Camp Digital is one of Studio 24’s favourite annual conferences. I was delighted to accompany our Head of Delivery, Claire McDermott, to this year’s event at the wonderful Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester.
If you are looking for a conference to inspire and illuminate, then Camp Digital is the conference for you. We enjoyed a range of talks on all things design and digital: trauma-informed design, working in the open, human/AI collaborations, compassion in product design, and how maps lie.
Here’s a summary of my favourite talks, from an amazing lineup of creative and compelling speakers.
Hera Hussain – the transformative power of participatory and trauma-informed design
Hera, accompanied by her 3-month-old son, discussed how rigid processes can hamper design creativity. By encouraging user participation in the design process, websites and apps can be built through the eyes of those who will actually benefit from them.
Trauma-informed design principles include safety, agency, equity, privacy, accountability, and hope. Adhering to these deeply important principles helps to ensure a level of trust and accountability between those designing and building web applications and those who stand to benefit from them.
Matt Jukes – the power, peril, and privilege of working in the open
This talk resonated with me and Claire because of our working in the open with W3C. This was the first time Studio 24 had made all project decisions, processes, and learnings available for public scrutiny. We had great empathy for Matt’s journey!
Matt defined working the open as:
- Thinking out loud
- Showing your working
- Being authentic
- Sharing successes
- Being honest about failure
Matt also highlighted that not everyone appreciates working in the open and advised the audience to consider colleague and client concerns, primarily the importance of truly thinking things through before posting.
Alex Blandford and Katherine Wastell – getting things moving in a system that doesn’t want to
This candid talk highlighted some of the key factors potentially at our disposal to move a project or an organisation forward, including friendships, skillsets, money, and influence and how these levers can be utilised in achieving our goals. All good things for a Project Manager like me to be reminded of.
“If you’re junior, you probably don’t know everything that’s going on. If you’re senior, you definitely don’t know everything that’s going on.” – this quote helped to highlight that having the most (or least) perceived influence sometimes isn’t the only important factor in getting things moving in the right direction.
Dr Zeynep Engin – the confidence game: designing trustworthy human-AI collaborations
AI in the public sector needs to be trusted by the citizens that use it. This enlightening talk covered the critical issue of how we govern future human/AI relationships and manage extreme AI risks amid rapid progress in this field. Zeynep discussed how we need AI that we can justifiably trust and that any oversight must be dynamic and proportionate in nature.
Michael Palmer – can universal truths lead to better software?
This was one of my conference highlights. It was an inspiring discussion regarding Michael’s own journey and the importance of humility, empathy, integrity, community, and ongoing gratitude in product design.
These factors were described as key in helping to break down silos, improve knowledge-sharing and decision-making, and enhancing psychological safety by truly listening and seeing feedback as a tool rather than a threat. This part of the talk particularly resonated with us as we’ve been working towards building a culture of feedback at the studio.
Per Axbom – the spectacular lies of maps
The final talk of the day was a light-hearted and engaging presentation, helping us to appreciate the numerous different map projections and how each format can completely change how we perceive the world. The next time I am presented with a map, I am ready to ask the right questions!
Camp Digital 2025 delivered everything it promised. It was a thought-provoking and enjoyable conference, and I really liked that human experience was central to all the talks. I always like getting back to my desk after a conference, feeling energised by ideas, inspired by speakers, and ready to make some changes!