Closing Plenary: The Crisis of Digital
Summary
IDC forecasts that companies will spend $2.3 trillion a year on digital transformation efforts in the next four years. That money will pay for new technology investment, professional services firms, and the salaries of people like us. This massive industry is driving tremendous new value, but also creating inequality and downstream social effects that we can barely predict. What should researchers’ responsibilities be in this digital transformation economy? And are we fully living up to them? In this talk, Leah Buley will explore what the field of research looks like today and how our skills will need to evolve for tomorrow.
Key Insights
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Walt Disney’s rapid animation innovations illustrate how fields can transform deeply in short timeframes, prompting reflection on the pace of design research evolution.
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A 2015 Forrester study found most service design firms focus primarily on digital experience design rather than traditional physical or face-to-face services.
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Despite a desire to do broader human-centered work beyond digital, the reality is that digital channels dominate current design and research practices.
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The medical marijuana network study highlighted the difficulty of anticipating digital transformations and their sweeping downstream societal impacts.
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Mature organizations extensively use research techniques such as co-creation, rapid qualitative research, and continuous monitoring, but still lack forward-looking predictive methods.
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There is a pressing need to develop new research tools that anticipate future ripple effects and risks of digital products, borrowing approaches from other disciplines.
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The so-called 'digital crisis complex' drives organizations toward frenetic digital transformation often without sufficient user validation or concern for wider impacts.
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The COVID-19 pandemic showcased digital solutions’ vital role in society, renewing hope and emphasizing ethical responsibility for the future of digital design.
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Executive engagement and organizational design maturity strongly influence the strategic impact and evolution of design research within companies.
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Ethical and inclusive digital access remains a critical unresolved challenge, demanding large-scale systemic efforts beyond individual heroic attempts.
Notable Quotes
"You can really see how rapidly animation changed in just eight years under Walt Disney’s watch."
"Most service design firms are now focused on digital experience design, close to 70% do that work."
"I had a crisis of digital where I feared being stuck in a ghetto of marginal impact focused only on UI decisions."
"Our responsibility is to help make digital channels work really well and in a humane, appropriate way."
"This networked micro economy in medical marijuana transformed the world once recreational use was legalized."
"Even mature companies with advanced research practices still need new methods that help predict downstream ripple effects."
"We may need to borrow research techniques from journalists, actuaries, epidemiologists, ethicists, and science fiction writers."
"I call it the digital crisis complex — a frenzy to digitize everything as fast as possible without pausing to validate impact."
"The pandemic is reminding me of the positive and powerful force digital can play when we really need it most."
"There’s no good answer yet for how to resolve the inequities created by differential access to digital technology."
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