you are interested in taking your business to the next level through customer-centered design and innovations.
Design Management Institute’s Design Management Conference
In addition to offering workshops on design thinking, the Design Management Institute also curates the annual Design Management Conference in Europe. This conference gathers leaders in design thinking and management in a smaller setting to better facilitate networking and the dissemination of ideas. Featuring a variety of interactive sessions as well as speakers, attending DMI’s Design Management Conference is a great way to begin learning about design thinking in a broader sense.
Annual R&D Innovation Excellence / Design Thinking Summit
The annual R&D Innovation Excellence / Design Thinking Summit offers a special, separate program solely focused on design thinking. The design thinking wing of this summit offers attendees insight into how design thinking can be utilized in their organizations. With a strong, personalized focus on design thinking and its practices, R&D’s Innovation Excellence / Design Thinking Summit is a great choice for people looking to take a deep dive into design thinking.
Nueva School Annual Design Thinking Institute
This annual event is dedicated to sharing design thinking best practices and processes with other educators. Participants can learn to investigate the underlying mindsets of innovation with the intention of creating their own projects and facilitating events in their community.
Luxatia Design Thinking Summit
Another annual event, these two-day summits cover a range of design thinking topics. The previous summit focused on technology and how it can be used as a tool n the creative process. Featuring industry leaders and input from professionals at global brands, this event is sure to be interesting and rewarding to attend.
Service Design Global Conference
The Service Design Network’s annual Service Design Global Conference is the largest gathering in the field, bringing together more than 1,000 service designers, researchers, and leaders for three days of talks and workshops. It moves to a different city each year and is a strong choice for anyone applying design thinking to services and customer experience.
UXDX
UXDX brings product managers, researchers, designers, and engineers together to learn how cross-functional teams decide what is worth building and then deliver it well. With conferences in New York, Berlin, and San Francisco, it is a practical choice for teams applying design thinking inside product development.
From the United States and Canada to Europe and Amsterdam, design thinking is being talked about at conferences worldwide. If you’re interested in connecting more about the concepts and execution of design thinking principles, attending one of the above summits might be a great way to network with and learn from industry experts in this growing field. Better yet, organize your own design thinking conference! Even just a small event for your organization, community, or field can make an impact.
Top Design Thinking Conferences From Around the World
Check out our other posts about innovation conferences, organizational culture conferences, and training conferences for learning and development professionals.
What other design thinking conferences, summits, or conventions should we add to this list? Just let us know in the comments.
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Attending a conference instead? These guides help you turn sessions into action: using conferences for leadership development and applying Bloom’s taxonomy to learn from a conference.