Tokyo · Nov 14–15, 2026
The conference about digital design
Spectrum Tokyo Community · 50% off
Spectrum Tokyo × Design Matters
Design Matters is an international conference about digital design. The global design community gathers in Tokyo for two days of talks and workshops across four themes.
As Design Matters’ operating partner in Japan, Spectrum Tokyo offers our community 50% off. Same event, same lineup, same official checkout. Wherever you are — if you’re part of the Spectrum Tokyo community, this rate is for you.
This year’s talks and workshops revolve around four themes, chosen together with the board.
Speed is easy. Slowing down is a skill.
Speed is easy; slowing down is a skill. This theme treats intentional restraint as intelligence, not nostalgia. Being human means processing, questioning, and choosing with care — so we can think deeper and design better.
Information is abundant. Meaning is not.
Information is abundant; meaning is not. Amid data saturation, judgment and taste are formed through intuition and accumulated experience — not datasets alone. Designers must commit to a position, even within ambiguity.
We are not interfaces. We are human.
We are not interfaces; we are human. This theme centers on connection beyond digital mediation — empathy as practice, inclusion as responsibility. What happens after the click, the scroll, after the system has done its job?
The role is shifting. So the question becomes harder.
The role is shifting, so the question gets harder. As tools evolve faster than titles, we navigate uncertainty by strengthening the human skills — communication, collaboration, taste, responsibility — that resist automation.
Two days of talks and workshops. All times are Japan time (JST).
9:00–10:00
Breakfast
10:00–10:20
Main Stage
Welcome to Design Matters
10:20–10:40
Main Stage
Introduction to the Conference Themes & Networking
10:40–11:00
Main Stage
The life of a composer
11:00–11:20
Main Stage
Designing for Everyone — Especially the Bots
11:20–11:40
Break
Talks & Networking
Main Stage
11:40–12:00
Networking Session
12:00–12:20
When Content Refuses to Sit Still
12:20–12:40
Designing With Youth for Inclusive Futures
12:40–13:00
If It Takes a Crisis, It’s Too Late: Can Design Act Before Systems Break?
Workshops · Workshop Room
13:00–14:20
Lunch
Talks
Main Stage
Workshops · Workshop Room
15:50–16:10
Break
16:10–16:30
Main Stage
Making things work: The role of pendulum thinking approach in the age of AI
16:30–16:50
Main Stage
D.O.R.A.: What Can an Ancient Tradition Teach Us About Designing with AI?
16:50–17:10
Main Stage
The Expanding Designer
17:10–17:20
Main Stage
Closing
17:20
Reception
20:00
After Party
9:00–10:00
Breakfast
10:00–10:20
Main Stage
Welcome to Design Matters
10:20–10:40
Main Stage
Creating Your Own World
10:40–11:00
Main Stage
You Are What You Pay Attention To
11:00–11:20
Main Stage
Stopping to Notice
11:20–11:40
Break
Talks
Main Stage
11:40–12:00
Networking Session
12:00–12:20
Mind the Gap
12:20–12:40
Co-Designing Adaptive Futures During Times of Uncertainty & Conflict
12:40–13:00
Looks Like Airbnb: The Illusion of Good Design in the Age of AI
Workshops · Workshop Room
11:40–13:00
Sketching the ‘-ish’
13:00–14:20
Lunch
Talks
Main Stage
14:20–14:40
Designing for Nervous Systems: What Motherhood Revealed About Delight
14:40–15:00
Improvisation Isn’t Chaos: What Jazz Teaches Us About Thriving in an AI-Driven Workplace
15:00–15:20
Enterprise Rigour Minus the Enterprise
15:20–15:40
‘The System Said No.’ Designing Ideas That Survive Risk-Averse Environments
Workshops · Workshop Room
14:20–15:50
Practical Design in the Era of AI
15:50–16:10
Break
16:10–16:30
Main Stage
Feel it: Why Design Should Be Closer to Decision-Making
16:30–16:50
Main Stage
Fast ≠ Good
16:50–17:10
Main Stage
Wrap-up & fun session
17:10
Main Stage
Closing!
17:30
See you again next year
Speakers joining from around the world. More to be announced.
“The life of a composer”
“Mind the Gap”
“You Are What You Pay Attention To”
“Decolonizing Generative Artificial Intelligence: Who Gets Left Out?”
“When Content Refuses to Sit Still”
“Designing for Nervous Systems: What Motherhood Revealed About Delight”
“Designing With Youth for Inclusive Futures”
“Feel it: Why Design Should Be Closer to Decision-Making”
“Creating Your Own World”
“Stopping to Notice”
“D.O.R.A.: What Can an Ancient Tradition Teach Us About Designing with AI?”
“Improvisation Isn’t Chaos: What Jazz Teaches Us About Thriving in an AI-Driven Workplace”
“Looks Like Airbnb: The Illusion of Good Design in the Age of AI”
“A Matter of Perspective: Immersed Realities”
“Fast ≠ Good”
“If It Takes a Crisis, It’s Too Late: Can Design Act Before Systems Break?”
“Designing for Everyone — Especially the Bots”
“Co-Designing Adaptive Futures During Times of Uncertainty & Conflict”
“Designing Designers for the AI Era: A Competency-Based UX/UI Curriculum from Day One”
“The Expanding Designer”
“Enterprise Rigour Minus the Enterprise”
“Making things work: The role of pendulum thinking approach in the age of AI”
“‘The System Said No.’ Designing Ideas That Survive Risk-Averse Environments”
“TABULA RASA - A deliberate reset”
“Practical Design in the Era of AI”
“Designing Collective Wellbeing: A Regenerative Visioning Workshop”
“Designing Endings: Rethinking How We Leave the Field”
“Sketching the ‘-ish’”
DMM.com Head Office
Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower, Roppongi, Tokyo
Right in the heart of Roppongi, Tokyo.
View on Google Maps →
Spectrum Tokyo’s community gets 50% off. Purchase right here below.
spectrumtokyo Applied automatically at checkout. If it isn’t, enter the code above.
Attending as a team or company? Group-discount tickets are also available — please apply via the dedicated form for details.
