Michael Kibedi
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Michael Kibedi
@uxmichael.co
1K followers 380 following 90 posts
👊🏾💥 critical technologist // design researcher // 📨 writes First & Fifteenth // 🦆 birdwatcher // 🍽️ collects menus (no, really) // 🔗 https://linktr.ee/uxmichaelco // 🌐 uxmichael.co
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uxmichael.co
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
Royal coat of arms and logo for the Royal College of Arts, one of the top arts universities in the world here in London. The white logo and text is superimposed on a dark purple-grey filtered photo of the Dyson building campus.
October 26, 2025 at 3:16 PM
uxmichael.co
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”.
October 20, 2025 at 6:46 AM
uxmichael.co
Unsolicited NIC pic
Photo of a network interface card on a white background.
October 11, 2025 at 10:52 AM
uxmichael.co
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.
October 11, 2025 at 9:46 AM
uxmichael.co
@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.
October 11, 2025 at 9:36 AM
uxmichael.co
@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.
October 11, 2025 at 9:29 AM
uxmichael.co
@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.
October 11, 2025 at 9:24 AM
uxmichael.co
@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.
October 11, 2025 at 9:19 AM
uxmichael.co
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."
October 11, 2025 at 9:15 AM
uxmichael.co
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.
October 11, 2025 at 9:11 AM
uxmichael.co
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"
October 11, 2025 at 7:13 AM
uxmichael.co
nouvelle arrivée dans ma bibliothèque: APOCALYPSE NERDS écrite par @nastasiahadjadji.bsky.social et @oliviertesquet.bsky.social publié par @divergences.bsky.social

#FirstAndFifteenth #PremierEtQuinzième #uxmichaelco #CriticalAI
Top-down photo of a critical technology non-fiction book published in French by éditions divergences, on plain white table, called APOCALYPSE NERDS by Nastasia Hadjadji and Olivier Tesquet. The book has plain bright yellow cover with both the title and authors in large text and the rest of the cover taken up with a blurb in French.
September 29, 2025 at 12:24 PM
uxmichael.co
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!
September 17, 2025 at 3:07 PM
uxmichael.co
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.
September 14, 2025 at 9:39 AM
uxmichael.co
@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!
September 14, 2025 at 9:33 AM
uxmichael.co
Pulling up to @hypestudies.bsky.social at UOC Barcelona #uxmichaelco #TomorrowsEssaysBeingWrittenToday
Photo of a redbrick building that has been newly renovated so that it contains a glass front and modern interior, which is one of the buildings of Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in Barcelona.
September 10, 2025 at 10:49 AM
uxmichael.co
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.”
August 2, 2025 at 5:46 PM
uxmichael.co
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
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.
July 1, 2025 at 8:48 AM
uxmichael.co
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
April 22, 2025 at 4:16 AM
uxmichael.co
🌱 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.
March 31, 2025 at 1:14 PM
uxmichael.co
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.
March 6, 2025 at 4:39 PM
uxmichael.co
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.
February 4, 2025 at 8:44 AM
uxmichael.co
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”.
January 8, 2025 at 4:37 AM
uxmichael.co
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”.
December 23, 2024 at 6:44 AM
uxmichael.co
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”.
November 27, 2024 at 7:01 AM