iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 01/09/2026

Interested in ethical, social, political, or philosophical questions about technology? Then submit an abstract to ETHICOMP 2027 by @fasosmaastricht.bsky.social in June 2-4 2027. Call for abstracts is open until 23:59 (CET), Monday 19 October. www.aanmelder.nl/ethicomp2027... #ETHICOMP2027

Promotional image for ETHICOMP 2027: Tech Saving Lives, a 3-day conference about ethics, philosophy, and technology to be held at Maastricht University in June 2027.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 19/05/2026

Less than 2 weeks until @uxlondon.bsky.social from Tuesday 2 to Thursday 4 June. I will close day 1 with “Whose English gets to be default?” — a critical examination of accent bias in voice interface design. 2026.uxlondon.com — get 20% off with my code JOIN_MK #UXLondon #uxmichaelco

Promotional image for UX London, a 3-day UX and design conference in London, advertising a talk called “Whose English gets to be default?” by design researcher Michael Kibedi with a 20% discount code JOIN_MK

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 15/03/2026

Fifteenth no. 16: On the Men (and sometimes Women) Who Corrupted Hadleyburg. Shady CEOs, Sianne Ngai's Theory of the Gimmick, why gimmicks are natural accessories of the tech industry, and a short story by Mark Twain. Link below. 👇🏾 #FirstAndFifteenth #TheoryOfTheGimmick #uxmichaelco

Four Forbes business magazines, each with celebrated tech CEOs who have in different ways disgraced their companies.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 24/02/2026

I really like BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions: its dialogue with Black history, Black futures, the ease with which Black creativity traverses these oppositional poles; and W.E.B. Du Bois 👈🏾 Peep the essay on Du Bois I wrote 2 years ago. open.substack.com/pub/uxmichae... #ThisIsNotAnAd #BLKNWS

Still from BLKNWS Terms & Conditions, showing a world map zoomed in on the Atlantic Ocean, South America, Caribbean, and Africa with red and green dots in the ocean visualising the thousands of Africans who were transported as enslaved people.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 19/02/2026

First #16 on The AI Con by @emilymbender.bsky.social and @alexhanna.bsky.social — “a wonderful riposte to the magical thinking propelling the indiscriminate deployment of generative AI.” S/O @hypestudies.bsky.social for capturing its spirit. Link below 👇🏾 #FirstAndFifteenth #CriticalAI #uxmichaelco

Photo of the book” The AI Con: How To Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create The Future We Want”, by Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna. The cover a plain white cover with the word “The” in giant black letters, “AI” in giant red letters, and “Con” in giant black letters, and the book is shot close up and top down on a light green textured wool covered sofa material.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 08/02/2026

These past few days were certainly stimulating, provocative and inspirational at the inaugural NO & __ forum on Technological Refusal at @fasosmaastricht.bsky.social thank you for having me! @danishanley.bsky.social 💥

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 05/02/2026

Design Beyond the Human: essays on activism, anthropology, conservation, creative writing, design practice, design theory, economics, education, environment, ethics, history, indigenous knowledge, law, philosophy, poetry, politics, regenerative agriculture, science, sociology and technology.

Photo of a new book called Design Beyond the Human: Transdisciplinary Conversations About the Planet, published by Bloomsbury

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 26/10/2025

Couple of weeks to go before I’ll be doing a guest lecture at the RCA for their Design Ethics class, part of the Design Futures masters MDes. 🤗 #RCADesignFutures #DesignFutures #HumanDecentredDesign #uxmichaelco

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 20/10/2025

New publication!🚨 Fungi As Your Futurist by @sporesight.bsky.social 12 fungi-inspired design principles, with contributions from 18 global voices across multidisciplinary design and research (inc. me!) sporesight.co/fungi-futures #FungiAsYourFuturist #RegenerativeDesign #uxmichaelco

Fungi inspired promotional poster "Fungi as Your Futurist: A playbook for symbiotic futures” by sporesight studio.

“Fungi as your Futurist” a limited edition print zine about regenerative design, opened to showing the 18 cross-disciplinary contributors.

A hand pressing open “Fungi as your Futurist”, a limited edition print zine about regenerative design, to the pages listing “12 fungi principles”.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 11/10/2025

One more thing... if you like the expanse of topics told from multiple perspectives, encouraging inclusion in equal parts on and off stage, free from corporate capture and AI obsessives, come to @ffconf.org which is on Friday 14 November in sunny Brighton! 👉🏾 2025.ffconf.org #WDC2025 #ffconf

Luke Murphy of Bristol's Web Dev Conf, presenting a slide showing the full lineup of ffconf in Brighton, which will be on Friday 14 November.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 11/10/2025

@jhey.dev closed the day. Have you ever used a website and come away with a quiet satisfaction you can't quite name? The little transitions, the springiness of a button. It's because of people like Jhey spending hours pushing web code to the limits of what it can do. 🌟 #WDC2025

Jhey Tompkins introducing his talk at Bristol's Web Dev Conf which will probably teach you more about design, engineering and the marrying of the two than most courses, bootcamps, or books. Seriously.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 11/10/2025

@remysharp.com of @ffconf.org next, and he gave us an intro to how we can fix a broken GameBoy (or 200). We obsess over shiny new things too much. There are lots of unshiny older things that can still work. We are probably better at fixing things than we imagine. 👾

Remy Sharp presenting at Bristol's Web Dev Conf on how he got into fixing Gameboys with a few simple tools, and a bit of patience. A mindful hobby that is also a parable for how we should all make do and mend more, in an industry urging to buy the shinier marginally better thing that we probably don't need.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 11/10/2025

@whitep4nth3r.com I REALLY like what you did there. In "An Introduction to the World Wide Web for Very Senior Programmers", Salma told us the story of the future of the internet, told from the past, about the present. Dammit, I was so deep in your story I only remembered to take a photo at the end!

Salma Alam-Naylor presenting at Bristol's Web Dev Conf. The slide shown is the final one showing Salma's various web links and project pages, gloriously rendered in the classic Netscape browser in Times New Roman, reminiscent of the early 90's web.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 11/10/2025

@loftio.co.uk guided us through a masterclass on Design for Developers. Design isn't easy. It isn't just words and text. Lex gave us some important cheatcodes to avoid making really horrible design mistakes. Also, s/o to you for being a proud Comic Sans evangelist!

Lex Lofthouse presenting a masterclass in Design for Developers at Bristol's Web Dev Conf. The slide shows is a bright turquoise background with some commonly used symbols: heart, rotating arrow, question mark in a circle, which are all highlighted as common ambiguous icons we should always label.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 11/10/2025

Next up, @strange.website who presented a poetic tale of how we can win back the soul of the internet. As someone deeply invested in communicating online, it made me question how much longer I let private corporatised platforms mediate the relations I seek to nurture online. So much to delve into. 👨🏾‍💻

Henry Desroches, a creative design engineer, presenting at Bristol's Web Dev Conf. On screen is a black slide with giant white san serif letters "THAT'S PERSONAL WEBSITES BABEY."

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 11/10/2025

First up was Tey Bannerman urging us to keep hold of the creative passions that energise us; to find balance in the things that give us joy. In short: Do that project. Release it to the world. Spend time doing hobbies away from your screen. 👏🏾https://teybannerman.com/ #WDC2025

Tey Bannerman speaking at Bristol's Web Dev Conf, impeccably dressed in high-waisted straight leg white trousers, white short sleeved shirt and dark green tank top presenting important life lessons on finding balance between joy and discipline in work to reignite your passion for creativity.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 11/10/2025

Thank you @lurkmoophy.bsky.social for being a brilliant host, and to @alexolder.com for bringing us all together for this year's @webdevconf.com 💛🖤 Link to my deck in comments below. 👉🏽 📀 DVD extra: video of my talk at @ffconf.org last year: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fKs... #WDC2025 #ffconf

Luke Murphy, co-organiser of Bristol's Web Dev Conf, introducing Michael Kibedi and his talk "Death, and how tech forgot about mortality"

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 17/09/2025

Throwback and reminiscing The Conference, Malmö in 2024: Human Decentred Design, 15 minutes. #HumanDecentredDesign #uxmichaelco #CriticalAI www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRdW...

Michael Kibedi, a tall Black man wearing a rather fetching yellow black and white striped sleeveless knitted top, onstage at The Conference 2024, delivering a talk in the cavernous Slaghuset venue space in Malmö. It was a two day conference and, I've got to be honest, a career highlight. It was such a vibe!

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 14/09/2025

Thank you @klingebeil.bsky.social for introducing me to HYPE: A Critical Field Guide. 🙌🏾 This will be a very useful pocket-sized reference as I begin to navigate @hypestudies.bsky.social johannesklingebiel.de/portfolio/a-...

A POV shot showing a hand holding a small passport sized self-published booklet called HYPE: A critical field guide by the German design researcher Johannes Klingebiel.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 14/09/2025

@hypestudies.bsky.social is/was a conference with a difference. Non-hierarchical, welcoming and stimulating. After party at a cool little club, and many other (serious) memories. 🕺🏾 👨🏾‍💻 #FirstAndFifteenthOnTheRoad #uxmichaelco

Hype Studies party in the Sants neighbourhood of Barcelona, a small club lit with red light and lots of hypers having after hours getting down!

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 02/08/2025

Immerse yourself in “Meshwork” by Merve Mepa: a conceptual art installation exhibited at SALT Galata. The piece untangles the connections between ancient weaving practices and complex technological infrastructures. Exclusively on First & Fifteenth. open.substack.com/pub/uxmichae...

A dimly lit gallery space with spare interior fittings with a fluorescent light tube leaning against the two side walls that lights the room with an eerie blue-grey light. In the middle of the gallery, is a raised platform with a series of steel pipes, running in fixed track formation with occasional bends, that range from the ceiling to the floor in the middle of which are a number of small flat screens with graphical displays. White text is overlaid stating “Meshwork by Merve Mepa. Connecting the structural logics of weaving to the complex digital infrastructures of today.”

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 01/07/2025

New essay. First & Fifteenth. 1 August 2025. In which I discuss Meshwork by Merve Mepa, an installation at Salt Galata, untangling the connections between ancient weaving practices and complex technological infrastructures. #DefyCategorisation #EthnoMathematicsMadeMeDoIt #uxmichaelco

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 22/04/2025

One week to go until Future Days! ✅ Notebook ✅ Pen ✅ Mind open ✅ Laptop closed futuredays.io

A rainbow hued poster promoting a conference in Lisbon called Future Days with the giant slogan in black serif text “I’m co-creating a brighter future”. The conference takes place at Estufa Fria from 30 April to 2 May 2025

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 31/03/2025

🌱 Content Rising is a one-day conference for environment and climate creatives @contentrising.bsky.social 📍 It will be on Thursday, 12 June at the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Wakehurst. 🎤 I will be one of the speakers. My talk is called Human Decentred Design. www.contentrising.co.uk

A mid-green promotional poster for a conference called Content Rising taking place on Thursday, 12 June at Kew Wakehurst in Sussex, England. One of the speakers is a design researcher called Michael Kibedi, who is a Black man with glasses wearing a white shirt, who will be giving a talk called Human Decentred Design.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 06/03/2025

Monday 17 March, I’m in an online panel on Future(s) of Masculinity, convened by Malmö’s When!When! Agency www.eventbrite.com/x/round-tabl...

A futuristic fantasy arid landscape showing a pinkish-blue sky and distant rock formations on the horizon, with a circle of twelve floating white heads facing inwards towards each other.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 04/02/2025

Drawing from Black, Latinx, and queer histories; international feminisms, and artists who won't be bound by disciplinary orthodoxy, my talk at Research by the Sea explores refusal as design practice. Art: “Incantations to a Vague Borderland” by Gaia Ozwyn.

The title page of my talk “The Spirit of Bartleby: In defence of refusal” features art called “Incantations to a Vague Borderland”. The triptych, completed in 2024, is by the London-based artist Gaia Ozwyn whose practice seeks to test the boundaries of belonging and separation, echoing her reflections on her dual Caribbean-British identity.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 08/01/2025

Next week on First & Fifteenth… FESTAC

A carved African ivory mask on a dark grey background. The mask has intricate carved details around its edges depicting small figures linking arms across the crown of its head and an interwoven textural piece around the base of it jawline. White text is overlaid stating “Fifteenth #13: On FESTAC ‘77. How the greatest show in Africa was accidentally forgotten. Available January 15th, 2025 at UXMICHAELCO.SUBSTACK.COM”.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 23/12/2024

My next book review is of Imagination: A Manifesto by @ruha9.bsky.social — arriving January 1st uxmichaelco.substack.com

Picture of a book titled “Imagination: A Manifesto” by Ruha Benjamin on a white tablecloth with multi coloured block stripes emanating in different directions from the centre so it looks likethe book is in the middle of a rainbow coloured explosion. The cover of the book features a young Black girl with elaborate braids staring out head-on with a dark orange border and sky-blue background. White text overlays the picture stating “First #13: Imagination - A Manifesto. Bringing poetic understanding to what radical imagination can be. Available January 1st, 2025 at UXMICHAELCO.SUBSTACK.COM”.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 27/11/2024

In December, my thinking turns to internet infrastructures and the contentious question of their control. On 1st December, read my review of Eaten by the Internet, edited by @ccs.bsky.social Link in bio to subscribe! 🔗 #BlackSky #Sociotechnical #uxmichaelco

Picture of a book titled “Eaten by the Internet” edited by Corinne Cath on a textured cotton tablecloth with thick off-white and light blue stripes. The cover is vertically bisected half blue and half black, with the title and the names of its contributors on the cover. White text overlays the picture stating “First #12: Eaten by the Internet. The many impacts of internet infrastructural invisibility. Available December 1st, 2024 at UXMICHAELCO.SUBSTACK.COM”.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 11/11/2024

My next essay is experimental, as it addresses my theoretical, poetic and speculative influences to articulate what alternative technological futures can mean. Subscribe to get Fifteenth no. 11: On reclaiming futures. It arrives Friday 15th November. uxmichaelco.substack.com #uxmichaelco

A large portrait painting of an eighteenth century white man in formal shirt and dark suit; however, the painting creates the illusion that the fabric of the portrait is being pulled aside to reveal the partially dressed figure of a young enslaved Black girl who stares directly at the viewer with a sad look. White text is overlaid stating “Fifteenth #11: On reclaiming futures. Bespeaking our desired futures into existence. Available November 15th, 2024 at UXMICHAELCO.SUBSTACK.COM”.

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Michael Kibedi @uxmichael.co · 09/11/2024

Back home and the first cup of tea from my #ffconf mug 👌🏾 Thank you for everything @ffconf.org — you convinced me in the first 5 mins to sign up for BlueSky 🦋

A white mug on a white desk, with four piles of neatly stacked books of a similar height to the mug behind it

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