Great design happens in academia and in the professional practice. Imagine when the two should meet. Yet researchers and practitioners often work in parallel, missing opportunities to learn from each other’s discoveries, challenges, and innovations.
The RAPPID Working Conference – Research in Academia and the Professional Practice in Interaction Design – exists to change that. We bring together scholars and industry professionals for genuine exchange—not just presentations, but conversations that lead to lasting collaborations, shared tools, and actionable insights that advance the field.
Building on discussions at academic conferences like CHI, INTERACT, and UXPA, and professional practice conferences such as EURO AI, WEB SUMMIT, and ENTERPRISE UX and UX INSIGHTS, RAPPID focuses specifically on what it takes for design research in academics and the professional design practice to benefit from each other. We explore the structural barriers, celebrate the successes, and work together to create sustainable partnerships between academia and industry and explore structural means to foster continued exchanges.
Our inaugural edition took place in London in 2025, organized by José Abdelnour Nocera of the University of West London. At that time the conference was still known as ARPPID2025, but then, too, it aimed to bring together practitioners and researchers ready to move beyond talking about a gap between academics and the professional practice to actually closing it. Each year, we’ll continue this work—creating a platform where theoretical innovation and practical application inform and strengthen each other.
Join RAPPID 2026 to contribute to this process. We invite both scholars, professional designers and design educators to share their experiences, their research and their challenges. Check out our contribution types (posters, lightning talks, case studies, workshops and papers) to decide how you would like to participate.
This conference wants to be a place where you can bring things and take things home from:
- Do you have a wicked problem in your company? Host a workshop and pick the collective brains of academics and professionals to find a direction for solutions.
- Is a cooperation between a university and the professional practice costing more energy than foreseen? Let’s get together and analyse the problem and derive design guidelines for how to set up and manage such a cooperation.
- Did you do an awesome study where industry and academics joined forces? Come and tell us about it.
- Did you try to do an awesome study, but did everything fall to pieces? Come and tell us about it as well.
- Are you as an academic trying to make UX research more accessible for smaller companies or for organizations with a design team of one? Share your ideas with us.