Designing in the middle - UX between institutions, bureaucracy, and real users

This talk shows what happens when UX practice meets the reality of cross-institutional software projects: divergent stakeholder interests, sluggish decision-making structures, and several universities at the table — each with its own culture, its own processes, and its own expectations. Drawing on experiences from collaborative projects involving the University of Vienna, it shows how iterative design, MVP thinking, and pilot projects can create movement in structures that have grown over decades. And we share openly what worked, what didn't, and what we're still figuring out.

This session is for you if, you work in UX, product, service design, or digital transformation and have ever struggled to move user-centered ideas forward in complex organizations. 

Whether you're an early-career designer or an experienced practitioner, this session will resonate with anyone working across multiple stakeholders, navigating institutional structures, or balancing user needs with organizational constraints. 

If you've ever wondered how to make meaningful progress when bureaucracy, governance, and user needs collide, this session is for you. 

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