UX Y’all 2026
September 24-25 • Raleigh NC
About UX Y’all
UX Y’all is a user experience conference that blends the latest UX trends with Southern hospitality, creating an unforgettable experience for attendees. The event celebrates the vibrant and diverse design and tech scene of the North Carolina Triangle area, showcasing the talent and expertise of local UX practitioners.
The conference will take place on September 24–25, featuring local UX speakers and keynote presentations sharing their knowledge and experience.
For the latest updates, subscribe to our newsletter or visit uxyall.org
Location
Marbles Kids Museum
201 E Hargett St, Raleigh, NC 27601, United States
While this is primarily an in-person event, we also plan to support attendees with access to all conference recordings. If you have any questions about conference options, feel free to contact us at info@uxyall.org
Keynote Speakers
Jeff Sauro, Founder and CEO of MeasuringU
Jeff is a Six-Sigma trained statistical analyst and pioneer in quantifying the user experience. He specializes in making statistical concepts understandable and actionable. He is the author of seven books, including Benchmarking the User Experience, Customer Analytics for Dummies and Quantifying the User Experience.
Keynote: Who's Really in the Loop? AI vs. Humans in UX Research
In this talk, Jeff will walk through the claims being made about AI in UX research and summarize the published literature and MeasuringU's own experiments in a scorecard on what AI can and can't do well, and why you still need to be in the loop.
Jessa Parette, Head of Design, Byte by Yum!
Jessa Parette is a design and product executive specializing in AI-driven platforms, design systems at scale, and the organizational conditions that determine whether technology investment actually changes how people work. She is currently Head of Design at Byte by Yum!, where she leads experience strategy for the company’s proprietary, AI-driven platform used by millions globally — and has previously held senior leadership roles at Walmart and Capital One.
Keynote: What Happens when the Interface Disappears?
Through live demonstrations and a practical framework for invisible interfaces, this session challenges decades of design assumptions and introduces a potential new way of thinking about trust, timing, emotion, and conversation in the age of AI.
Kate Moran, AI Strategist + Researcher, Ex-NN/G
Kate Moran has spent the past 16 years working in UX—11 of those years at Nielsen Norman Group, most recently as SVP of Research and Content. She now works as an independent consultant specializing in research-backed AI strategy. She's also a local, born and raised in Raleigh.
Keynote: Outgrowing the UX Greenhouse: Evolve to Thrive in AI era
For a decade, UX grew in a greenhouse. Business investment in design kept the field warm, watered, and growing. Now the watering has stopped, and UX is withering on the vine just as AI changes what counts as a "user interface"—and even a "user." Kate Moran thinks this is our chance to outgrow the greenhouse by pruning away what no longer works and focusing on what always did—the core philosophy we're rooted in.
Session Speakers
- Ruchira Biswas - Senior Product Designer @ SMRT Systems
- Eric Blumberg - Vice President, User Experience Research @ Fidelity Investments
- Jackson Bostian - Assistant Professor of User Experience Design
- John Carr - Senior UX Designer @ Red Hat
- Krysta Chauncey - Founder, Action Potential Acumen, LLC
- Stephany Dunstan – Research @ Lenovo
- Lizzie Edwards - Founder, GiveLoveStudio
- Bethany Faulkner - Staff Product Designer @ Pocket Prep
- Mark Ferencik - Senior Director of User Experience @ Optum/United Health Group
- James Gartrell - Co-founder & Principal UX Design Strategist, Purpose UX
- Shubham Jumde - Product & Marketing Designer @ SMRT Systems, Inc.
- Jonathan Kalinowski - Founder, convivial — small, by design.
- Catherine Louis - Founder, Global Agile Consulting, CLL-Group, LLC
- Tianhao Liu - Member of Technical Staff @ OpenAI
- Kat Martinuzzi - Senior UX Researcher @ Lenovo
- Elizabeth McRae - UX Researcher @ UNC Health
- Gregor Mittersinker - Founder, LOFT.design
- Olha Novikova - UX Designer @ Airlines Reporting Corporation
- Sangeeta Parakala - Product Design | AI & Complex Systems | 0-->1 Designer
- Juliana Ponton Viñuela - Senior UX Researcher & Impact Assessment Lead @ Lenovo
- Tanya Shearon - Senior Content Strategist @ Red Hat
- Kendall Standifer - Sr. UX Designer @ Airlines Reporting Corporation
- Rajeev Subramanian - Founder, Shift UX | Product Design Leader | Georgetown Adjunct Faculty
- Ingrid Towey - The Write UX! Principal Technical Editor & Writing Coach, Red Hat
- Russ Unger - Chief Experience Officer @ Agile Defense
- Sara Weir - Advisory UX Innovation Researcher @ Lenovo
- Yu Yuan - Senior UX Researcher @ Lenovo
For more schedule information visit
uxyall.org.
Refunds
You can request a refund until Friday, September 12 (one week before the conference). Refunds requested after 9/12 will only be honored if we are able to fill the seat from our waitlist.
You may also choose to:
- Transfer your ticket to someone else
- Donate your ticket
To request a refund or ask questions about the process, please email info@uxyall.org
If you have questions or issues with your registration, please reach out to info@uxyall.org.
