Call for speakers

Date – April 20-22, 2026

2-day Conference
Date: April 21-22
Location: Stadsgehoorzaal in Leiden, the Netherlands

UXinsight by Night (extra ticket required, in-person only)
Date: April 21 evening
Location: tbd (Leiden, NL)

‘Turn insights into action’ (extra ticket required, in-person only)
Interactive session
Date: April 20 – 14:00-17:30 (CEST)
Location: Stadsgehoorzaal in Leiden, the Netherlands

The Festival attracts people who are deeply involved in UX research—from curious newcomers to seasoned professionals.

At the 2025 edition, we welcomed 500+ participants (250+ in-person and 250+ online), with a mix of:

• UX researchers 
• UX designers 
• UX(R) managers
• and UXR enthusiasts

Most attendees have 5+ years of experience, though we welcome all levels.

They come from a wide range of sectors, such as tech, e-commerce, finance, government, education, and more, bringing diverse, research-driven perspectives to the conversation.

Yes, it will have a theme. But we define the conference theme after the call for speakers.

So, for the call for speakers, we don’t want to limit your ideas. We’d love to hear about topics that are authentic to you, as long as they are relevant to the UXR community.

Please fill out the application form between October 1 and October 15, 2025 – 11:00 AM CEST time zone.

By submitting a proposal, you also commit to peer-reviewing two other speaker proposals (see curation process).

We accept one proposal per speaker. If you submit more than one, we’ll only review the first.

We’re looking for talks that go deeper than the basics of UX research. Share topics that genuinely matter to you, what drives your work, as long as they are relevant to the UXR community. Real-world case studies with concrete takeaways are especially valued.

The format we’re looking for is a talk of 10-30 minutes. Or Pecha Kucha.

Most talks will be 20 minutes with a 10-minute Q&A.

These are the questions in the application form (shortened):

• What is the title of your talk?
• What is the description of your talk?
• What are the practical takeaways, including examples?
• What kind of evidence or experience supports your story?
• Is this talk unique to the UXinsight Festival?

We also ask you to pitch your talk in a 3-minute video. 

We collect personal information, including your name, job title, organisation, LinkedIn profile, and country of residence.

We accept one proposal per speaker. If you submit more than one, we’ll only review the first submission. 

We don’t accept duo presentations by default.

If you strongly feel that your presentation requires a second speaker—because they bring a truly different perspective or unique value to the session—please explain why in the application form.

Please note: If accepted, the speaker fee will remain the same as for a solo talk and must be shared between both presenters.

We’ve created a document outlining the timeline and process from October 2025 to the Festival on April 20-22, 2026. 

In short:

• Call for participation (CFP) | October 1 – 15
• Peer reviews by speakers | October 15 – 22
• Review proposals & shape program by UXinsight team | October 15 – December 12
• Create 1st draft of talk | December 12 – January 11
• Kick-off speakers | January 5 – 9
• Coaching session 1 | January 12 – 23
• Prepare full talk | January 24 – March 8
• Coaching session 2 | March 9 – 23
• Create final version of talk – March 24 – April 7 (DEADLINE)
• UXinsight Festival 2026, April 20-22

Please check the process to ensure you agree and this fits your schedule before submitting a proposal.

✔️ Free ticket to the conference on April 21 & 22 (incl. recordings)
✔️ Free ticket to interactive session on April 20
✔️ 2 free (online) tickets to give away
✔️ Reimbursement between €500-€1800 based on travel distance
✔️ 2-night hotel stay (April 20 & 21) in the Netherlands*
✔️ 1:1 Coaching sessions
✔️ Invitation to dinner activity on Tuesday, April 21
And plenty of inspiration, growth & fun!

*1 hotel night on April 21 for speakers living in the Netherlands or Belgium

You will receive a fee between €500 and €1800, depending on your travel distance (see also ‘What do I get as a speaker?’). 

You’ll need to make your own travel arrangements to the Netherlands, and you can use this fee to cover your expenses.

We intend to review all of the proposals carefully. As conference curators, we are mindful of the quality of the proposals and the diversity of topics, speakers and types of talks.

The curation is done in multiple rounds.

The first round is peer-reviewed by speakers. Everyone who submits a proposal commits to reviewing two other proposals. The UXinsight team oversees the peer-reviewing process.

The second round is done by the UXinsight Curation team. This team consists of 7 volunteers and UXinsight founder Karin, all UX research experts with different backgrounds and perspectives. Together, they review the proposals and decide which proposals make it to the program.

We will inform everyone by December 12, 2025, if their talk has been accepted into the program.

Every September, we hold the call for volunteers. We select a team of seven UX research experts with diverse backgrounds and experiences from the submissions.

Our curation team will evaluate each proposal based on different aspects, such as:  

• Is the title a clear indication of the topic’s relevance and appeal?
• Does the proposal provide a detailed description?
• Does the proposal outline clear, actionable takeaways?
• Does the presenter mention concrete evidence?
• Does the proposal explore a unique and innovative approach 
• Does the proposal address a topic relevant to current trends? 
• Does the proposal address common issues UX researchers face?

Finally, the UXinsight Curation team considers the diversity of topics, perspectives, and speakers when selecting the final program.

We want to ensure a rich and diverse reviewing process. By including the community in the review, we aim to get more perspectives in the review process.

As a reviewer, you support the UXinsight curation team in creating a shortlist of the most promising proposals and receive insightful feedback on your proposal.

The call for participation is open until October 15, 11:00 AM CEST time zone. 

On October 16, we’ll email all potential speakers two proposals for review. The review is done by filling out a review form. The deadline for reviewing is October 22 at the end of the day. Our estimation is that it takes about 15 minutes to review a proposal.

After the peer review, we’ll send you the feedback from the two reviewers who reviewed your proposal. After that, the curation team will decide whether your proposal makes it to the next round. 

We will inform everyone by December 12, 2025, if their talk has been accepted into the program.

We will only share the proposal’s content (e.g., title, description, and takeaways) with the peer reviewers.

The peer reviewer will not know your identity or personal details, and you will not have this information from the proposals you are reviewing.

Yes! After the peer review is done (October 22, end of day), we’ll send you the feedback from the two reviewers who reviewed your proposal as soon as possible. At that point, we can’t provide information yet about whether your proposal has been selected to proceed to the next round.