TechNatSec
A conference website, proposed
A complete website proposed to the Technology & National Security Conference, run by HBS and MIT Sloan students: Ayoub Bennouna's identity, the 2026 edition's real programme, and a page for every speaker and session.
- Role
- Design, development, content migration
- Status
- Proposal, sent to the organisers
- Built with
- Astro, Sanity, Eventbrite
127 pages, one per speaker and session
90 speakers, each with a page
147 MB, about, for the current schedule page
I · The conference
A Harvard and MIT conference
TechNatSec is the Technology & National Security Conference, run by students' clubs at Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan. Its fifth edition took place on 3 and 4 April 2026.
Ayoub Bennouna designed an identity for the conference. I designed and built a complete website on it, with the 2026 edition's real programme, as a proposal to the organisers.
II · The current site
Where it started
The proposal starts from an audit of the conference's current site, which found:
- A schedule page of about 147 MB, because speakers' photos were sent at full size.
- None of its 372 images described for screen readers.
- A call for papers, linked from every page, that led nowhere.
- No page for a speaker or a session, and no bios.
- The 2024 and 2025 editions missing.
III · What I made
The whole site, working
Designed and built in full, every page working:
- The programme by day and by track, with live markers during the event.
- A page for every session and every speaker, and a calendar file for each session.
- Tickets through Eventbrite, opening on the page.
- Search across speakers and sessions.
- The past editions, and a press kit.
- A content studio where the organisers edit all of it.
3a. Home. The home page hero: “Acta non verba.”, the dates and both campuses, beside the conference mark.
3b. Speakers. Speakers: the page intro, the track filters and the portrait grid.
3c. Speaker. A speaker page: portrait, title, and the day and room they are on stage; every speaker page uses this layout.
3d. Schedule. Schedule: day and track filters above Friday's program.
3e. Session. A session page: the panel, its track, time, room and address, with add-to-calendar.
3f. Venue. Venue: HBS on Friday, MIT on Saturday, one column per campus.
IV · The programme
Real content, checked
Before the line-up is announced, sessions keep their place in the schedule with their titles hidden, and screen readers hear “To be announced”. The content, every person and partner of the 2026 edition, was checked against the printed brochure.
V · Design
An academic press
The site is set like an academic press: each edition a volume, sections as chapters, pictures as plates with captions. On the home page, Ayoub's mark builds itself from pixels, in the order he drew it.
Pixels switch; type rises.
VI · On a phone
In a pocket
The same site on a phone, where the mark is simply there instead of building itself.
6a. Home. The home page hero on a phone.
6b. Menu. The numbered phone menu, with search and tickets at the bottom.
6c. Speakers. The speakers page on a phone.
6d. Schedule. The schedule on a phone, with day and track tabs.
VII · Where it stands
A proposal
The proposal was sent to the organisers. They haven't answered yet.
The current site against the proposal
Credits
- Mohamed Ali Mejbar Website design and build, 2026
- Ayoub Bennouna Brand identity