Interaction 23

Call for proposals

The grid system, Helvetica, and melted cheese are elements first defined in Switzerland and are now used to design around the globe (well maybe not the cheese!). For 2023, we’re inviting you back to Switzerland to (re)define the power of design together.

Play an active part in Interaction 23

To be defined… a conference, and a manifesto?

Interaction 23 is a call — a call to formulate essential design positions about how we want to (re)define life across the planet. The inevitable transformations of personal lives and social structures have gathered momentum. As doomsday narratives arise, so do the hopes of long-term systems change.

We’ve outlined everything you need to submit a proposal for an interactive and engaging talk, webinar, workshop, session, or panel. Come and take a stance in the midst of these new beginnings!

Join us to undesign the defined; to design the undefined!‍

What can be (re)defined?

‍Pick your format: There’s a wide range of options — 7, 15, or 35-minute talks, and half-day or full-day workshops. We’re looking for speakers offering diverse perspectives, specific case studies, or hands-on design approaches in one of our areas to be (re)defined by design:

• design decision-making processes
• enable decentralization for the better
• create New Work experiences
• lowering the environmental impact of technology
• establishing design ethics
• (re)design interaction design
• or a topic to be defined by you‍

Our approach to curation

Equity and inclusion

Our aim is to enable a broad and diverse speaker lineup, so you’ll find a set of optional questions in the submission form that won’t be shared with the team during our first review.

The Program Committee, who curates our final selection, will use this optional information from an inclusion and parity perspective.‍

First time speakers are welcome! Non-native English speakers are welcome! Our team is open to 1:1 coaching with you. Or present your talk in your first language! If you’re not confident in writing your proposal in English, don’t worry! We’ll handle the translation work.‍

Our process

Your proposal is peer-reviewed by members of the IxDA community — our selection committee. The review process starts when the Call for Proposals opens — proposals are reviewed as they are received.

We review on the basis of quality, speaker experience, and how well the proposal aligns with other presentations to create a narrative, keeping in mind our overall aim: diversity of points of view.

The selection committee might contact you, before or after our first review, with a request to merge or combine your proposal with another proposal. This will only happen if there’s an overlap between the proposals.

We’ll be using these criteria to evaluate:

1. Does the proposal have clear outcomes and key takeaways that participants will get out of the session?
2. Does the proposal speak to, involve, or collaborate with one or more of our conference audiences?
3. Does the proposal offer something interesting, useful, innovative, or important to the event?
4. Does the proposal support our aims to present and amplify diverse voices in our community?‍

Key dates

6 July — 4 Sep: The Calls for Proposals is open. We start reviewing submissions as they are received

End of September: We’ll send first notices to all proposals recommended for our final review stage.

Mid-October: We’ll send final notices to all submissions selected for the program.‍

Feedback

We’ll provide brief feedback on any proposal not selected.‍

Get ready to start your submission

We know that organizing your proposal can seem daunting, so we’ve made this handy checklist for you to gather your thoughts before you start:

• Title of your session
• Teaser (A Twitter-style description of your talk)
• Format (Talk? Workshop? Roundtable?)
• Description of your session
• Three key takeaways
• Your connection to the topic‍

Once your proposal is submitted, you’ll receive a confirmation email — make sure you check your spam folder if you don’t find a message in your inbox!

‍Questions?

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any doubts or questions, or if we’ve missed something important!

You have until 4 September 2022 to submit.