Everything you need to know about Hatch Conference 2024

The Basics

Hatch Conference is a 3 day event happening in Berlin and streaming (one day) online. This year we'll have 500+ participants on-site and over 700 participants online joining us to learn, connect and get inspired.

With the topic "Beyond the Standard" we've focus the curation on everything that is counter-intuitive, yet effective, and the ways teams and designers have innovated in a world that is rapidly changing.

Besides this, we've taken really in consideration all of last year's feedback together with the surveys we received this year for all of those who got invitations. Our team worked hard on fitting the program of this year to something that is truly relevant in today's (tough) job market, and we've made some important changes:

• We focused on speakers and facilitators that are makers and experts in the field, instead of "famous" speakers or motivational keynote presenters. So expect "lesser known" names, but with more powerful things to present.

• We will be exploring the changes that AI is bringing to the discipline, but not from a future-thinking perspective, but rather a practical approach. Featuring only content that has applicable use.

• To that last point, the question of the role of the Design Craft after things like Gen AI is something that we want to generate conversation around, and we are bringing very interesting speakers from all side of the argument pool to give their perspective.

• Lastly we will be featuring prominent figures in design teams speaking about their view on design maturity, as well as the current job market, the pressure on design teams, and more.

Day-by-Day Breakdown

Day 1: Design Craft Day

100 Spots – Single Ticket €450

We see a clear counter-movement to the rise of AI where designers who excel on their craft, end up winning. While the impact of GenAI in design is uncertain, there is real demand for designers with great visual design, accessibility and design systems skill. So the first day of Hatch will focus exactly on the future of the Design Craft, with five full-day workshops to pick from:

1. Advanced Accessible Design Systems Components with Karen Hawkins, CPACC (Level Access)

2. Creating a Consistent Icon System with Filip Greš, creator of GriddyIcons

3. Mastering and Implementing Design Tokens with Lukas Oppermann, Staff Systems Designer, Github

4. Designing for Complex UIs with Vitaly Friedman

5. User Experience for Extended Reality (XR) with Annalena Hörter, Creative Designer at Immersive Insiders

The day will also include breakfast and lunch for everyone, and once it's over you'll be able to join our Mixers: Satellite events around Berlin, free to join, that act as small meetups for anyone interested.

Day 2: Design Strategy & Ops

80 Spots – Single Ticket €600

Responding to the second trend on Design Maturity and the importance of Design becoming involved in Strategy, we are creating a special day to give designers the tools to do exactly that. With a similar formula to last year's Leadership Ateliers, but allowing participants to pick between 8 half-day workshops with stellar facilitators:

• Kate McElroy, Strategic Design Director at Mayone

• Ray Ho, Design Director at BlackMarket

• Jeroen Otte & Marlen Thieme, Managing Director and Service Designer at Koos

• Caitlin Sullivan, Founder at UserResearch Studio

• Patrizia Bertini, Design Ops Strategist at 8x8

• Cal Thompson, VP of Design at Headspace

• Kate Syuma, Growth Advisor and ex Miro

• Martina Mitz, UX Psychologist and Strategic Designer

As last year, we'll wrap up the day with a delicious 3-course meal in the historic dome which will make a great closing for an unforgettable (and very relevant!) day.

Day 3: Conference Day

400+ Spots – Single Ticket €330

The big event this year will expand the Main Stage, as well as incorporating the Dome as a second stage with an extra capacity of 150 people. We hope for some good weather and lots of outdoor activities, food stations, etc.

The biggest change n the program is the incorporation of a Live Podcast studio where some favourite design podcasts will record a live episode with an audience.

We'll slowly start announcing speakers each week, and roundtables will follow starting in May. You can expect the following topics across both stages:

• Multi-disciplinary designers

• AI, Patterns & Ethics

• Custom Design Tooling & Automation

• XR & UX

• Taking care of your team & avoiding burnout

• A Panel on Job Security

• The impact of the EU Accessibility Act

• Identifying what's hype and what is worth following

Among others.

How to join

You can join us from anywhere in the world booking online tickets from Friday on (Starting at €40 for teams, or €50 for single tickets) or join in Berlin by applying for an invitation to get a voucher to purchase tickets, also from Friday, starting at 9 am.

We have limited capacity, and especially the workshops might get full fast, so if your company will be paying we would suggest placing the requests sooner rather than later, as we expect tickets to last not much longer than they did last year.

We're looking forward to seeing you all in Berlin or Online!