2026 SEGD Pre-Conference Bootcamps

2026 SEGD Pre-Conference Bootcamps

October 21, 2026

12:30-5:00 pm CT

SEGD is offering two 2026 Pre-Conference Bootcamps on Wednesday, October 21. Both bootcamps are concurrently scheduled from 1:00-5:00 pm CT with check-in beginning at 12:30 pm CT. Participants who complete the full bootcamp session will receive a Certificate of Completion. SEGD membership is not required to attend. The bootcamps will be local to Kansas City, MO. Venue is TBD.

Bootcamp: Wayfinding, Planning, and Design

This four-hour, hands-on workshop offers a sequential, user-centered framework for understanding how people navigate complex environments and how designers can respond with clear, effective wayfinding systems. Each segment builds on the previous one, moving participants from research through strategy, design systems, and typographic communication with hands-on exercises woven throughout.

What Participants Will Learn

Part 1: Ethnographic Research — Using observation, interviews, and journey mapping to understand how people actually experience and navigate a place, revealing behavioral patterns, accessibility needs, and gaps between intended and real-world conditions.

Part 2: Strategy — Translating research into actionable wayfinding strategy, including sign-location planning principles, decision point identification, information hierarchies, and coordination with the built environment.

Part 3: Design Systems — Developing clear, scalable wayfinding systems that balance creative vision with operational clarity, ensuring solutions are both impactful and practical to implement at scale.

Part 4: Typography and Communication — Creating legible, accessible, and intuitive typographic systems that help people in motion interpret information quickly and navigate with confidence.

Each segment is led by a specialist bringing deep, focused expertise:

• Jonathan Mugmon, Principal and Wayfinding Director Populous — author of The Science of Wayfinding, forthcoming from Routledge in 2026
• Ashley Wysong, Senior Wayfinding Planner — specializing in complex signage and wayfinding systems rooted in user needs and the built environment
• Ezz Osman, Senior Wayfinding Designer — focused on visual systems, strategic storytelling, and user experience across major venues and public environments
• Pan Hu, Senior Wayfinding Designer — specializing in typography and information systems for stadiums, campuses, hospitals, airports, and transit networks

Bootcamp: Technology Is Not the Experience – Designing for Impact, Engagement, and Meaning

As immersive technologies become increasingly central to experiential design, one question grows more urgent: when does technology serve the experience and when does it become the experience? This workshop gives designers a practical, audience-centered framework for answering that question with intention and confidence.

Structured as a combination of lecture, case study analysis, and collaborative hands-on exercises, the session moves from historical context to real-world application equipping participants to make smarter, more grounded decisions about technology’s role in the work they design.

What Participants Will Learn

• Develop a shared vocabulary for discussing immersive experiences, technology, storytelling, and audience engagement
• Understand the historical evolution of immersive exhibit design and its influence on contemporary brand and public experiences
• Examine the behavioral principles behind what makes experiences memorable
• Apply audience-centered design principles when selecting technologies, media, and interpretive approaches
• Understand how to evaluate the impact and ramifications of technology during Concept Design/ Schematic Design process
• Evaluate technology as one component of a broader experiential strategy, not an end in itself
• Use a practical decision-making framework based on client goals, budget, audience, timeline, and permanence

Workshop Structure

Part 1: Foundations and Historical Context — A facilitated presentation tracing the evolution of immersive design from early interpretive environments to today’s technology-enabled experiences, with case studies from museums, cultural institutions, and branded environments.

Part 2: Interactive Design Workshop — Participants develop a Discovery Workshop deck for a real design brief, then break into groups to pitch solutions and present outcomes for collective critique.

Part 3: Real-World Case Studies and Summary — Facilitators share how similar projects have been realized, using attendance and audience response metrics to evaluate effectiveness.

Facilitated by:

• Sarah van Haastert, Global Director of Strategic Partnerships, AVI-SPL XTG — connecting creative, technical, and strategic partners to deliver innovative, human-centered experiential environments worldwide
• Nathan Lachenmyer, Co-Founder & Technology Lead, Sitara Systems — helping institutions make informed technology decisions during planning that shape how systems are built, operated, and maintained over their lifetime
• Cheryl Catterall, Curated Technologies Strategy Lead, HKS, Inc. — 30 years at the crossroads of architecture, performance design, and digital media, blending analog and digital worlds to create experiences that transcend the expected
• Joe Whitesides, Director of Experience Technology, AVI-SPL XTG — leading experiential, immersive, and mission-critical design and engineering solutions that transform complex technology systems into impactful, human-centered experiences