"Best conference content and experience in a very, very, very long time."
"Well-paced, engaging, and most importantly, a safe space."
"I'm ready to sign up for next year!"
"Exactly what we need more of in the world."
"What a much needed breath of fresh air."
"Definitely worth the price of admission!"
"I genuinely took something valuable away from every talk."
"Best conference content and experience in a very, very, very long time." "Well-paced, engaging, and most importantly, a safe space." "I'm ready to sign up for next year!" "Exactly what we need more of in the world." "What a much needed breath of fresh air." "Definitely worth the price of admission!" "I genuinely took something valuable away from every talk."
Throughline 2027 ・February 3-5 ・Online
It’s our future.
Let’s design it.
Register by November 8 for early-bird rates.
Who should attend
Experienced practitioners and leaders from any flavor of UX or product design. If you’re craving thoughtful takes and messy, nuanced conversations about where the field goes from here, Throughline is for you.
what you’ll learn
This year’s speakers will share real stories of how they’re adapting their practices, using new tools in ways that make them more relevant (not less), and making career decisions that are inspiring—and unexpected.
what you’ll get
Two days of practical talks and interactive sessions, plus an optional workshop day. All tickets also get you access to bonus panels, talks, and hands-on sessions in the weeks before and after Throughline.
Wednesday & Thursday, February 3-4
the main conference
Two days of talks full of strong opinions and practical recommendations to help you make sense of this moment in UX. Livestreamed to wherever you are.
You’ll hear talks about using narrative futures to navigate uncertainty. What marginalized communities already know about AI. How one UX leader shifted her team from reactive work to something truly strategic. What it looks like to leave UX—and how to know if it's time to quit. And so much more still to be announced.
Virtual conference. Real community.
Yes, it’s happening online. No, you won’t feel like you’re just watching videos all day.
Inspired by our friends at Button, we hold our conference chat on Slack—which transforms the experience from passive viewing to massive party. Connect with new friends (and maybe even employers). Start a thread for your messiest, meatiest conversations. Create a new channel to talk about a niche topic. Whatever you do, don’t miss the conference chat.
Friday, February 5
Workshop day
An optional day to go deeper on the skills that will get you and your work unstuck right now. These interactive, deep-dive sessions are capped at 40 people each, and tickets must be booked in advance.
Sophia Prater
Moving upstream: Systems design for business operations
UX strategy consultant and coach, OOUX
Kyle Alexander
Critique is the craft: Leading AI model design with a UX lens
Designer and writer
Head of design, stealth startup
Before and after
more community. more throughline.
Conferences are about learning—but they’re also about connecting. This year, you’ll have plenty of chances to make friends, supporters, and co-conspirators from around the globe.
Every conference ticket includes access to special events in the weeks before and after the conference. Think bonus panels and talks from brand-new voices in UX, workshops designed to help you focus your learnings and take action, and plenty of opportunities to talk with other attendees and speakers.
Details on this programming coming soon!
Brought to you by Active Voice
We’re Sara Wachter-Boettcher and Jen Dionisio, the team behind Active Voice—a tiny company on a big mission to make work better for people in design and tech.
We developed Throughline events because we know people in design and UX are experiencing rapid change—and our community needs spaces where people are willing to get real about it… without descending into doom and gloom. So we’re taking our years of experience running our own online workshops, group programs, and events, and using it to host larger conferences and other gatherings… because we know this field is full of some of the most creative, compassionate, whipsmart people around. And we want to be part of whatever UX becomes next.