Designing What Lasts: An End-of-Year Reflection from the CEO

December 17, 2025

Cybelle Jones

An End-of-Year Reflection from SEGD’s CEO, Cybelle Jones

As 2025 comes to a close, I’ve been reflecting on what this year revealed about SEGD—not just in what we delivered, but in how our community showed up for one another.

This was a year of experimentation, momentum, and renewed clarity. A year where we leaned into curiosity, expanded our voice, and deepened our understanding of what experience design truly is: a multidisciplinary practice that shapes memory, meaning, and human connection in space.

What became especially clear is this: when people truly connect to SEGD—when they find their people, their practice, and a sense of belonging—they stay. And we are deeply committed to staying connected right back.

A Community Rooted in Learning and Belonging

One of the most affirming moments of the year came through our 2025 Membership Survey. Again and again, members told us that what they value most is professional growth, meaningful connection, and inspiration grounded in real practice.

That insight is shaping our path forward. In response, we’re launching SEGD’s first-ever bootcamps for continued education—expanding access to free monthly webinars for members and non-members alike—and continuing to invest in learning that is practical, inclusive, and relevant to the work designers are doing every day.

Education isn’t just a benefit—it’s a commitment. One we take seriously.

Experience Design, Looking Forward

This year, we were more intentional about telling the story of why experience design matters—not as a trend or a collection of objects, but as a human-centered practice that shapes how people remember, move through, and feel in the world.

That story came to life most powerfully through Voices of Experience, our new film series spotlighting SEGD Fellows who have spent their careers shaping some of the most meaningful experiences of our time. Their voices remind us that experience design is inherently multidisciplinary—rooted in storytelling, systems thinking, materiality, technology, and empathy—and that its greatest impact is often felt long after a moment has passed.

This future-facing perspective also informed how we gathered, how we learned, and how we recognized work this year. It showed up in our most experimental programming, and in the evolution of the SEGD Global Design Awards—where we introduced our first Life-Centered Design Award, elevating sustainability as a core design value grounded in care for people, place, and planet.

What Experimenting with Xlab Made Possible

Xlab created space to pause, to play, and to reimagine what our work can be when the creative process mirrors the experience we hope to create. It offered a rare opportunity to step outside daily production and reconnect with curiosity, collaboration, and purpose—reminding us that the best design emerges when learning and making happen side by side.

And many reflected on renewed creative energy and purpose:

What moved me most was hearing how deeply these gatherings resonated—especially for first-time attendees:

Again and again, people spoke not just about inspiration, but about remembering why they chose this field in the first place.

Gratitude for Steady Leadership 

As I reflect on this year, I also want to pause and express deep personal gratitude to the leaders who have helped guide SEGD through its most transformative chapter.

When I joined SEGD as CEO in 2020—during a period of leadership transition, global uncertainty, and unprecedented disruption—Anna Crider (Entro) and Kathy Fry (Mayer Reed) were steadfast partners. Each gave more than a decade of service to SEGD, including roles as President, Vice President, and Past President, and helped lead the organization through the complexities of welcoming a new CEO, navigating COVID, and stewarding an event-based membership organization through profound change.

Together, they helped guide SEGD through strategic planning, the establishment of our Racial Justice Commission and Sustainability Committee, and a renewed commitment to values-driven leadership. Their dedication, generosity, and belief in SEGD’s future shaped the foundation we continue to build upon.

Following their leadership, Traci Sym, our outgoing Board President, championed a bold next phase—supporting our rebrand, new website, and experimentation with new formats at Xlab and offerings that position SEGD for the future. Alongside her, Aki Carpenter, our current Vice President and incoming Board President, has been a thoughtful, steady partner in imagining what’s next.

I am incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by leadership that pushes us to grow and evolve—without ever losing the caring, accessible, and human spirit that defines SEGD.

Looking Ahead

As we step into 2026, we’ll continue to invest in education, sustainability, and global dialogue, while holding fast to what makes this community special: a shared belief that experience design has the power to shape not just spaces, but lives.

Thank you for being part of this journey—for your ideas, your trust, and your commitment to designing what lasts.

With gratitude,
Cybelle