Liquid Brands & Vanishing Interfaces: New Rules of Experience
Summary
The website is dying. The mouse is next. In this bold fireside chat, Alex Hamilton and Suff Syed challenge everything we know about digital experience. From liquid brands that move across surfaces to voice interfaces that erase traditional UX, they’ll unpack what happens after design as we know it. What does it mean when a brand meets you, in your car, your watch, your fridge, your earbuds? What does design look like when it’s generated, optimised, and personalised in real time? Expect a thrilling look at the collapse of static web thinking.
- Format: Fireside Chat
- Category: Fireside Chat
- Event Type: panel
- Presented By: n/a
Contributors
- Alex Hamilton
- Suff Syed
Raw Event JSON
Large nested arrays are compacted for page readability. Full payload remains in dataset files.
Open JSON payload
{
"id": "PP1162380",
"track": "Design",
"focus_area": null,
"category": "Fireside Chat",
"event_id": "PP1162380",
"event_type": "panel",
"format": "Fireside Chat",
"genre": null,
"subgenre": null,
"name": "Liquid Brands & Vanishing Interfaces: New Rules of Experience",
"presented_by": null,
"publish_at": "2025-11-03T16:30:00.000-06:00",
"reservable": true,
"reservable_id": "PP1162380",
"reserved": false,
"date": "2026-03-16",
"end_time": "2026-03-16T12:30:00.000-05:00",
"start_time": "2026-03-16T11:30:00.000-05:00",
"message": null,
"image": null,
"credentials": [
{
"name": "Platinum Badge",
"type": "platinum"
},
{
"name": "Innovation Badge",
"type": "innovation"
}
],
"contributors": [
{
"id": 89308,
"company": "Merkle / Dentsu",
"credential_types": [
"innovation"
],
"entity_id": 2251794,
"name": "Alex Hamilton",
"speaker_types": [],
"title": "Group Innovation Director",
"image": {
"alt_text": "Alex Hamilton",
"credit": null,
"url": "https://images.sxsw.com/TWrgamQBZyHfnxOkCp5jL7SCJbA=/0x121:960x1081/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/d9185835-865c-48e0-a27e-f002506635bf/pcid-1637830"
},
"speaker_type": "Speaker",
"details": "Alex Hamilton is Group Innovation Director at Dentsu UK. \r\rAs the Dentsu Lab London lead, he specialises in working with creative and technology teams to ensure the business is delivering human-cantered innovation to impact business and society.\r\rDuring his career, Alex has delivered bespoke innovation projects for a range of multinational clients, including Clarins, IKEA and Kellogg’s. \r\rWith an eye-catching presentation style, Hamilton regularly speaks at conferences – including SXSW, Cannes Lions and Websummit – on how our relationship with technology is reshaping the industry.\r\rHe holds a First-Class degree in BSc Economics from the University of Sussex and is based in London.",
"links": {},
"type": "person"
},
{
"id": 78270,
"company": "Microsoft Research",
"credential_types": [
"innovation"
],
"entity_id": 2239237,
"name": "Suff Syed",
"speaker_types": [],
"title": "Head of Design – Product & AI Leader",
"image": {
"alt_text": "Suff Syed",
"credit": "",
"url": "https://images.sxsw.com/a7DMpVyOh8Rz05MR8Cyb9Z1U01s=/0x0:400x400/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/4cf88d92-97e8-4c1b-9ac0-43cae5ea1993/pcid-1623498"
},
"speaker_type": "Speaker",
"details": "Suff Syed serves as Head of Product and an AI Product Leader within Microsoft Research, the division tasked with architecting the future of AI products and technologies within the Microsoft universe. As a designer, a scientist, and a futurist – Suff believes in combining meaningful design and intelligent technology to enable human value. Prior to Microsoft, Suff worked at and advised startups and Fortune 500 companies building creative and enterprise solutions. His in-depth knowledge and practical experience in software design, from design concept creation to development and release, enable him to build strong strategic partnerships with Research, Strategy, Design, Engineering, Brand and Marketing teams to deliver innovative end-to-end solutions.",
"links": {},
"type": "person"
}
],
"venue": {
"accessible": false,
"age_policy": null,
"floor": null,
"id": "V2049",
"indoor_outdoor": null,
"name": "Waller Ballroom C",
"parent_id": "V2024",
"parent_venue_name": "Austin Marriott Downtown",
"venue_entry_info": null,
"formats": null,
"location": {
"address": "304 E Cesar Chavez St.",
"lat_lon": [
30.2628298,
-97.74157
],
"city": "Austin",
"postal_code": "78701",
"state": "TX",
"name": "Austin Marriott Downtown"
},
"root": {
"accessible": null,
"age_policy": null,
"floor": null,
"id": "V2024",
"indoor_outdoor": null,
"name": "Austin Marriott Downtown",
"parent_id": null,
"parent_venue_name": null,
"venue_entry_info": null,
"formats": null
},
"events": "[omitted 5 venue events]"
},
"description": "The website is dying. The mouse is next. In this bold fireside chat, Alex Hamilton and Suff Syed challenge everything we know about digital experience. From liquid brands that move across surfaces to voice interfaces that erase traditional UX, they’ll unpack what happens after design as we know it. What does it mean when a brand meets you, in your car, your watch, your fridge, your earbuds? What does design look like when it’s generated, optimised, and personalised in real time? Expect a thrilling look at the collapse of static web thinking.",
"experience_level": "Intermediate",
"accessibility": [],
"accessible_venue": false,
"add_bcl_url": false,
"add_slido": false,
"age_policy": null,
"american_sign_language": false,
"apple_url": null,
"audio_description": false,
"caption_url": null,
"closed_captioned": false,
"cpe_credit": false,
"has_subtitles": false,
"hash_tags": [],
"high_sensory_experience": false,
"live": false,
"long_description": "The website is dying. The mouse is next. In this bold fireside chat, Alex Hamilton and Suff Syed challenge everything we know about digital experience. From liquid brands that move across surfaces to voice interfaces that erase traditional UX, they’ll unpack what happens after design as we know it. What does it mean when a brand meets you, in your car, your watch, your fridge, your earbuds? What does design look like when it’s generated, optimised, and personalised in real time? Expect a thrilling look at the collapse of static web thinking.",
"meeting_url": null,
"meeting_url_live": false,
"mentorly_url": null,
"mobile_audio_url": null,
"open_captioned": false,
"playlist_tag": null,
"rebroadcast": false,
"recommended_ids": [],
"search_conversions": null,
"short_program": false,
"slido_url": null,
"sort": "LIQUID BRANDS & VANISHING INTERFACES: NEW RULES OF EXPERIENCE",
"source": "Official",
"squad_up_url": null,
"stream_embed": null,
"stream_id": null,
"stream_url": null,
"strobe_warning": false,
"subdiscipline": null,
"summit": null,
"summit_display_name": null,
"tags": [
{
"id": 1343,
"name": "Technology",
"created_at": "2017-10-11T17:42:23.253-05:00",
"updated_at": "2024-09-13T07:02:24.613-05:00",
"sort": "TECHNOLOGY",
"alpha": "T"
},
{
"id": 982,
"name": "Design",
"created_at": "2016-11-09T15:05:12.041-06:00",
"updated_at": "2024-02-10T20:46:02.281-06:00",
"sort": "DESIGN",
"alpha": "D"
}
],
"talent_attending": null,
"title_only": false,
"track_display_name": "Design",
"trailer_id": null,
"trailer_url": null,
"video_on_demand": null,
"vimeo_id": null,
"vod": false,
"xr_project_type": null,
"youtube_id": null,
"related_sales_client": null
}