Vergangene Events

AI Knows Best, Until It Doesn’t: When Human-AI Interaction Breaks Down

AI promises better, faster, and safer decisions – but what happens when that promise outpaces reality? In this talk, I draw on recent work from our HCI group at the University of St. Gallen to show where and why human-AI interaction breaks down, and what this means for designers and users.

I focus on two complementary studies. First, a systematic analysis of “Death by GPS” incidents reveals how over-reliance on navigation systems can lead to strandings, wrong-way driving, and fatal crashes, highlighting concrete design implications for safer routing. Second, a placebo study using Fitts’ Law shows that simply labelling a standard computer mouse as “AI-assisted” significantly inflates user expectations – without improving performance, usability, or workload. Together, these cases expose a central tension in UX today: people often trust systems that either over-promise or fail precisely when their recommendations matter most.

Johannes Schöning is Professor of Computer Science at the University of St. Gallen, where he leads the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) group. His research focuses on HCI, human-centred AI, and geoinformatics. Before joining St. Gallen, he held positions at the University of Bremen, Hasselt University, UCL, and DFKI. He is an ACM Distinguished Member and recipient of the ACM Eugene L. Lawler Award and two Google Research Awards.

Can AI Teach Reflection? Measuring Learning with AI Beyond Outcomes

AI tools are becoming an increasingly large part of education, but how can we tell whether they actually help people learn? In this talk, I’ll share insights from a research project on AI-supported reflective writing.
Why you should attend the talk: You will gain a clear understanding of the challenges of evaluating learning with AI and what UX researchers and designers can take away for their own practice.
Rather than only looking at final outcomes, this project focused on the learner’s experience and their learning process. I’ll show how we combined quantitative and qualitative research methods to do so. I will discuss why evaluating learning with AI is challenging and what UX researchers and designers can take away for their own work. Overall, the talk connects academic research with applied UX practice by offering practical perspectives on how to assess the real impact of AI on users.

A bit more about the project: The presented research was published at a Human-Computer Interaction conference and involved the iterative design of a reflection tool with different types of AI feedback. The evaluation with users was then conducted during 6 weeks in 2024.

Léane Wettstein is a PhD student at the HAIS (Human AI Learning Systems) Lab at Bern University of Applied Sciences (BFH) and University of St. Gallen. Her research looks at how students use AI feedback and how it affects their ability to think about and manage their own learning (metacognitive skills). The goal of her work is to help design AI tools and learning systems that encourage effective use of AI and support long-term learning.
She holds a Master’s degree in Psychology from University of Basel. Before starting her PhD, she worked as a research assistant at the University of Basel and ETH Zurich.

Impact Over Perfection – A Practical Approach to Accessibility

Accessibility often feels overwhelming with all its guidelines, standards and edge cases. But in practice, meaningful improvements don’t require perfection. They require empathy and a sincere motivation to create a truly usable experience for all.

In this talk, we share real learnings from UX and UI projects: what actually made a difference, where teams struggled, and how small, deliberate changes created a much more inclusive experience.

You’ll walk away with a practical mindset and actionable ideas to start improving accessibility in your own projects — without waiting for the “perfect” solution.

By Maria Timonen & Silio Keiser from Bitforge

Good Intentions, Bad Interfaces

At the next UX Meetup in Chur, Caroline M. dos Santos will explore the impact design decisions can have.

“Good intentions are not enough when interfaces subtly shape behaviour, capture attention, or even negatively affect well-being. How can we design digital products that not only function well, but are also responsible, sustainable, and user-centred? And what does it really mean to design for people rather than just for clicks and efficiency?”

The talk will present concrete examples of how design influences behaviour and highlight principles that help create better, more ethical interfaces.

Afterwards, there will be time for exchange, discussion, and new perspectives within the UX community.

Imposter Syndrome enters the chat

UX Meetup Basel and Visual Fields Basel collaborate for a joint event. Two communities, one topic that everyone knows but hardly anyone talks about out loud. Impostor syndrome.

Impostor syndrome doesn’t care about your job title. It affects designers. It affects researchers. It affects the person who’s pretending they have everything under control. Yes, exactly that person.

For once, we’re bringing our two communities together. Not to give talks. But to have honest conversations – in small groups, eye to eye.

What can you expect?
A workshop format. Real conversations. You share your experiences. You listen. Maybe you’ll realize you’re not alone. In fact, very likely. Together we’ll gather what helps. What doesn’t help. And what you’ve told yourself a thousand times already – without ever believing it.

Designing for Behaviour Change: Build for Humans, Not the Backlog

Most products try to drive behaviour, but pressure often backfires. This talk explores how UX can enable lasting behaviour change through positive reinforcement. By aligning with human psychology, designers can reduce resistance, support motivation, and encourage small, sustainable steps, creating experiences that feel natural, effective, and genuinely human.

Mi Xue Tan combines data science, UX research, and psychology to design experiences that support meaningful behaviour change, using positive reinforcement and communication to create products people consistently engage with.

Legal UX: Protecting Your Work, Your Brand & Your Ideas

Legal is often treated as something that comes after design, product, or branding. In reality, every UX decision already creates legal consequences. This session explores real cases from design and product practice, such as ownership, intellectual property, and branding and shows how legal clarity can support teams and product growth, introducing Juriscope as a tool for navigating complex legal questions.

Neena Kaiser is Managing Partner at Juriscope, working at the intersection of law, technology, and human-centered systems.

Ryccardo d’ Alessio is Founder of Do Your Order, sharing insights on product building and legal blind spots.

Tadas Zukas is Senior Legal Counsel and author focusing on sustainability, impact finance, and LegalTech.

Designing for the most aware generation

The speakers of this UX talk explore how different generations shape and are shaped by their relationship with technology: from the optimism of early social media to today’s hyper-connected world. What happens when design works too well? And how do we design our way back out?

Today’s users are more aware than ever of the harms of “sticky” design, yet remain stuck in the architecture of distraction.

In this meetup, Sofiia Kaminska and Vardon Hamdiu look at two sides of the same coin:

The behavioral layer: insights from research and experiments on digital sovereignty, and interventions that help people reclaim control over their attention.

The structural layer: a platform perspective on “bridging-based” social media and how ranking incentives can reward consensus over outrage.

The goal isn’t to demonize tech, but to explore how UX can evolve to return real choice to users, and healthier incentives to the products we live in.

UX at 2500m²

The presentation introduces the Swiss Center for Design and Health (SCDH) and its mission to explore the link between design and health. It highlights simulation-based hospital design testing, showcases a use case with Humanitas Stiftung, and discusses implications and future opportunities for user-centered design in healthcare.

David Wollschlegel, Interaction Design Lead at SCDH, researches technology-supported infrastructure planning and healthcare interactions, with web and eHealth background.

UX Camp Fribourg

UX Camp Fribourg is a participant-driven BarCamp where the UX community shapes the agenda together through shared sessions, discussions, and hands-on exchange. This first edition adds a special focus on AI in UX—its tools, impact, and future implications. Bring your perspective, host a session, or join the conversation.

Why attend?

🟠 Connect with researchers and professionals passionate about UX.
🟠 Shape the agenda with topics that matter to you.
🟠 Explore how AI is transforming design, research, and user interaction.

When: Saturday, 07 March 2026
Where: University of Fribourg

Design for meaning – Purpose, Experience and Everything in between

What can information architects do to help people understand and navigate complex systems? By shaping meaning—the bridge between data and knowledge—we guide users to what truly matters.
Our work begins with purpose: understanding why information exists and what it should accomplish. It culminates in experience: how people actually encounter and use the information we’ve structured. Between purpose and experience lies the complex work of organizing and connecting information to bridge intent and reality.
Whether you’re a designer, researcher, or product thinker, you’ll gather knowledge to create meaningful experiences that serve human purposes.

🧩 Workshop: Friday, 06 March 2026
🗣️ Conference: Saturday, 07 March 2026

Responsible Design — Going Beyond HCD for Better Technology

Being a UX Designer means advocating for our users — and designing platforms that work well for them. That usually entails to use a variety of user-centred design methods. Besides Human-Centered Design (HCD) being at the center of UX Design, we as individuals and as a society, are increasingly confronted with the harms of using technology. Users worldwide suffer from addiction and stress, experience exclusion or feel alienated through technology. What is actually going wrong?

Benedikt Merz is a UX professional with over 13 years of experience. Drawing on his background in psychology and human-computer interaction he has worked in various sectors and roles. He is passionate about the intersection of UX Research & Conceptual Design, and exploring new design approaches.

Andreas Wolters has an academic background in Psychology and Cognitive Science and has been working as a User Experience Researcher and Designer for more than 10 years. After various positions in London and the Netherlands, Andreas founded Studio Llama together with Benedikt.