Speakers & Topics
Speakers at WIAD Nashville come from varied disciplines, from Middle Tennessee and beyond. We thank all of our speakers for volunteering their time to make our 2026 community event a great one!
Dan Klyn - Keynote: What even *is* a question?
Every community depends on a shared system of symbols to make meaning together, and the invisible structure that holds that system in place is information architecture. On World Information Architecture Day at Middle Tennessee State University, Dan will share research findings around a key feature of this infrastructure: question-asking. The talk is called "What Even Is A Question," and if you stay to the end, you'll never ask one the same way again.
Susan Culkin, Jason Becker, Dylan Bernetich, Taylor Stevens; moderator Eve Eden - Panel: Design Through the Generations
From IA to AI, our panelists from across a span of generations have seen the evolution of IA from its roots, through many industry-defining moments, to the now emerging age of AI. Moderator Eve Eden will lead our guest speakers through history and seek out their testimonies of how impactful moments changed their understanding, the way they work, and the larger IA world.
Billy Hollis - Presentation: The Science Behind User Experience Design
We're honored to have Billy Hollis bring his designer/developer perspective, formed from decades of hands-on work in complex software applications. He has spoken at over 150 national and international technical conferences including Live360! and Microsoft events. Look forward to gaining an insight into how he teaches teams to do design thinking and "break free" from existing molds.
Guest speakers - Lightning Talks: 3-5 min each, BYO topics
Scheduled*: Jason Becker - "When you get it right, don't expect the fanfare"
Dylan Bernetich - "Design Doesn’t Speak for Itself: Communicating Design Decisions Clearly"
William Miller - "IA as Ethics: How we live well together"
*Attendees can sign up on the day of the conference to do an impromptu lightning talk.
Beza Worku - Breakout: Hospitality Experience from End to End
From the moment a customer walks in and checks in at the front desk, the ease of connecting their digital experience with the physical experience they receive sets the tone for their whole stay. As Chief Product Officer of hotel management tech at Intelity, Beza knows the difference that good IA design can make and by the end of this group breakout session, you'll know too.
Chad Hester - Breakout: Where IA and A11y Collide: How structure makes or breaks the user experience
Chad Hester will lead a group breakout session on learning the role of accessibility (A11y) standards in IA. His expertise, akin to a calling, comes from over 10 years of experience focused on building for accessibility in both internal and external platforms at companies he's worked with. He is currently the VP of North America at BarrierBreak whose vision is "Advancing the digital landscape to enable the experience for people with disabilities."
Susan Culkin - Workshop: Designing IA for Users
As a seasoned product designer for global enterprises, Susan is here to show us that information architecture is fundamentally about understanding and designing for different user mental models. Through a hands-on interactive workshop, participants will work in small groups to organize healthcare data for three distinct user types (nurses, doctors, hospital administrators), then translate those groupings into a simple navigation or content structure. The activity demonstrates how the same content should be prioritized and structured differently based on each user’s tasks and mental models. Beware of defaulting to familiar organizational structure, alphabetical lists, or surface-level visual differentiation.
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