Framing Tomorrow by Questioning Today
Summary
With so much happening, it's easy to forget that the scale of your impact doesn't only come from the tools, systems or processes that you implement, but also from the depth of the questions you ask of yourself, of your team, and of your users.
Drawing from over 75 long-format interviews with some of the best and brightest design leaders, this talk explores some of the big questions facing the field, and how you can use the humble question to be a better leader.
Warning: this talk may raise more questions than it provides answers for.
Key Insights
-
•
The COVID-19 lockdown disrupted Bedog's ambitious UX lab plans, forcing reflection on personal and professional resilience.
-
•
Global crises like systemic racism, political populism, and war provoke universal existential questions influencing design leadership.
-
•
Provocative questions can challenge the status quo but carry risks as seen in Socrates’ trial and death.
-
•
UX and design fields remain predominantly white and male, with significant underrepresentation of people of color and women.
-
•
Ethical dilemmas in design require designers to act as de facto ethicists, balancing business pressures with moral responsibility.
-
•
Amy Jimenez exemplifies the difficulty of standing up for ethical principles within large enterprises.
-
•
Successful problem-solving often benefits from mixed methods and respect for indigenous knowledge, as in the Easter Island moai example.
-
•
Changing the stories we tell ourselves about our challenges can empower us to act and find meaning, demonstrated by Dr. Susan Weinschenk’s cancer narrative.
-
•
Bad questions reinforce victimhood and limit potential; good questions foster curiosity, learning, and constructive change.
-
•
Design leaders should focus on creating their own tables and influence through expertise and collaborative respect rather than simply demanding inclusion.
Notable Quotes
"That night at 11:59 PM the entire nation of New Zealand would move into what was called a level 4 lockdown."
"Why was the universe doing this to me? That was a bad question."
"Socrates was known in Athenian society as a gadfly, a fly that bites livestock, for his overt and intentional interference with the Athenian power structure."
"Who do you see? Who do you not see? Why do you not see them?"
"We don’t have to restrict ourselves to playing the canary in the coal mine. We can design the harm out of our products before they’ve even taken flight."
"If only we could just get that seat at the table."
"They walked. The locals were most likely right."
"The stories we tell are framed by the questions we ask. Our stories repeated become our beliefs and our beliefs influence our behavior."
"I’m very fortunate. I have great medical care. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I am going to live my life to the fullest."
"Are the questions that you are asking and the stories that you are telling yourself serving you?"
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Scaled Agile felt at first like a step backwards—design looked like just the finishing touch, not a key ingredient."
Erin HauberDesign is Not the Frosting on the Scaled Agile Layer Cake
October 24, 2019
"Supporting authenticity in the workplace lets people be themselves, which naturally boosts confidence."
Megan KiersteadYou Are a Badass at UX: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
March 10, 2021
"We maintain structured flexibility so we can move people where the work is regardless of politics or whatever else is going on."
Maggie DieringerCreating Consistency Through Constant Change
January 8, 2024
"All negative outcomes in legacy modernization can be traced back to not bringing product thinking to the table."
Meaghan Waters Fotina KoutropoulousLack of Product Thinking will Doom Your Legacy Modernization
June 9, 2021
"We can’t expect all researchers to switch seamlessly across methods without training and time."
Jemma AhmedBringing together market and user research
October 17, 2019
"If knowledge is difficult to find or hard to use, then all the great information doesn’t really help anyone."
Maria TaylorKnowledge is Power: Managing the Lifeblood of the Design Org
October 3, 2023
"When blind users choose between Android and iPhone, they weigh trade-offs between stability and customizability."
Sam ProulxUnderstanding Screen Readers on Mobile: How And Why to Learn from Native Users
June 6, 2023
"Some managers felt undermined because they were part of the delivery team rather than just overseeing it."
Catherine BlizzardUsing Integrated Insight to Drive Growth
March 10, 2022
"We all walked away better for it."
Randolph Duke IIWar Stories LIVE! Randy Duke II
March 30, 2020
