ten years ago, Digital Design Days was born as an independent event with one clear belief: that the global digital design community deserved its own dedicated gathering — one built around the intersection of creativity, technology, and the people who actively shape both.
What was started in 2016 by Filippo Spiezia, its founder, curator and executive creative director, has since grown into what Google called one of the three most authoritative and anticipated events worldwide in its field.
©Digital Design Days
©Digital Design Days
©Digital Design Days
©Digital Design Days
©Digital Design Days
©Digital Design Days
©Digital Design Days
©Digital Design Days
©Digital Design Days
©Digital Design Days
©Digital Design Days
©Digital Design Days
©Digital Design Days
In its previous editions in Milan and Geneva, DDD has attracted more than 14,000 participants from 126 countries and more than 228,000 online visitors. The tenth anniversary edition, DDD26takes place May 7–9, 2026 at Superstudio Village in Milan — and by all accounts, it’s the most expansive edition the event has ever held.
As a media partner, DesignWanted is proud to support an event that has continually pushed the boundaries of what a design conference can be. DDD26 feels like a truly momentous moment — not just for the event itself, but for the broader conversation it convenes.
A decade and a turning point
Framing the anniversary is more than a ritual. For Spiezia, it represents a turning point — a moment to take stock of where digital design has been and, more urgently, where it’s going. “This edition represents much more than an anniversary,“he says.”This isn’t just a reunion: it’s the perfect time to bring together the global digital design community — creatives, agencies, brands, startups, investors and emerging talent — for a truly immersive and transformative experience.“
The theme driving the DDD26 program is practical rather than speculative. Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies take center stage — not as abstract futures to debate, but as present-day realities that are already transforming creativity, production, design practice, and business models. The format is built around people who are actually driving these changes, and the questions the program comes back to are straightforward: what does this mean for how we work? What does it mean for who we are as professionals and as people?
“Pushing the boundaries of digital design means embracing change, challenging convention and merging disciplines to create experiences that are innovative and deeply human,Spiezia explains.Design today goes beyond aesthetics: it moves into artificial intelligence, sustainability, immersive technologies and new forms of interaction. Our tenth anniversary edition will be a turning point for the project: we will not only talk about the future – we will build it together, design it and bring it to life.”
The speakers and the discussion
The confirmed lineup for the DDD26 is a cross-section where digital design and creativity are currently operating at their highest level. Stefan Sagmeisterthe legendary Austrian designer and two-time Grammy winner brings his signature uncompromising perspective on what design can and should do. Marina Wheelerthe first female partner at Pentagram, whose work includes identities for the Tate, Amnesty International and Rolls-Royce, represents the kind of strategic visual thinking that has always defined DDD’s curatorial ambitions. Wesley ter Haar, Chief AI Officer at Monks — one of the world’s largest creative companies with over 7,500 people across 57 locations — brings a first-hand look at how the artificial intelligence transformation of the creative industry is playing out in practice.
Emily Rickard, CEO of BUCKleads one of the world’s most innovative creative studios, with offices from Los Angeles to Sydney and a track record that includes Emmy Awards and new practices in artificial intelligence and experience design. Mason Nicoll, Executive Creative Director at Digital kitchenhas over 25 years of iconic work building a career now in the permanent collections of MoMA and the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt. Chiara Diana, Vice President and Global Chief Design Officer at frogleads interdisciplinary teams that integrate design, technology and business at the highest organizational levels.
Alongside these names, the program attracts creative leaders from Apple, Active Theory, Field, Future Deluxe, Runway, Unit9, Build in Amsterdam, Snapchat, Ars Thanea, Makemepulse, Immersive Garden and more — a density of creative intelligence rarely gathered in a single space. The event spans three parallel stages, allowing depth and breadth to co-exist over three full days.
Design Battle: The first live creative competition in Europe
One of the truly new elements of DDD26 is the Design Battle — described as Europe’s first live creative competition of its kind and one of the most exciting additions to the event format. The premise is uncompromising: a brief revelation is revealed at the beginning of the session. Participants have exactly two hours to design a solution from scratch in front of a live audience inside the Design Battle Arena. There are no previews. No preparation. No extensions. Simple skills, instincts and tools, executed in real time.
It is open to all registered DDD26 participants working in digital design — UI, UX, product, web and brand — and participation is free. The format cuts from the usual conference dynamic of retrospective case studies and curated presentations and replaces it with something more raw: the actual lived experience of design under pressure, in public. For an event celebrating a decade of community building, it’s just the right kind of challenge.
An ecosystem, not just an event
What has always set DDD apart from the wider conference landscape is the density of its program beyond the main stages. DDD26 extends it further: workshops and masterclasses on artificial intelligence and emerging topics, an exclusive AI Innovation workshop for startups, new B2B tools for business and networking matches, exclusive spaces for conversations and connections, and a festive immersive installation by Rare volume. The revamped Digital Design Award is back and confirmed partners include Figma and Canva — a pairing that speaks to where the tools conversation is right now in the industry.
The event is held under the auspices of the Department of Technological and Digital Innovation of the City of Milan, the Design School of Politecnico di Milano, the Italian Art Directors Club (ADCI) and the Osservatorio Branded Entertainment — an institutional framework that reflects how seriously the city and the design education sector take DDD as a platform.
With a 68% return rate among attendees, 78% of its audience made up of decision makers and 42% in senior leadership roles, DDD has long been more than a gathering — as its numbers suggest, it’s where significant segments of the digital design industry are active, building relationships and recalibrating direction. The tenth edition, at Superstudio Village from May 7-9, looks set to be the most significant expression of this yet.
