Preview: Pixel Pioneers Belfast 2018

When and where is it on?
Pixel Pioneers, returning to the Belfast Waterfront on 23 November, is a one-day, one-track community conference for web/UX designers and front-end developers, preceded by a day of workshops and a free warm-up event.

How many years has it been going?
This is the second Belfast event. There have also been two conferences in Bristol.

What was the inspiration to start it?
I wanted to create a web conference that’s not in London or other big cities in Europe because these are well-served. I wanted to create a conference with a diverse and world-class speaker line-up that is affordable and predominantly aimed at vibrant digital communities in the UK, which is why I started Pixel Pioneers in Bristol and Belfast. The idea was to make it accessible to small agencies and businesses as well as freelancers and students.

What exciting things can people look forward to?
The conference will cover cutting-edge techniques in UX design and front-end development. The very practical and inspiring talks will cover ecommerce design; new web technologies such as CSS Grid, Web Components and Custom Properties; designing an intuitive navigation; CSS for the next billion users; inclusive design; profitably integrating design into a business; the icon process, and much more.

Speakers include Smashing Magazine co-founder Vitaly Friedman, Samsung developer advocate Ada Rose Cannon, product design leader Jane Austin, customer experience pioneer Gerry McGovern, digital artist Brendan Dawes, icon designer Jon Hicks and Google Developer Expert Ire Aderinokun, who’s coming over all the way from Nigeria.

On the day preceding the conference, 22 November, Vitaly Friedman will also run a workshop on Smart Responsive UX Design Patterns (which I highly recommend), and there’s a half-day Adobe XD deep dive (for just £25) as well. Both workshops take place in the MAC.

What opportunities are on offer for those attending?
There are plenty of networking opportunities at the conference itself, but also at the free Shopify side event on 22 November, an informal evening of short and informative design-focused talks. An Evening With Shopify will take place at the Black Box, and details will be announced soon.

How can people book tickets?
Tickets are available from the Pixel Pioneers site. Bundles for the conference and Vitaly’s UX Design Patterns workshop include a saving of £45 per ticket, and the four-hour Adobe XD deep dive costs just £25 to cover the catering. Student tickets are half-price, and there’s also a group discount for teams of 5 or more. Contact the organiser for details.