2026 Speakers

Tara Franz is an experienced UX Research professional with a strong background in leading research initiatives across various companies, including Meta, Earnin, Oculus VR, and Facebook. She has held leadership roles such as Director of UX Research at Meta, where she leads research on Meta Avatars and identity in the Metaverse, and Head of UX Research at Earnin. Her experience also includes managing research projects, communicating user insights, and specializing in qualitative methodology and moderation. Additionally, Tara has experience in market research, social research,  entrepreneurship and non-profit management. She has worked with clients like Rolex, Adidas, and Citi Bank, and has led non-profits like the Howe Sound Women’s Center. As a young professional leading in technology by co-founding a computer services and web development company in the late 90’s Tara knew she would be working in technology and the continuous shift and evolution of culture through technology and with the businesses that enable these shifts. It’s no surprise that her last four years have been dedicated to working on the future of the Metaverse at Meta.

With a career spanning over 25 years, Constantine Gavrykov is a Product and Design Leader who delivers impactful results at the intersection of human behavior and disruptive technology. His journey has taken him from heading Product Design at AAA game developer Wargaming to leading digital experience for global apparel & sports giants like adidas, Tommy Hilfiger, and Calvin Klein.

Today, as Senior Director of E-commerce Product Design at Decathlon, Constantine champions an AI-driven approach to design leadership and is a passionate advocate for mindful technology. Originally from Kyiv, Ukraine, and based in Amsterdam, he speaks regularly on the responsibility tech leaders have to shape a positive future. Join him as he explores emerging trends to drive meaningful change in our industry

Judy Ma is a UX Design Director at Microsoft, where she leads the studio modernizing Microsoft.com into an AIpowered, adaptive web experience for consumer and commercial audiences. With 20+ years in UX and product strategy, Judy has built awardwinning design teams, helped bring 100+ products to market for 100M+ users, and holds 14 utility and 45 design patents. Her work has been featured in Wired, Fast Company, and Medium, and she won First Prize in the DMI: Design Value Award for the 3M Performance Matrix. A frequent keynote speaker—including CES and leading UX/design conferences—she is known for advancing AIdriven personalization and evidencebased design. Judy was recently recognized as an Honored Listee by Marquis Who’s Who. Her approach blends rigorous research, experimentation, and a
relentless focus on user outcomes. Her recent work explores the intersection of AI and design ethics, and she is passionate about mentoring emerging talent in the field.

Greg leads a multidisciplinary UX organization at Oracle NetSuite, driving design systems, Ai-enabled workflows, and platform-wide experience strategy. With over 20 years of experience across fintech, SaaS, and government services, he has scaled design teams, strengthened cross-functional collaboration, and delivered product innovation at both startups and global enterprises. Passionate about advancing UX leadership, Greg helps senior practitioners chart high-impact career paths beyond traditional design roles. He frequently speaks on the future of UX leadership, career progression, and how Ai is reshaping design practice and business strategy.

Dr Emmanuelle Savarit is Global Head of UX Research at a leading global food delivery platform, where she leads a strong research team of close to 30 UX researchers across 19 markets.

She brings over 20 years’ leadership experience in UX research and digital transformation across consultancy, government, finance, education, and technology. She founded Analyse Concept Ltd, delivering projects for the award-winning GOV.UK programme as well as HSBC, RBS, Adecco, IG Group, and EF Education First. Her career has since included senior roles at Thomson Reuters, the UK Department for Education, EF Education First, Facebook, Refinitiv/London Stock Exchange Group, and now a global platform in food delivery.

Emmanuelle is the author of Practical User Research: Everything You Need to Know to Integrate User Research into Your Product Development (Apress, Springer) and the forthcoming The UX Research Powerhouse: The Foundation of Strategic UX Research Leadership (October 2025). She holds a PhD in Psychology (University of Surrey), is a SAFe practitioner, GDS Assessor, and Graduate of the European Women on Boards C-Level Programme.

She sits on the advisory board of AI start-up STAI, delivers executive masterclasses on data and leadership, and hosts the UX Research Club podcast. An advocate for women in business and technology, she is pursuing the FT NED Diploma to expand her governance expertise and contribute to boards engaging with innovation and long-term impact.

Rudy Bortolini is Global Head of UX at ASSA ABLOY, where he drives the company’s global user experience strategy and maturity journey. With over 20 years in design leadership, he has built and scaled UX functions, established design operations, and introduced multi-brand digital design systems used across Divisions and teams worldwide.

At ASSA ABLOY, Rudy has positioned UX as a strategic capability, shaping principles for accessibility and sustainability while coordinating teams of designers, developers, and stakeholders. He has led the creation of best practices for UX research, including surveys, usability testing, and accessibility studies, ensuring insights are shared and applied across the organization. He has also evangelized UX at scale, developing frameworks, guidelines, and training programs that support consistent adoption and maturity growth. His work has directly supported more than 50 digital solutions, from mobile apps to transactional websites and the UX community growth from few to more than 70’s talent.

Before joining ASSA ABLOY, Rudy worked at Electrolux, where he led global design projects and delivered award-winning UI solutions for Electrolux and AEG appliances. He also directed the Product Graphic Design team, defining new visual languages, typographies, and icon systems across the global product portfolio.

Rudy holds a Master’s degree in Graphic Design from IED – Istituto Europeo di Design. Outside work, he is an audiophile, free diver, and builder with a strong passion for art, music, and craftsmanship. Rudy has also been and artist active both in Europe and in US.

Mara is a UX design leader and strategist who brings psychology, empathy, and storytelling together to create meaningful user experiences. With a background leading design for global brands like Shutterfly and Sleep Number and consulting for brands like Estée Lauder, Mara is passionate about how behavioral insights can transform the way teams innovate. She’s known for her ability to make complex ideas simple and spark conversations that connect data, design, and human behavior.

Sarah Zama is Head of User Experience at the University of Oxford, leading the UX Centre of Excellence to embed user-centred design anddigital accessibility, across the university’s digital ecosystem. She focuses on enabling teams to build capability, community, and culture around UX, rather than simply delivering projects. Sarah is interested in the intersection of innovation, user experience, and technology – especially in environments where resources are lean and the pressure to scale across many domains is high. Her style is collaborative, strategic, and anchored in doing UX with people, not to them.

Kathryn has more than 20 years experience in marketing and UX research, digital strategy, and product design. She currently leads research for Warner Music Group, developing digital products for global recording artists, indie labels, and fans. Prior to joining Warner Music, Kathryn led Integrity Research for Instagram, where she was responsible for user safety and the AI and machine learning algorithms guiding feed ranking, search and recommendations. Kathryn has spoken on the topics of UX research, digital strategy, social media safety, and AI at universities and conferences all over the world. She is excited to discuss the Future of UX Research at UX360!

Nancy Liu is an executive leader with 25 years of experience in smart home design strategy, human-centered research, and UX/UI design. She has directed global design teams across the U.S., Asia, South America, and Europe, uniting creative vision with business strategy to produce award-winning products. Passionate about the future of innovation, Nancy integrates AI into the design process and inspires organizations to harness its power for new possibilities.

Venessa is a renowned design leader, speaker, and problem solver who specialises in creating experiences that meet business and customer needs. With a proven track record of building design practices and teams for brands such as Vodafone, Rightmove, and UK tech unicorn Cazoo, she is currently the Global UX Director at Dye & Durham. Through her blog, Venessa shares her invaluable insights and learnings on UX and design leadership.

Aryane Serconek is a Lead User Researcher at H&M, where she works to make research accessible and actionable across the organization. With over 15 years of experience in UX and consumer insights, she has helped global teams turn user understanding into meaningful design and business decisions. Aryane is passionate about empowering designers to lead research confidently, scaling research operations, and fostering a culture where insights drive decisions.

Carlos is a strategic global UX Research Leader with over 15 years of experience in UX and market research. He has experience in industries such as tech, retail, banking, and others. Carlos's expertise spans both qualitative and quantitative research, which he leverages to influence decision-making and amplify the customer's voice within cross-functional teams. He is also a dedicated advocate for diversity and inclusion, actively contributing to the advancement of the Pride community.

I am a UX research leader - passionate about everything research. Coming from a multi-disciplinary background, I had the opportunity to work at different companies: startups, consultancy, large enterprises, B2B, and B2C. This has given me various perspectives on the organizational challenges UX teams face. Having a strong background in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and a deep understanding of research ops, allowed me to work with the best teams, where I fell in love with this discipline. As I've made the transition to UX leadership, I am now enjoying new challenges of building and scaling research teams. Measuring UX, amplifying research influence, and enhancing storytelling are some of my latest professional interests.

Jessica, a digital designer with over 25 years of experience, brings passion, creativity and a deep understanding of how to create exceptional user experiences to every project. With an extensive portfolio in higher education, association and non-profit clients, she now helps deliver actionable, user-centered experiences to workplace retirement plan participants. She’s driven by a dedication to simplifying complex ideas with the power of thoughtful, informed design.

Jazmin has a background in print and digital editing, content strategy, and marketing. As a UX researcher she enjoys making sense of the most complex problems and turning questions into actionable solutions. She supports the B2C and B2B digital product teams in Retirement Plan Services by delivering large-scale generative research, conducting usability studies, managing research operations and disseminating insights to the broader organization.

Madison Van Oort is a Senior UX Researcher at SiriusXM Radio, where she investigates the evolving needs of core listeners to inform product strategy and drive acquisition, conversion, and retention. Her recent work focuses on evaluating AI research tools and their impact on UX workflows. She brings several years of experience conducting research in the media and retail industries. Before joining SiriusXM, she researched AI-powered loss prevention at Instacart, contributing to the development of smart shopping carts. Madison holds a PhD in Sociology and is the author of several peer-reviewed articles and a book published by MIT Press.

Aminata Kaba is a UX Researcher at SiriusXM Radio, where she focuses on the listener experience by investigating how core users search, navigate, and discover content across the app to inform product strategy. Her recent work explores the role of AI in UX research and assesses how AI tools can support and challenge research workflows. Before shifting to the listener side of the business, Aminata conducted research on advertising and monetization products within SiriusXM Media, giving her a holistic perspective across both user and business needs. Aminata holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Morgan State University where she was a part of the Black Venture Capital Consortium as a UX Research Student Consultant.

Maryam’s journey into UX research began in science, where she earned a PhD in neuroscience studying brain and behavior. Her curiosity about how people think, decide, and act eventually led her from the lab into industry, where she now brings the same spirit of exploration to the product world. At Zooplus, she works closely with designers to create user-centered experiences while experimenting with new and innovative research approaches. A mixed-methods researcher at heart, Maryam is passionate about choosing the right method for each challenge and rethinking how research itself can evolve to better support teams and users.

Scott Smith is a Vice President, UX Research at JPMorganChase in Model Risk, focused on risk reduction in the model development lifecycle. Scott thrives at the intersection of business objectives and user needs, helping align teams toward strategic product delivery backed by human-centered insights.
Scott has 15+ years’ experience delivering research insights that advance business value. His foundation is in economic research, consulting for 10 years in Big 4 public accounting firms to help major multinational companies make informed decisions through structured interviews, economic benchmarking, and extensive report writing. He progressed into UX research in 2019 to improve organizations’ ways of working with software by focusing on strategic alignment, decision-making based on behavioral data, and workflow efficiency. Ultimately, the tools used at work should be a delight, not a drag.
Scott is a lifelong musician, having performed and toured widely as a drummer. His creative background deeply informs his approach to inclusive design, research, and leadership. He believes design has a great opportunity to serve all humans with accessibility, empathy, and a deeper connection to the human experience.

With nearly 20 years of international experience, Shuo-hsiu Hsu’s design career is built on a unique foundation of industrial design, computer science, and hands-on UX practices. After advancing UX research and innovation at Philips and Orange Labs—resulting in significant scientific publications and patents—he channeled this deep practitioner experience into his role in aviation.
With his demonstrated vision in maturing the design practice, he introduced DesignOps frameworks and contributed to the foundations of ResearchOps. Today, he leads UX/UI governance and manages the cross-divisional UX community at Airbus, continuing to scale design excellence across the company.

Marcos Rezende is a Senior Product Designer at Microsoft Canada, focused on AI-powered experiences that improve employee engagement in SharePoint through Copilot. With 15+ years of experience, he brings a systems-thinking approach to complex challenges. Outside of work, he prototypes AI tools in real contexts, combining design, code, and model behavior to explore how emerging technologies shape user experience.

Wolfgang Bremer is a German-Canadian design veteran with over 20 years of experience.
As a design leader in multiple Fortune 500 companies and high-growth startups, Wolfgang has led global design teams and built products used by hundreds of millions of users in 190+ countries.
With a unique blend of design and product expertise, an entrepreneurial mindset, and an excellent eye for detail, Wolfgang is a recognized expert in user-centered solutions. His passion for exceptional design helps shape the future of technological innovation.
In short, Wolfgang loves building products and simplifying people’s lives.
Wolfgang Bremer is a German-Canadian design veteran with over 20 years of experience.

Roger Rohatgi is a visionary global design leader renowned for driving digital transformation and creating exceptional customer and user experiences. With a career spanning iconic brands like Verizon, Twitter, Hyundai, Motorola Solutions, bp, and networks such as MTV, ESPN, and NBC, his award-winning portfolio showcases achievements in sustainable and inclusive design, international film accolades, and honors like the Oracle CX Innovation Award.

A multidisciplinary innovator in design, tech, AI, TV, and film, Roger's work has been featured in Fast Company, Wired, USA Today, and Forbes. A sought-after keynote speaker, he has shared insights at forums including Harvard, MIT, Cannes, The Economist, Reuters, and the UN Goals House on topics ranging from CX, AI, and the metaverse to sustainability to DE&I. Beyond his creative accomplishments, he serves as an Advisory Chief Design Officer for Design For Good, leveraging the power of design to address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and create meaningful impact.

Tino Klaehne is a seasoned innovation expert specializing in Strategic Innovation & Intelligence. He decodes emerging futures and creates agenda-setting insights. Currently, he is building strategic intelligence for the Lufthansa Group.

A designer by training, Tino also holds an MBA in Innovation & Business Creation from the Technical University Munich. Before joining Lufthansa, Tino led design teams at renowned design studios and companies across all Design Thinking and Doing phases. He has gained extensive cross-industry experience ranging from consumer electronics to public transportation across products, software, and services.

Rob Youmans is a User Experience (UX) Director at Google, working in the area of Generative Artificial Intelligence. He is currently the Director of UX Research for Google Workspace, where he oversees the integration of GenAI technology into Google's Workspace productivity tools including Gmail, Sheets, Slides, Docs, Meet, Vids, and other emerging products. Previously, Rob was the Design Director for YouTube Studio (studio.youtube.com). Rob has taught design and research at the University of California, Berkeley, the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and George Mason University, and was the founder and first Director of Google's Swiss UX Apprentice program. Rob is currently the Google Site Lead for Google product offices in North Carolina.

Leah is a leader in User Research and Insight and Strategy, specialising in transforming how organisations understand and serve their customers. With well over a decade of experience in UX and product research across global,  and high-growth industries, she has built and scaled research functions into Centres of Excellence - embedding robust methods, frameworks, and a deeply customer-centric culture across product teams.

Beyond research, Leah’s strategic work extends into shaping how teams operate - aligning people, processes, and purpose to unlock their best performance. She believes that when people are empowered within the right environments, great products naturally follow. Her approach integrates human insight with organisational strategy, helping businesses not only get closer to their customers but also evolve the ways they collaborate, innovate, and make decisions.

Lars Lischke leads global UX Research for Elsevier Corporate Markets, helping R&D-driven organizations—particularly in pharmaceuticals and life sciences—accelerate knowledge discovery through advanced information solutions. His UX research spans the entire product lifecycle, from strategic early opportunity exploration to iterative design validation. Passionate about scaling research impact, Lars also drives Research Operations (ReOps) initiatives that streamline recruitment, execution, and documentation across teams. Before joining Elsevier, he was Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. He received his PhD from the University of Stuttgart, Germany.