IT community from Central Asia: UX Community Kyrgyzstan

Salima Aitmambetova, city — Bishkek, founder of the UX Community, Instagram

About the Community

The idea to create a community emerged back in the spring of 2024, and on March 5, I announced that UX Community was open. In this project, I began gathering those interested in the development of UX/UI design in Kyrgyzstan, and many were eager to join. However, at first, I assembled a team of only five people to build a solid foundation for the community. I looked for people with whom I could create something interesting for designers, support ideas, grow together, and help each other.

Kyrgyzstan suffers from a significant lack of various events and programs specifically for product and UX/UI designers. By participating in various conferences and design meetups abroad, I came up with the idea of creating similar events in our homeland, and it resonated with many. I only started implementing the idea in July, and we held our first design talks in the form of a panel discussion on the topic "The Importance of UX in a Product." All seats were filled within an hour of the announcement, and we realized how "hungry" our designers are for knowledge and networking.

The main goal of UX Community is to develop the design community in the country, where we will strive to support designers of all levels and provide opportunities for everyone to grow professionally.

The main task of the community for 2025 is monthly design meetups and attracting foreign designers who will share their experience with ours. At the moment, our focus is on various collaborations with IT companies and communities, both within and outside Kyrgyzstan. We are happy to cooperate with everyone.

Community Members

The target audience of our community is UX/UI and product designers of all levels. Currently, our Core Team consists of eight people — they are all designers working in different companies and projects. This year, we decided to open the doors to all designers who wish to join our community.

Events for Community Members

As of today, our plan for 2025 includes 12 events — monthly design talks in various formats and on various topics. Among them: a large designer meetup, a design hackathon, design breakfasts, panel discussions, design roasts, a design picnic, a UX festival, and intensives with invited guests. Anyone interested can participate, from those who just want to choose this profession to developers and leaders of various companies who will find our design talks useful.

How the Community Helps with Development

We provide the opportunity to participate in our events, where experts share their experience. This allows many to learn something new and each person finds new acquaintances, which helps them grow both professionally and personally. Team members conduct masterclasses, speak at meetings, organize events, and expand their network of useful contacts. These activities contribute to the exchange of experience and knowledge among every member of the community.

Successful Projects

One of the successful projects was the design hackathon we held in December 2024. This hackathon was the first in the history of Kyrgyzstan dedicated to UX/UI design, where participants were given a case study by our partner and general sponsor, MDigital. The hackathon lasted two days, and finalists received cash prizes and a two-month internship at MDigital. Our designers were also interested in our design roasts, where we analyzed the UX/UI of local applications, and panel discussions where one could ask various questions to experienced specialists.

Plans

By the end of December, our team mapped out a plan for 12 months, where one of the major events will be an intensive on design systems in February led by a Senior designer from Germany. Also, in April, there will be a design meetup for 150 people with invited guests from other countries, and in October — the second UX/UI design hackathon.

Design meetings on various topics will take place every month. To implement our ideas, we are helped by attracted sponsors and partners, and our main helpers are our team, which invests all its free time into the development of the community.

We are always open to cooperation with anyone, both within and outside our country. You can contact us by writing to Telegram @salima_uxc, on Instagram @salima.aitmambetova, @ux.community, or via email at uxcommunity.team@gmail.com.