UX Speaker Series: Dr. Matt Klenk & Dr. Matt Hong, Toyota Research Institute, 'Reimagining Physical Product Design with Generative AI'
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.
All events are free and open to the public.
FEBRUARY 26
Dr. Matt Klenk & Dr. Matt Hong
Toyota Research Institute, Reimagining Physical Product Design with Generative AI
GenAI technologies are fundamentally transforming creative work. For physical product design, startups and established companies have introduced a rapidly expanding array of creativity support tools that upend professional design practice from ideation to realization. In this talk, we will introduce how the Future Product Innovation team at Toyota Research Institute is taking advantage of this moment to holistically look at the physical design process and how promising new technologies may lead to outsized impacts on the business. We will introduce two…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Sieg Building (SIG). Campus room: 134 Sieg Building. Accessibility Contact: mewing3@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, February 26, 2026, 4:30 PM – 5:20 PM.
For more info visit www.hcde.washington.edu. Op-Eds for Academics | IN-PERSON Workshop
Op-eds for Academics (In-PERSON) is a hands-on workshop hosted by Society + Technology at UW and the Center for an Informed Public designed to help you translate your research into compelling public commentary. Academic research is deeply relevant to pressing issues of our times, but it can be challenging to know how to reach audiences beyond the academy.
This workshop helps you build practical skills for bringing your expertise to a wider audience by focusing on the ins and outs of op-ed writing. We’ll kick off with a brief panel discussion from members of the UW community who have written op-eds, then we’ll discuss how you can do the same -- from identifying a timely hook, crafting a persuasive short piece, and navigating the submissions process. Come prepared to hear from colleagues, use resources, and participate in interactive exercises. The ambitious may leave with a draft op-ed and a concrete plan for submitting it. Everyone will gain a clearer understanding about how to write for new audiences.
RE…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: 115 ABC. Accessibility Contact: mmjones@uw.edu. Event Types: Workshops. Target Audience: Society + Technology at UW and CIP community of researchers interested in translating their work.
Tuesday, March 3, 2026, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
Room 115 ABC - Perkins Coie Room
School of Law, William Gates Hall
University of Washington
4293 Memorial Way NE, Seattle, WA 98195.
For more info visit tinyurl.com. Op-Eds for Academics | ONLINE Workshop
Op-eds for Academics (ONLINE) is a hands-on workshop hosted by Society + Technology at UW and the Center for an Informed Public designed to help you translate your research into compelling public commentary. Academic research is deeply relevant to pressing issues of our times, but it can be challenging to know how to reach audiences beyond the academy.
This workshop helps you build practical skills for bringing your expertise to a wider audience by focusing on the ins and outs of op-ed writing. We’ll kick off with a brief panel discussion from members of the UW community who have written op-eds, then we’ll discuss how you can do the same -- from identifying a timely hook, crafting a persuasive short piece, and navigating the submissions process. Come prepared to hear from colleagues, use resources, and participate in interactive exercises. The ambitious may leave with a draft op-ed and a concrete plan for submitting it. Everyone will gain a clearer understanding about how to write for new audiences.
REGIST…
Event interval: Single day event. Online Meeting Link: https://washington.zoom.us/j/99188530818?pwd=nSPkfsSWUUu0sDzd6bPXi5EaZwXk98.1. Campus room: 115 ABC. Accessibility Contact: mmjones@uw.edu. Event Types: Workshops. Target Audience: Society + Technology at UW and CIP community of researchers interested in translating their work.
Thursday, March 5, 2026, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM.
ONLINE.
For more info visit tinyurl.com. UX Speaker Series: Carolyn Wei, UX Research Lead, Instagram, Meta
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.
All events are free and open to the public.
Talk titles and descriptions will be added as they become available.
MARCH 5
Carolyn Wei
UX Research Lead, Instagram, Meta
Navigating Cross-Generational Research
How do researchers surface authentic insights from a population whose lived experiences differ from their own? This talk explores practical methods for studying Gen Z with rigor and reflexivity—distinguishing life stage effects from true generational differences, designing research that minimizes projection, and translating findings for teams building products and experiences. Attendees will leave with frameworks applicable to any cross-cohort research context.
Carolyn Wei is a user experience research lead at Instagram…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Sieg Building (SIG). Campus room: 134 Sieg Building. Accessibility Contact: mewing3@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, March 5, 2026, 4:30 PM – 5:20 PM.
For more info visit www.hcde.washington.edu. HCDE Course Showcase: Service Design (HCDE 529)
Join the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering for our end-of-quarter course showcases and view projects by current students. Light refreshments will be provided.
Find additional Winter 2026 Course Showcases on the HCDE calendar. Course Showcase: Service Design (HCDE 529), Instructor: Tyler Fox
Five student teams will share proposals for services that strengthen social infrastructure, addressing community needs through research-driven design. This is a great opportunity to see how HCDE students apply service design methods to real-world challenges.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Sieg Building (SIG). Campus room: SIG 232. Accessibility Contact: hcdehelp@uw.edu. Event Types: Exhibits. Special Events. Target Audience: HCDE community, prospective students, and friends of the department.
Tuesday, March 10, 2026, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM.
HCDE Course Showcase: Usability Research (HCDE 417)
Join the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering for our end-of-quarter course showcases and view projects by current students. Light refreshments will be provided.
Find additional Winter 2026 Course Showcases on the HCDE calendar. Course Showcase: Usability Research (HCDE 417), Instructor: Mina Zavary
Get a look inside HCDE! In Mina Zavary's Usability Research course, student teams will present final projects based on quarter-long studies of products including Apple Photos, Apple FindMy, RyanAir, and OBS Streaming, and HeyTEA. See how students plan studies, gather user data, and turn insights into design recommendations.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Sieg Building (SIG). Campus room: SIG 329. Accessibility Contact: hcdehelp@uw.edu. Event Types: Exhibits. Special Events. Target Audience: HCDE community, prospective students, and friends of the department.
Thursday, March 12, 2026, 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM.
UX Speaker Series: Jess Hollbrook & Mike Davidson, Microsoft AI
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.
All events are free and open to the public.
Talk titles and descriptions will be added as they become available.
MARCH 12
Jess Hollbrook & Mike Davidson
Head of UX Research for Microsoft AI (Jess Hollbrook)
Corporate Vice President, Design & User Research, Microsoft AI (Mike Davidson), About the presenters, Jess Holbrook has spent the last 12 years researching how people's lives can be meaningfully improved with AI at Google, Meta, and now Microsoft where he leads UX Research for the Microsoft AI team. Prior to that, he was Director of UX Research for Generative AI and Responsible AI at Meta. He got his start in human-AI research at Google where he was a founder and lead of Google’s People + AI Research group (PAIR). His…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Sieg Building (SIG). Campus room: 134 Sieg Building. Accessibility Contact: mewing3@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, March 12, 2026, 4:30 PM – 5:20 PM.
For more info visit www.hcde.washington.edu. Digital Humanities Lecture: Tonia Sutherland, "Resurrecting the Black Body: Race and the Digital Afterlife"
RSVP Recommended: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/resurrecting-the-black-body-race-and-the-digital-afterlife-tickets-1981903329209?aff=oddtdtcreator
In this talk, Resurrecting the Black Body, Sutherland examines the consequences of digitally raising the dead. Attending to the violent deaths of Black Americans–and the records that document them–from slavery through the present, Sutherland explores media evidence, digital acts of remembering, and the rights and desires of humans to be forgotten.
Tonia Sutherland is an Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Development in the School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of Resurrecting the Black Body: Race and the Digital Afterlife (University of California Press, 2023). In addition to being the Founder and Director of PENDULUM and The Black Memory Collective. She also serves as Co-Director of the Community Archives Lab at UCLA and Co-Founder and Co-Director of AfterLab at the University…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Henry Art Gallery (HAG). Accessibility Contact: Simpson Center for the Humanities, 206-543-3920, schadmin@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, March 12, 2026, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM.
HCDE Course Showcase: Directed Research Group - Co-Creating Solutions for FIFA World Cup Transportation Challenges
Join the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering for our end-of-quarter course showcases and view projects by current students. Light refreshments will be provided.
Find additional Winter 2026 Course Showcases on the HCDE calendar. Course Showcase: Co-Creation for Enhanced Collaborative Operations of Diverse Stakeholders Addressing Large, Complex Problems | an HCDE Directed Research Group, Instructor: Mark Haselkorn
Join HCDE for final presentations from this Directed Research Group, where two student teams will share proposals developed for Sound Transit to address transportation challenges during the FIFA World Cup. See how students collaborate with external partners and stakeholders to co-create solutions for large-scale, real-world infrastructure needs.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Sieg Building (SIG). Campus room: SIG 420. Accessibility Contact: hcdehelp@uw.edu. Event Types: Exhibits. Special Events. Target Audience: HCDE community, prospective students, and friends of the department.
Tuesday, March 17, 2026, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM.
What Does Law Mean in Crisis? How Crip Feminist Technoscience Will Save Us with Ly Xīnzhèn M. Zhǎngsūn Brown
In a world ablaze with crisis, this lecture explores crip feminist technoscience as a tool for survival and resistance—offering disabled wisdom to reimagine justice, regulate AI, and challenge empire, white supremacy, and late-stage capitalism through a disability justice lens.
Registration opens on March 10, 2026.
Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: lectures@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Diversity Equity Inclusion.
Thursday, May 21, 2026, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM.
Town Hall Seattle.
For more info visit www.washington.edu.