[UX Week 2012 attendees enjoying lunch outside on one of the workshop days]

We're still putting the finishing touches on the program for UX Week 2013, but here's a taste of what you'll see in San Francisco this August.

First up, some of our keynote speakers:

Steven Johnson is the author of eight bestselling books on science, technology, and culture. His latest are Where Good Ideas Come From, on the creative processes that drive innovation; and Future Perfect, on how networked systems can drive social change.

Brenda Laurel is one of the pioneers in the field of user experience and the author of the classic book The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design.

Ze Frank is a prolific creator of online video series and collaborative art projects. Check out what he has to say about being a creative professional.

In addition to those, here are just a few highlights of the rest of the main stage program:

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For almost any conference, the talks that linger most with me are those that help me see things from different perspectives, especially if they give me insight into how design challenges are solved in other fields.

Three talks bubble up to the top in this sense, and if I could make a UX Week mixtape to hand out, three talks would definitely be on it, covering toy inventing, spacesuits, and the quest for creative inspiration.

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One of the most re-tweeted quotes at UX Week this week comes via Amy Hillman from Jensen Harris's keynote talk on the story behind Windows 8.

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From the beginning, we didn't want Adaptive Path to be just a consulting firm. We loved attending and speaking at events and saw putting on our own as a great way to share our knowledge, learn from others, and bring our community together.

We started small, with a single two-day workshop in 2001 that we took on tour around the United States in 2002. That went so well we decided to tackle something a little bigger—and UX Week was born.

For the first UX Week in 2003, we stuck to an all-workshop format, but the following year we expanded our scope to include conference-style presentations, including our first guest speakers, such as Doug Bowman and Jason Fried (before he was famous!). This established the basic UX Week formula we've maintained to this day: inspiration through talks about ideas and case studies, plus practical skills-building through hands-on workshops.

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We realize that our blog is turning into something of an events platform, but, really, we cannot contain ourselves. We are programming UX Week 2012 (which will be our 10th!), taking place August 21-24 in San Francisco, and we're excited to announce three keynote speakers: Stefan Sagmeister, danah boyd, and Jensen Harris. 

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I met Sarah B. Nelson in Spring 2006, as she was figuring out where she wanted a summer internship while she was getting her masters from the Institute of Design in Chicago. When she shared her student work, one thing stood out among the rest—a paper she had written on the creative process of the Neo-Futurists (PDF), a remarkable avant-garde theater troupe. Having seen them perform, I loved Sarah's deconstruction of how they work, and I knew that I wanted to work with anyone who thought like that.

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Seven weeks ago, an amazing group of about 500 creative individuals from around the world were all wrapped up in the warm n' fuzzy blanket of community and inspiration at UX Week 2011. UX Week is our biggest conference of the year and offers the opportunity to meet with friends (old and new), dig in deep with hands-on workshops and swap stories from the front lines of user experience. And, of course, hear from some great speakers on the main stage.

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Chris Risdon's blog post about the importance of documenting process as well as a recent Core77 article inspired us to share some of the thinking behind the visual design of materials for UX Week, Adaptive Path's big annual conference for user experience folk.

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Did you hear the good news? Paul D. Miller (a.k.a. DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid), composer, multimedia artist and writer, is our keynote speaker at this year's UX Week, August 23-26th (our conference for user experience folk, for those of you not in the know). This is a big deal, people. He's an interesting guy, who will twist your brain in all kinds of intellectual/creative ways you didn't know your brain could bend. Like brain yoga. He'll be talking about his book, Sound Unbound, a collection of thirty-six essays from musicians, writers and artists like Brian Eno, Moby, Chuck D, and Bruce Sterling. These are reports from the front lines on the role of sound and digital media in an information-based society.

If that's not enough to get your brain bending, I have more: Paul describes music as a social network that is “not about individual creativity but a collective process.” We're also big proponents of collaboration at Adaptive Path, so when the opportunity to interview him came across my path, I decided to open up the interview process to our broader community. I put a call out on our blog for questions and sent a handful of them Paul's way. This is where we landed:

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You love Paul Miller (a.k.a. DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid). Or, maybe you just don't know you love him yet. But, trust me, you do. Your love for him is in you. Waiting to find its way out.

Whether you already love him, or don't know you love him yet, there is a likely a burning question in your mind…one you've always wanted (or will want) to ask him. One that keeps you up at night (or will), that you mull over (or will) as you stare out the window while you're being creative. It's one of those annoying brain itches you can't scratch with your short brain arms.

Well, my friends, relief has come. Think of me as your conduit, a portal that will deliver your question to the man himself. I can scratch your brain itch. Let me explain…

I'm excited to announce that Paul Miller, composer, multimedia artist and writer, will be a keynote speaker at this year's UX Week (our conference for UX folk, for those of you not in the know). He'll discuss his book, Sound Unbound, a collection of thirty-six essays from musicians, writers and artists like Brian Eno, Moby, Chuck D, and Bruce Sterling. These are reports from the front lines on the role of sound and digital media in an information-based society. In preparation for his talk at UX Week, I'll be interviewing him and sharing our conversation on our blog later this month.

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