CannonDesign submits multiple sessions for SXSW PanelPicker
August 6, 2025
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CannonDesign has proudly submitted nine different proposals for the 2026 South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference.
Recognized as one of the premier global innovation festivals, SXSW is dedicated to helping creative people achieve their goals. The event features diverse programming spanning health, AI, media, sports and more.
SXSW allows the public to vote on sessions they would most like to see at next year’s festival. The public voting period, called PanelPicker, officially launched yesterday and runs through Sunday, Aug. 24.
The PanelPicker outcomes carry significant weight with the jury when making final programming selections. That means everyone has a chance to create an SXSW PanelPicker account, vote and make their voices heard.
Here are CannonDesign's nine submittals:
- Designing women's sports venues to turn momentum into growth
- Eradicating the black holes of healthcare by design
- Healthcare spaces fail women — it's time to change that
- Healing amidst war: A children's hospital rises in Ukraine
- How immersive experiences will empower future sports venues
- Neuro-architecture: Biohacking spaces where we live and work
- Post-hype AI: Optimism in the trough of disillusionment
- Survive to thrive: How empathy can shape cancer survivor care
- What Disney taught me about designing for wonder + awe
Designing women's sports venues to turn momentum into growth
Designing women's sports venues to turn momentum into growth
Women’s sports are gaining more traction in America and beyond. Iconic stars are emerging across collegiate and professional markets. Brands, TV ratings and interest are growing daily.
With this momentum, it’s time to leverage design to help women’s sports improve fan experience, revenue generation opportunities and sponsorship possibilities. This all-female panel will highlight how design can help teams, leagues and venues ignite next-generation experiences and new revenue streams to turn current momentum into exponential growth and lasting success.
Eradicating the black holes of healthcare by design
Despite historic investment and technological advancement, healthcare still has too many black holes — spaces where dignity disappears, process fails and patients feel unseen. These aren’t just operational breakdowns — they are symptoms of environments and systems that don’t support humanity.
This talk challenges audiences to imagine how we can adapt space, workflow and human interaction to fulfill healthcare’s promise. It will highlight how design can be a superpower in this effort and tangible moves that can bring new levels of equity, trust and healing into the places where care happens.
Eradicating the black holes of healthcare by design
Despite historic investment and technological advancement, healthcare still has too many black holes — spaces where dignity disappears, process fails and patients feel unseen. These aren’t just operational breakdowns — they are symptoms of environments and systems that don’t support humanity.
This talk challenges audiences to imagine how we can adapt space, workflow and human interaction to fulfill healthcare’s promise. It will highlight how design can be a superpower in this effort and tangible moves that can bring new levels of equity, trust and healing into the places where care happens.
Healthcare spaces fail women — it's time to change that
Healthcare spaces fail women — it's time to change that
For too long, women’s healthcare has been designed mostly by men for women — but not with women. From tools to spaces to protocols, male-centered systems routinely fail women. Women's pain is dismissed, their symptoms misdiagnosed and needs overlooked.
This isn’t just oversight — it’s systemic exclusion. This session is about unlearning those assumptions and the power of listening. When we focus on lived experience, design becomes a tool for liberation. We’ll explore how women can lead from that truth to reshape and reimagine their healthcare experiences.
Healing amidst war: A children's hospital rises in Ukraine
Russia’s war in Ukraine has devastated healthcare infrastructure, leaving children without access to essential care. This session tells the story of an unprecedented global effort to deliver a modular, high-quality children’s hospital to a nation in crisis. More than a response to war, it’s a prototype of how modular construction can bring sustainable, world-class care to post-crisis communities anywhere. This conversation will explore how design, collaboration and courage are reshaping what’s possible, starting in Ukraine and extending far beyond.
Healing amidst war: A children's hospital rises in Ukraine
Russia’s war in Ukraine has devastated healthcare infrastructure, leaving children without access to essential care. This session tells the story of an unprecedented global effort to deliver a modular, high-quality children’s hospital to a nation in crisis. More than a response to war, it’s a prototype of how modular construction can bring sustainable, world-class care to post-crisis communities anywhere. This conversation will explore how design, collaboration and courage are reshaping what’s possible, starting in Ukraine and extending far beyond.
How immersive experiences will empower future sports venues
How immersive experiences will empower future sports venues
Across sports and entertainment, experiential spaces are becoming mission-critical. Today's fans and guests crave next-level immersive experiences, and all teams, brands and venues need to focus on creating them.
This session unites the former president of Disney Imagineering and a revered sports design leader to detail what it takes to create memorable, immersive experiences and how they can activate new partnerships, sponsorships and revenue generation. They will illustrate how these opportunities exist at the nexus of storytelling, fan experience, technology, hospitality and brand immersion.
Neuro-architecture: Biohacking spaces where we live and work
Eat healthier. Exercise more. Take more vitamins. Red-light therapy — there are numerous ways to bio-hack our personal health and performance. But can we also apply biohacking strategies to how we design our homes, workplaces, schools, fitness centers and more?
This session looks at how design thinking around circadian lighting, access to fresh air and other critical factors can ensure our built environment is helping us achieve optimal health and performance. It will also highlight how we make the concept of biohacking more accessible to teams, communities, employees and/or companies.
Neuro-architecture: Biohacking spaces where we live and work
Eat healthier. Exercise more. Take more vitamins. Red-light therapy — there are numerous ways to bio-hack our personal health and performance. But can we also apply biohacking strategies to how we design our homes, workplaces, schools, fitness centers and more?
This session looks at how design thinking around circadian lighting, access to fresh air and other critical factors can ensure our built environment is helping us achieve optimal health and performance. It will also highlight how we make the concept of biohacking more accessible to teams, communities, employees and/or companies.
Post-Hype AI: Optimism in the trough of disillusionment
Post-Hype AI: Optimism in the trough of disillusionment
The initial thrill is gone. The AI revolution feels more like a slow, frustrating evolution. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. The data is stark: despite millions invested in AI, less than 30% of CEOs are happy with the returns.
The post-hype era is here, and with it comes the challenge of turning dazzling potential into durable value. This is not another talk about the future of AI; it is a practical playbook for surviving the present. We will provide a clear, actionable roadmap to help navigate the difficult post-hype phase, maintain a positive outlook and emerge stronger.
Survive to thrive: How empathy can shape cancer survivor care
By 2025, more than 18 million Americans are cancer survivors. Yet most cancer campuses are still built for treatment, not for the long, complex journey of survivorship. Follow-up visits, ongoing care and life after remission come with different emotional needs — ones most environments were not designed to support.
This panel, featuring survivors, designers and strategists, explores how we can create spaces that honor survivorship as a unique chapter rich with purpose, identity and hope. Survivorship is not just recovery — it is life, and we should design for that.
Survive to thrive: How empathy can shape cancer survivor care
By 2025, more than 18 million Americans are cancer survivors. Yet most cancer campuses are still built for treatment, not for the long, complex journey of survivorship. Follow-up visits, ongoing care and life after remission come with different emotional needs — ones most environments were not designed to support.
This panel, featuring survivors, designers and strategists, explores how we can create spaces that honor survivorship as a unique chapter rich with purpose, identity and hope. Survivorship is not just recovery — it is life, and we should design for that.
What Disney taught me about designing for wonder + awe
What Disney taught me about designing for wonder + awe
Design is most powerful when it infuses wonder and awe to elevate the human experience. Nothing rivals design discovery that creates lifelong memories and heightened engagement. Across entertainment, sports and workplace, touchpoints spanning the physical and digital worlds can push design boundaries — bringing next-gen experiences to life.
Through storytelling, Barbara will draw upon her time with Disney Imagineering and CannonDesign to look at culture shifts and emerging behaviors across how people live, work and play today — all focused on infusing more wonder and awe in our lives.
