1. The Awards

The Optimal Experience Awards 2026 (the "Awards") is an industry recognition program organized by Optimal Workshop Limited ("Optimal") to celebrate excellence and impact in the field of user research. By submitting an entry, the entrant (the "Entrant") agrees to be bound by these Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”).

2. Eligibility

2.1. The Awards are open to individual practitioners, teams, and organizations globally.

2.2. Employees of Optimal and their immediate families are ineligible to enter, except as part of any applicable  collective judging panel where at least one Optimal employee must be present.

2.3. Specifically for the "Best Use of Optimal" category, Entrants must be current customers of Optimal at the time of submission.

2.4. Entrants must be at least 18 years of age.

3. Key Dates and Deadlines

The following timeline applies to the Awards:

Entries received after 11:59 PM (AWST) on 10 July 2026 will not be considered.

4. Award Categories

Entrants may submit work into one or more of the following six categories:

1. Outstanding User Research Project: Celebrating research excellence regardless of methodology.
   
   

2. Research-Driven Impact: For work that directly influenced product, service, or organizational decisions.
   
   

3. UX Research Leader of the Year: Recognizing individuals for leadership and contribution to the discipline. Self-nominations and peer nominations are accepted.
   
   

4. Collaborative Research Excellence: Celebrating healthy cross-functional dynamics and shared ownership.
   
   

5. Research for Social Good: For research with measurable community, social, or environmental benefit.
   
   

6. Best Use of Optimal: Celebrating innovative or effective use of Optimal tools (Customers only).

5. Submission Requirements

5.1. All entries must be submitted via the official online platform at [optimalworkshop.com/awards].

5.2. Required criteria for each submission include a project overview, research objectives, impact metrics, team information, and a maximum of five supporting visuals.

5.3. Entrants warrant that they have obtained all necessary permissions and third-party consents (including from individuals, clients or employers) to share the project work and any associated data or visuals.

5.4. For the "UX Research Leader of the Year" category, third-party nominations are encouraged. I provided the nominee is made aware of and consents to the submission in accordance with these Terms. 

6. Judging and Selection

6.1. Judging consists of two stages: (1) Stage 1 - Blind Review, where company names are hidden to reduce bias, and (2) Stage 2 - Shortlist Discussion and collective deliberation.

6.2. A public voting component will go live on 20 July 2026 as part of the final evaluation process.

6.3. The panel will consist of 6–8 judges, including respected industry practitioners and at least one Optimal employee.

6.4. All judging decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the results.

7. Intellectual Property and Confidentiality

7.1. Confidentiality & License to Use: Entrants agree that their responses to the three primary submission questions may be publicised by Optimal under these Terms (these will be marked accordingly on the submissions page). All other submission content is treated as confidential during the judging process. By submitting an entry, the Entrant grants Optimal a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual license to use, reproduce, and display portions of their submission for promotional purposes in accordance with this clause 7.

7.2. Shortlisted/Winning Entries: Entrants agree that if their submission is shortlisted or wins, Optimal may feature the submission (including by identifying the organisation, team, or individual associated with the submission)  in winner spotlights, case studies, and promotional content across Optimal’s website, social media, and sales enablement materials. Optimal will work with any such Entrants  to ensure sensitive data is redacted where necessary.

8. Recognition and Prizes

8.1. Winners and shortlisted Entrants will receive digital badges/logos for their use, industry visibility through winner spotlights, and potential speaking opportunities at Optimal events.

8.2. No cash prizes are awarded. The Awards are a merit-based recognition program.

9. General Conditions

9.1. Optimal reserves the right to cancel or amend the Awards or these Terms and Conditions at any time without prior notice to Entrants. However, Optimal will endeavour to notify Entrants of any significant changes to the Terms during the Awards period.

9.2. Optimal is not responsible for entries not received for whatever reason, including technical failures.

9.3 To the maximum extent permitted by law, Optimal excludes its liability for any losses suffered by any Entrant in connection with the Awards. Where liability cannot be fully excluded, Optimal’s liability is limited to $50.00 (NZD).

9.4. These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by the laws of New Zealand.

9.5 Any personal information received in connection with the Awards will be processed in accordance with these Terms and Optimal’s Privacy Notice.