Design Matters 26
Overview
The Tokyo edition of the Copenhagen-born digital design conference, renamed to the numbered form "Design Matters 26" from 2026. Held over two days at DMM.com's seminar space in Roppongi, run entirely in English at an intimate 200-person scale, with practitioners from Figma, Miro and Medium speaking across four curated themes. Inclusivity runs through the program, and its draw is the density of direct access to speakers.
Program
- Two days of talks built around four themes: Slow Speed, Driven Decisions, Connecting Beyond Screens and Designer's Evolution
- Single-track main stage in the morning and late afternoon; midday talks run in parallel with a separate workshop room
- One workshop each morning and afternoon on both days
- Reception and after party on Day 1
- Talks are recorded and published after the event; workshops are not recorded
Speakers
- Michel Ferreira (Figma, 2026 speaker)
- Cassie McDaniel (Medium, 2026 speaker)
- Sophia Omarji (Miro, 2026 speaker)
- Alfredo Aponte (Neko Health, 2026 speaker)
Foundation
- Founded
- 2015
- Founder
- Founded in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2015, with Spectrum Tokyo leading the Tokyo edition since 2020
A designer-led digital design conference founded in Copenhagen in 2015, expanding from its annual Copenhagen edition to Mexico City, Lagos, Singapore and Tokyo. The organizers report over 2,200 global attendees in 2024 across more than 50 nationalities, with 48% coming from companies and mostly in decision-making roles.
Transition
- 2015 Design Matters launched in Copenhagen, Denmark
- 2020 Spectrum Tokyo takes the lead in running the Tokyo edition
- 2022 Design Matters Tokyo 22 held in Roppongi on May 14-15
- 2025 Copenhagen runs five days, a two-day conference plus a three-day festival. Tokyo held on September 13-14
- 2026 Renamed Design Matters 26 and held in Tokyo on November 14-15
Voices
Most attendees came from overseas, which prompted a rethink of UX design as a globally shared profession; the networking slots between sessions and the practice-oriented content on UX writing and enterprise rollout stood out (from a Recruit product manager's report on the 24 edition, in Japanese)
Unlike stiffer conferences, it felt like taking part in a community rather than spectating, and the speakers were close at hand and approachable (from Monstar Lab DESIGN JOURNAL's roundtable on the 22 edition, in Japanese)
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