Fancy asking me to speak at your event? Here are the current talks that I'm especially interested in giving.
Design Systems are Dead. Long Live Design Systems.
Design systems need to die — or at least, design systems as we know them. The way we've commodified the discipline, wrapped it in jargon, and positioned ourselves as a "different" kind of team has made it nearly impossible for the people who control budgets to actually understand what we do. We're at the peak of inflated expectations, sliding into the trough of disillusionment, and the way out isn't better branding, it's radical simplification. If we want buy-in, we need to stop talking about "design systems" and start talking about platform, operations, and enablement in language that actually makes sense to the rest of the org.
In this talk, I'll argue for de-commodifying design systems entirely: breaking them down into their constituent parts and positioning them as core product infrastructure rather than a separate, magical discipline. The goal isn't to kill what we do, but to integrate it so deeply into how product teams work that it becomes invisible. That's the path to the plateau of productivity: cut the bullshit, communicate value in terms people understand, and stop treating design systems like a niche specialism that needs defending.
Talk given at: This talk hasn't been given yet.
Nobody will read your documentation
Most design system documentation lives on a nice little website somewhere, maybe it even looks beautiful, but nobody's actually reading it. If you're in Figma, VS Code, or reviewing a PR, you're doing your actual job, not browsing docs in a forgotten browser tab. This is why so much documentation ends up stale and ignored: we've been thinking about it wrong.
The future of documentation isn't prettier sites. It's serving the information to people where they need it, when they need it. In this talk, I'll take us through the history of structured content, how the brave new world of MCP servers and AI can finally get us there, and what we need to do to set it up. Think Figma plugins surfacing usage guidelines contextually, VS Code showing accessibility notes inline, or AI code tools simply using your documentation to build interfaces that adhere to your design system rules.
Talk given at: A proto-version of this talk was delivered at Converge 2023 in San Francisco.
Fail Better
Luke’s life is a masterclass in failure, spanning tech startups, art projects, theatre companies, and even marriages. If there’s a way to fail, Luke has found it, tried it, and probably failed at it.
Join us for a session where Luke will attempt to put a positive spin on his greatest flops. You might not leave inspired to embrace failure, but you’ll definitely enjoy a little schadenfreude. After all, nothing says “light evening entertainment” like someone else’s relentless string of screw-ups.
Talk given at: Side Quest, Design Matters Copenhagen 2024.
Or something else?
These are just the talks that I currently have ready to go. I'm always open to crafting talks for specific conferences. At the moment, I'm particularly interested in speaking about design systems, token architecture, queering design, delight in design systems, enshittifcation via design systems, and Josie and the Pussycats.
How to get me to speak at your event
I'm pretty easy going when it comes to events, but I also recognise that speaking comes with a heck of a lot of privilege, and I want to use that privilege to make help make tech events more inclusive. I understand that that smaller meetups and community conferences might not be able to handle all the requirements below, so just chat to me and hopefully we can work something out.
Speaker rider:
- Even though my job means that I can't accept payment to speak, I will only speak at conferences that compensate their speakers. Speakers can't pay their bills with exposure.
- I don't need travel and accommodation expenses covered, as my company can cover these costs.
- It should go without saying, but a ticket to the full event is required.
- Ideally, you'll proide a wireless microphone (ideally not a handheld) and a comfort monitor on stage.
- Youre event must have a Code of Conduct in place. It's 2026, so if you don't, you should probably get on that. There are some good examples out there, like the ConfCodeOfConduct project.
- I don't speak at events that don't care about diversity. If you're lineup is entirely straight, white, cis men, I'm probably not going to be interested.
Still with me?
You can email me at lurkmoophy@gmail.com or shoot me a message on LinkedIn.
For best results, please include the following details if you can:
- Confirmation you have read this rider with questions/any criteria you are unable to meet
- Conference name, website, date of events, location
- Tentative/confirmed speaker list
- What you are interested in having me speak about
