Wrobocon · Online conference
Designing an online conference and virtual experience.
In brief
Wrobocon is an online conference for Robot Framework enthusiasts. Each edition needed designing an experience across communication, software, and a live event, while evolving an established system. We built Wrobocon from scratch making it a base for RF community and interaction hub.
My role
I joined Wrobocon after its first edition as its sole designer and frontend developer. Since then, I have developed the website, visual identity, and virtual venue alongside the organising team, connecting how people discover the conference, prepare for it, and participate.
- Role
- Designer and frontend developer
- When
- 2023 - present
- Team
- NiceProject QA and Marketing team
- Scope
- Website and visual identitySocial mediaVirtual venue
Overview
One conference, evolving across editions
Each year needed its own character while remaining recognisably Wrobocon. As the event grew, the website also expanded beyond registration to support articles, announcements, preparation and continued participation.
From website to virtual venue
In 2025, the website became the venue
The fourth edition introduced WorkAdventure. Attendees entered as avatars, moved between talks and workshops, met one another and discovered quieter or more social spaces.
My architectural background became unexpectedly useful. I translated the conference programme into rooms, paths and gathering points, using clear zoning to make the virtual environment understandable without instructions.
Learning from the live venue
A live event revealed what an empty map could not
During the 2025 conference, 257 attendees used the venue. The central conference space became lively, but other areas felt unnecessarily distant or oversized.
For 2026, I designed a more compact university layout. Important rooms now share one centre, networking has several entrances and the quiet zone sits closer to the main programme.
- Theme
- Common space
- Robot factory
- Too spacious, even with this many people it made an impression of many empty spaces
- Robot university
- Smaller and more compact. One centre point with access to every room
- Theme
- Networking
- Robot factory
- One access only, big space
- Robot university
- Access from the conference and from the entry. More inviting and inclusive
- Theme
- Quiet zone
- Robot factory
- Far away from the conference room, too close to the exit
- Robot university
- Next to the conference room, main hall and workshop rooms
| Theme | Robot factory | Robot university |
|---|---|---|
| Common space | Too spacious, even with this many people it made an impression of many empty spaces | Smaller and more compact. One centre point with access to every room |
| Networking | One access only, big space | Access from the conference and from the entry. More inviting and inclusive |
| Quiet zone | Far away from the conference room, too close to the exit | Next to the conference room, main hall and workshop rooms |
Visual system
A visual system designed to change
When I joined, the organising team wanted to preserve Wrobocon’s logo and main typeface. I kept those recognisable elements and developed each edition through colour, imagery, and selected interface changes.
I also continued working in the same repository, reusing components and updating shared variables. New sections were introduced when the conference needed them. This gave each edition a distinct character while keeping the website maintainable.
Beyond the event day
Keeping the conference alive between editions
The website developed from an event page into a broader communication system. We introduced a Robot Framework blog, microlearning posts, venue previews, newsletter sign-up and free community meetings.
The organising team prepared the specialist content. I designed the system, created the visual communication and built the digital surfaces supporting it.
- Need
- Reach people beyond the event campaign
- Design response
- Robot Framework blog
- Purpose
- Make the website useful and discoverable throughout the year
- Need
- Build familiarity and trust
- Design response
- Microlearning and varied social content
- Purpose
- Offer practical value before asking people to register
- Need
- Prepare attendees for WorkAdventure
- Design response
- Map preview and platform guide
- Purpose
- Explain the environment before people enter it
- Need
- Continue the community after the event
- Design response
- Newsletter sign-up and free Zoom meetings
- Purpose
- Create ways to stay involved between editions
| Need | Design response | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Reach people beyond the event campaign | Robot Framework blog | Make the website useful and discoverable throughout the year |
| Build familiarity and trust | Microlearning and varied social content | Offer practical value before asking people to register |
| Prepare attendees for WorkAdventure | Map preview and platform guide | Explain the environment before people enter it |
| Continue the community after the event | Newsletter sign-up and free Zoom meetings | Create ways to stay involved between editions |
Outcome and reflection
Four editions shipped. More to come.
- 257
- people attended in 2025
- 4
- completed editions
- 2
- virtual venues designed
Wrobocon taught me that a conference does not grow simply because its website exists. People need reasons to notice it, trust it, return to it and eventually take part.
Across four editions, I learned to work with people from very different disciplines and turn their knowledge into one coherent experience. We used articles, microlearning, announcements, community meetings and playful venue previews to build interest throughout the year. My role was often to recognise what was missing, propose a way forward and give each contribution a clear place within the wider system.