Mara Kestrel Booking from February 2027

Speaking

Talks and workshops

I speak a few times a year about designing for people under pressure. I also run workshops for teams who want to do their own field research.

An empty auditorium with rows of wooden seats facing a lit stage
Photo: ARTO SURAJ / Unsplash

Upcoming

  • Talk

    Calm by default

    Interface North 2026 · Newcastle

    Why the best tools for stressful work interrupt less, and how to argue for fewer alerts with evidence.

  • Workshop

    Drawing what we don’t know

    Public Data Design Day · Glasgow

    A hands-on workshop on showing ranges, confidence and missing data in public dashboards.

Past

  • Talk

    Tokens are a contract

    Systems & Components Conf · Online

    How Quire tests every colour pair in CI and prints the ratio next to the token.

  • Talk

    Six nights on the ward

    Health Design Forum · Manchester

    What overnight field research taught a design team about time, rest and trust.

  • Podcast

    The empty state episode

    The Margin Note podcast · Remote

    A conversation about first-use screens and why I design them before anything else.

Invite me to speak

I prioritise public-sector and community events, and I ask organisers for a code of conduct, step-free access and live captions.

Get in touch

Events are fictional sample content.

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Mara Kestrel
Work
Writing
About
CV
Speaking
Uses
Now
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Night Ward A ward board for night-shift nurses that turns forty competing priorities into one calm list.
Tideline A public flood-warning service that shows how sure the forecast is, not only what it says.
Northline fares A fare finder that leads with the cheapest valid ticket and explains the rules in plain words.
Quire An accessible design system I maintain, where every colour pair ships with its contrast ratio.
Furrow An offline-first harvest log for small farms, designed for wet gloves and no signal.
Designing for 3 a.m. Most interfaces are designed at 11 in the morning by rested people. Some are used at 3 at night by exhausted ones. Here is what changes.
The case for fewer alerts Alert fatigue is a design problem, not a discipline problem. Four questions I ask before any notification ships.
Write the empty state first The first screen most people see is an empty one. Designing it first makes the rest of the product clearer.
Design tokens are a contract, not a palette A token named after a colour tells you what it looks like. A token named after a role tells you what it promises. Only one of those survives a redesign.
What a flood map taught me about uncertainty People trust forecasts more when you tell them how sure you are. Showing uncertainty is a design skill, and a public duty.
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