Local-first Data Lab @ SOUPS 2026 ¶
A Half-Day Workshop on UX Patterns for Local-First Privacy-Enhancing Technologies
We invite designers, researchers, and practitioners working on privacy-enhancing technologies and local-first software to join us for a hands-on design workshop at SOUPS 2026.
What is this workshop? ¶
We’ll work in small groups to workshop and refine UX design patterns for local-first software: applications where data lives on the user’s device, not a central server. Pattern candidates will be drawn from our library and from participants’ own submitted challenges. Refined patterns will be published here in the library.
Local-first software presents distinctive design challenges that are underexplored in existing HCI and usability literature: communicating data ownership and sync state, designing for intermittent connectivity, helping users understand what leaves their device and what doesn’t, and building trust in the absence of familiar cloud metaphors. This workshop is an opportunity to develop shared design vocabulary for these interactions.
Who should attend? ¶
UX designers, HCI researchers, and privacy technologists with experience in any of:
- Local-first or offline-first software
- Decentralized or peer-to-peer applications
- Privacy-enhancing technologies (encrypted messaging, VPNs, anonymous browsing, etc.)
- End-to-end encrypted or zero-knowledge systems
No prior experience with design patterns is required. Practitioners and academic researchers alike are encouraged to participate.
How to participate ¶
The workshop is open to all SOUPS 2026 attendees, no paper submission required. To help us plan groups and prepare pattern materials in advance, we ask participants to sign up by July 17.
When signing up, you are encouraged (but not required) to briefly describe a UX challenge or interaction problem you have encountered in a local-first, decentralized, or data ownership context. This may be a challenge from practice, a finding from research, or an open question you are investigating. Submissions from both practitioners and researchers are equally welcome. These descriptions help us tailor the pattern candidates and form balanced groups.
Lightning talks ¶
We will invite 3–5 participants to open the workshop with a short lightning talk describing their challenge. Selections will be made by the organizers from signup descriptions, prioritizing:
- Relevance to local-first software and the session’s pattern-workshopping goals
- Diversity of perspectives across design, research, and practice
- Fit with the pattern candidates being workshopped that day
All participants will be notified of their selection status at least two weeks before the workshop day.
Agenda ¶
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 9:00–9:15 | Welcome, introductions, and workshop goals |
| 9:15–9:45 | Lightning talks: local-first UX challenges and the Decent Patterns format |
| 9:45–10:00 | Pattern assignment and small group formation |
| 10:00–11:15 | Small group pattern workshopping (structured critique and editing) |
| 11:15–11:45 | Full group: pattern presentations and peer feedback |
| 11:45–12:00 | Synthesis, publishing pathway, next steps, and wrap-up |
About Decent Patterns ¶
Decent Patterns is an open-access design pattern library for privacy-enhancing and decentralized technologies. Patterns developed during this workshop will be submitted for publication in the library, contributing to a growing community resource.