We spend a lot of time learning and thinking about the designs we see online, yet what we miss quite often are practical insights into the design process and workflow of our colleagues. This is why conferences are great for our industry. We meet people who think very much like we do and most probably struggle with similar problems; and perhaps they’ve found a solution which can inspire others.

We learn how our colleagues work and what they have experienced; we can exchange our thoughts and ideas directly — something that we might struggle finding time for on Twitter or via email. Networking is great, and it’s powerful. And this is why every now and again we present an overview of upcoming conferences on Smashing Magazine.

Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York, NY

When we started Smashing Magazine, we didn’t expect anything. We didn’t have a grand master plan for a successful online magazine for designers and developers. We created something that we found useful and that we thought others would find useful, too. We did not lose focus, we relied on instinct more than once, we stayed patient, and we pulled the occasional night shift. That was 2006.

And then you came along.

You have passed the word along, left comments, dropped us emails. You let us know that we matter. You let us know that we are doing something meaningful. And you let us know that our humble work deserved your attention. And we listened — carefully.

London, United Kingdom

Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza, Chicago, IL

In the Web industry, a lot of exciting knowledge and diverse opinions are shared daily. They are delivered in fragments across hundreds of blogs, feeds, Twitter accounts and apps. In addition, the number of topics seems to multiply daily. We are building and designing for moving targets. Technology is constantly forking and disrupting the way we interact and do business. This is our industry, and I love it. I also know it could be better.

Why does finding and reading content have to be so painful at times? We set out to build great (user) experiences, yet our own experience of reading and learning from blogs is not always so pleasant. We end up relying on our peers and trending topics to see what we should be reading. Just knowing how to get a handle on what’s going on becomes a job requirement — more of a distraction than a good use of time when we have project deadlines, among other responsibilities.

We are happy to present Smashing UX Design, an extended section of Smashing Magazine which has been created to provide you with more articles on usability, UX design and information architecture. Smashing UX Design will be curated and edited by Francisco Inchauste and will be updated frequently. You can subscribe to the UX Design RSS feed to keep updated about the new posts.

jk…

Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL

The Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, New York, NY

Waldorf Astoria, New York, NY 6:00PM