Practice
The craft behind useful products: making decisions, testing ideas and turning good intentions into work that holds up.
INDEPENDENT MINDS. SHARED TIME.
PROGRAMME / 10 SESSIONS
The future is a conversation.
Two days for people shaping useful, generous technology. Bring a different perspective. Leave with a better question.
02DAYS
03TRACKS
01 / FIND YOUR THREAD
Different paths.
One conversation.
Systems
What happens around the interface: infrastructure, shared resources and the relationships that make a service work.
Culture
How we collaborate when perspectives differ. A space for research, participation and more thoughtful ways of working.
03 / MAKE YOUR OWN PATH
The programme.
All times
Europe/LondonTime zone follows event location.
10 sessions
Thu 17 Jun09:30— 10:1545 MIN
The questions we choose to ask
Mara Ellis
Session details
An opening conversation about how the first question shapes everything that follows. We will examine three examples of teams who changed the brief before changing the interface.
Thu 17 Jun10:30— 11:3060 MIN
Designing for the invisible work
Idris Chen
Session details
A close look at the coordination, maintenance and care that makes a service possible. Participants map one overlooked dependency and discuss how to make it part of a product decision.
Thu 17 Jun10:45— 11:4560 MIN
A prototype is a conversation starter
Leo Martins
Session details
A practical session on choosing the smallest useful prototype. We will compare what a sketch, a click-through and a working tool can actually help a team learn.
Thu 17 Jun13:00— 14:0060 MIN
How to disagree productively
Ada Rowan
Session details
A facilitated discussion about naming trade-offs without making disagreement personal. Try a simple structure for keeping multiple perspectives in the room.
Thu 17 Jun14:15— 15:0045 MIN
Build it. Then keep it useful.
Nina Sol
Session details
Why maintenance deserves a place in the original brief. Nina shares a framework for thinking about ownership, recurring work and the cost of keeping a service understandable.
Fri 18 Jun09:30— 10:1545 MIN
Learning from the quiet signals
Sam Nordin
Session details
Support messages, abandoned drafts and patient workarounds can reveal more than a dashboard. This session explores ways to observe those signals without overclaiming what they mean.
Fri 18 Jun10:30— 11:4575 MIN
The architecture of a good decision
Mara Ellis
Session details
Move from a list of options to an explicit decision. Work through goals, constraints, reversible choices and the evidence needed to move forward.
Fri 18 Jun10:45— 11:4560 MIN
Shared systems, shared responsibility
Nina Sol
Session details
An open discussion about the boundaries between product teams and the systems they depend on. Trace one responsibility across a service and identify where handoffs become invisible.
Fri 18 Jun13:00— 14:0060 MIN
Bring a problem to the table
Ada Rowan
Session details
An informal working session for one unresolved question from your practice. Listen before offering solutions, and leave with a clearer framing rather than a premature answer.
Fri 18 Jun14:15— 15:0045 MIN
What we carry into Monday
Leo Martins
Session details
A closing reflection on the ideas worth carrying back into everyday work. Choose one small experiment, a way to observe it and a person to learn with.
No matching sessions.
Try a broader topic or choose another track.
05 / PEOPLE BEHIND THE IDEAS
A meeting of minds.
Mara Ellis
Design director · Open Practice
Mara studies how small, multidisciplinary teams make better decisions. Her work focuses on the habits that survive after the workshop ends.
Idris Chen
Service researcher · Fieldwork Office
Idris works with public-facing organisations to understand the gaps between a service on paper and the people using it.
Nina Sol
Independent systems designer
Nina makes complex dependencies visible. Her practice brings together design, operations and the work of maintaining things over time.
Leo Martins
Creative technologist · Small Signals
Leo prototypes digital tools that invite participation. He is interested in legible systems, playful experiments and useful constraints.
Ada Rowan
Facilitator · Common Table
Ada creates conditions for people with different expertise to think together, challenge assumptions and leave with a shared next step.
Sam Nordin
Product researcher · After Hours
Sam explores what teams learn when they pay attention to the quieter parts of a product: workarounds, support questions and everyday routines.
06 / PLACE & TIME
The Exchange Rooms
Fictional venue · Harbour Quarter, Bristol, United Kingdom
Programme time zone
Europe/London
Getting here
In this fictional event plan, doors open 30 minutes before the first session. Allow time to find the room and settle in. Real organisers should replace this text with verified transit routes, entrances and arrival instructions.
Access matters
The demo assumes step-free session rooms and quiet seating. These are sample arrangements, not verified venue facts. A real event page should provide verified access details and an organiser contact for specific requirements.
One programme, one time zone
Every visible time uses Europe/London. Calendar downloads contain UTC timestamps, so calendar apps may show your own local time. Confirm the time-zone setting before travelling.
07 / BEFORE WE MEET
Come curious.
Leave prepared.
- 01
Shape a day that gives you space.
Use the agenda to choose sessions that matter to you. When times overlap, leave room for a deliberate choice rather than trying to attend everything.
- 02
Bring one unresolved question.
The most useful conversation often begins with something you do not yet know. Write down a problem you would value another perspective on.
- 03
Check your calendar’s time zone.
The programme uses Europe/London. Exported events are stored in UTC and may appear in your device’s local time zone.
- 04
Keep your own copy.
The agenda stays in this browser. Export a calendar file before switching devices, clearing site data or using a private browsing session.
08 / A FEW USEFUL ANSWERS
Before you ask.
Does adding a session reserve a place?
No. This page is a personal planning tool. Adding or exporting a session does not create a booking, purchase a ticket or notify an organiser.
Why can I add overlapping sessions?
You may want to keep alternatives while deciding. The agenda marks every conflicting selection and gives a total number of overlapping pairs. Remove one when you are ready to make a choice.
Will my agenda follow me to another device?
No account or synchronisation is provided. Your choices are stored only in this browser when local storage is available. The calendar export gives you a portable copy of selected sessions.
What time zone does the programme use?
All visible times use the named event time zone, including its date-specific daylight-saving rules. Calendar files use UTC timestamps; your calendar app chooses how to display them.
Can I search by speaker or topic?
Yes. Search checks session titles, speaker names, descriptions and rooms. It combines with the track filter. Your saved agenda is preserved when filters hide a session.
Is this a real conference I can attend?
No. Common Ground is an original fictional event concept demonstrating the template. Names, speakers, dates and venue arrangements are sample content.
09 / HOW WE SHARE THIS SPACE
Good company.
Better conversations.
- Make space for perspectives different from your own. A thoughtful question can be more useful than a quick answer.
- Ask before photographing, recording or sharing someone else’s contribution. Respect a request to keep a conversation private.
- Help everyone participate. Leave room to speak, explain specialist language and take breaks when needed.
- This demo does not provide a live organiser contact. A real publication should add a verified support channel and event conduct process.
LEAVE ROOM FOR THE UNEXPECTED.