World Usability Day 2026: Designing a Sustainable Future with Ethical AI

About this event

AI has found its way into almost every corner of our work. It can help us move faster, but what happens when efficiency comes at the cost of critical thinking, sustainability, or responsibility for the products we create? For World Usability Day 2026 (https://worldusabilityday.org/), we're bringing together three talks on how to use AI more responsibly. We'll discuss sustainability, critical thinking, and the ethical questions that come with using AI in our work. TALKS & SPEAKERS 1. Taking sustainability into account when using AI by Daniela Romero Valdes (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniela-romero-valdes-594735109/), UX Researcher, and Jiawei van Kleef (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiawei-van-kleef-83941740/), Senior Product Designer at Fastned. Fastned is building a fast-charging network to help people drive without fossil fuels. But AI also consumes energy. Daniela and Jiawei will share how Fastned's UX team evaluated AI tools, set principles for using them, and introduced AI into their daily research and design work as a co-pilot, not an autopilot. Daniela works across teams on design validation, EV driver personas, market research, and strategic initiatives. Jiawei works on the Fastned app and design system, focusing on using AI to make design work more efficient without compromising quality. 2. The illusion of understanding by Natalia Arsand (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliarsand/), independent designer, mentor, and founder of Eixo. Drawing on cognitive science, Natalia will explore how we make sense of information, what we might lose when we let AI do the thinking for us, and how to recognise when AI is actually helping. Natalia spent ten years at Booking working in product design, design systems, and design operations. Now she helps designers and product leaders deal with complex challenges. 3. From tech ethics to AI ethics: What should we ask ourselves now? by Katherine Elizabeth Bustos Rodas (https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-elizabeth-bustos-rodas/), technology leader. Ethical questions in technology existed long before AI. What has changed is the speed, scale, and impact of the products we create. Through three real-life cases, Katherine will discuss ethical challenges, from encouraging greener behaviour to protecting critical thinking and designing AI that people confide in. Katherine has over ten years of experience in product, engineering, and AI. She has worked at TomTom and Felyx and currently volunteers as Head of Europe for Women in AI. HOST Fastned (https://www.fastnedcharging.com/) is a European EV fast-charging company building a network of charging stations to make electric driving easier and help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. PROGRAM 18:00 Doors open 18:30 Talks + Q&A 19:30 Drinks & networking 📸 Please keep in mind that there will be pictures taken at the event. They will be uploaded to the meetup page and might be used on social media. Join us to share ideas, challenge assumptions, and discuss how we can use AI more responsibly, both as individuals and as organisations. Save your spot!