Learnings from Applying Trauma-Informed Principles to the Research Process

The last two years of crises demonstrate why researchers and designers must anticipate and plan for trauma as it emerges in our work (and our lives). But how do you move your practice and your organization in a trauma-informed direction? This panel will draw upon our experiences researching sensitive topics and working with marginalized communities to discuss implementing trauma-informed practices in research and design engagements. We will explore the different ways we’ve used trauma-informed concepts to work with, and protect the mental and emotional safety of, the communities we serve. Panelists will also discuss self and team care and ways we’ve advocated for trauma-informed approaches in organizations like Code for America and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Global Research Panels (Videoconference)

In this talk, Wyatt conducts a deep dive into the Airbnb Global Research Panels, the program he has been developing at Airbnb over the past two years.

Launch: why Airbnb created the Global Research Panels, the key decisions and the internal alignment required for launching the first version of the Global Research Panel
Process: detailed look into the current version of the Global Research Panels, including the mechanics and tools used to manage it
Impact: demonstration of ways the Global Research Panels have provided value over the past two years at Airbnb
Evolution: see how the Global Research Panels has grown through six iterations so far and the vision for the Global Research Panels program going forward

HCI 2.0: Humanity Deserves the Attention that UX Research has to Offer

Data cannot interpret the world. Only humans can. Because of that, the next evolution of AI requires a more collaborative approach to building systems. And UX researchers are uniquely positioned to build the dream team responsible for managing the data collection required for more responsible AI.

Anthropology and sociology methodologies provide us the framework to interpret human behavior in a way that telemetry can’t. Qualitative research leads to more socially conscious computing decisions that will impact technology companies going forward.

Join this fireside conversation to discover…

The power of changing one tiny acronym from “Human-Computer Interaction” to “Human-Centered Innovation”
Expert recommendations for building more responsible technology
What it will take to build a fundamental practice around collecting and analyzing high-quality data
Practical steps you can take today to build ethical products in the future

The Power of Care: From Human-Centered Research to Humanity-Centered Leadership

What is the role of care in user research? Why is care a user researcher’s greatest superpower—not only in how we do our work but how we lead? In her talk at Advancing Research 2021, Etienne Fang, Principal Researcher at Amazon Search, will discuss the importance of inclusive leadership and share lessons on leading through care, helping researchers leverage their research strengths for leadership as individual contributors, team leads, and people managers alike.

Design Systems To-Go: Indigo.Design Overview and Exploring the Developer Workflow (Part 3)

A Design system is not only about standardizing the UI or accelerating design. In the big picture, it can streamline collaboration between design and development. With this goal in mind, an effective Design system is available to both designers and developers in a format that is native to each discipline. However, getting to this point takes time. But what if we can skip ahead with a starter Design system containing both design and coded components that are ready for use?

Join our activity sessions to see how you can transform your pixel-perfect designs into pixel-perfect code for modern web applications with Indigo.Design. We will also revisit the typical developer handoff by introducing a re-imagined workflow that minimizes rework. In the end, this approach can free up our focus to run Design-Ops better and deliver value sooner.

Part 1 (Thursday): Introducing a starter Design system, and Indigo.Design overview
Part 2 (Friday): Reimagining developer handoff, and introducing App builder
? Part 3 (Friday): Indigo.Design overview and exploring the developer workflow

Design Systems To-Go: Reimagining Developer Handoff, and Introducing App Builder (Part 2)

Part 1 (Thursday): Introducing a starter Design system, and Indigo.Design overview
? Part 2 (Friday): Reimagining developer handoff, and introducing App builder
Part 3 (Friday): Indigo.Design overview and exploring the developer workflow

One Research Team for All – Influence Without Authority

Research teams are at the frontier of uncovering valuable insights that can inform products, services, and strategy choices. Few researchers in large organizations have the visibility and buy-in to exert influence across all of product, engineering, customer success, marketing, and overall organizational direction. How do you break down silos and maximize the impact of your research?

Join us in conversation with Joanna Vodopivec, Principal Design Researcher at Intuit, to learn how she makes her team’s research relevant to colleagues in product, marketing, and services, and the latest initiatives she has led to enable the research team to be truly seen in a large organization. You will also hear the creative approaches Joanna and her team take to engage and influence, even when working remotely.

Erica Jorgensen on Tools and Techniques for Testing your Content

Erica Jorgensen is one of Rosenfeld Media’s newest authors with the publication of her book, Strategic Content Design: Tools and Research Techniques for Better UX. ( rosenfeldmedia.com/books/strategic-content-design/ ) With a background in journalism, her book draws on her experiences as a content designer with the likes of Chewy, Microsoft, Slack, Amazon, Starbucks, Nordstrom, and Expedia.

Erica’s book is a toolkit of research techniques for anyone struggling to create content that makes an impact. Not all companies have dedicated research budgets or teams, yet research can save us from redos and yield more targeted, effective content.

Without research, you may be flying blind without even realizing it. We assume the words and phrases on our websites and apps are effective, and a little due diligence can confirm those assumptions or enlighten us about something that was previously completely outside our awareness.

Erica warns us to be prepared because content research will open proverbial cans of worms. False assumptions will be exposed, and what you learn may take your work in unexpected directions. Oftentimes, the whole company will need to get on board when language has to be changed or cleaned up.

In a nutshell, content research will expose problems. But it will help you make progress, and the payoff is worth it.

What you’ll learn from this episode:
• About Erica’s career journey in content design
• Case study: The impact of one company’s confusing language, and how content research came to the rescue
• How to incorporate content research into non-research roles
• How to prioritize and strategize content research
• How to harness content audits to highlight what needs attention
• Why it’s important to present your team’s work in the most flattering light possible

How to Make Research Appealing to Anyone: A Chat with Abby Covert

You’re sitting in front of a mound of user research data. How do you take that mound and make it into valuable bite-sized chunks? How do you make decisionmakers care? Abby Covert, author of How to Make Sense of Any Mess, shares her approach to packaging research in ways that get at what audiences need.

The Beautiful Mess of Product Development with John Cutler

Today’s interview is just a taste of what you’ll learn at Rosenfeld’s upcoming Design in Product conference—featuring John Cutler’s closing keynote. John is the senior director of product management at Toast, a doodler, a former band member, a UX researcher, and business analyst. He’s also the prolific writer behind “The Beautiful Mess, a Substack newsletter with over 36,000 subscribers, where he writes about cross-functional product management—especially the messy parts.

As someone who likes “messy, creative endeavors” and building things with other people, John enjoys unpacking the complicated parts of collaboration, getting to the heart of messes, and finding a way forward involves much more than identifying patterns.

John finds that each person’s frame or perspective is only one of many. This is one reason the relationship between product and design is a complicated ecosystem, and the whole system—not just a part—needs to evolve together.
In an effort to reach consensus across teams, John notes that it’s easy to fall into the alignment trap where the so-called alignment is fragile and where consensus becomes more valued than a true solution. John encourages listeners to get comfortable with the complicated mess, to truly listen to multiple frames and perspectives while holding onto their own, and then to roll up their sleeves and explore a way forward together.

What you’ll learn from this episode:
About John’s background and his brief stint in a band that opened for others
About the upcoming Design in Product conference
About the messiness of product development and problem-solving
About avoiding the traps of alignment and over-simplification

Quick Reference Guide
[0:00:24] Introduction of John Cutler and Design in Product 2023, and the back story behind “The Beautiful Mess”
[0:05:01] Patterns in messes
[0:10:23] The relationship between product and design
[0:14:11] Dealing with varying work speeds and perspectives
[0:20:32] Design Ops Summit, October 2-6, 2023
[0:21:45] The alignment trap and the simplification trap
[0:30:50] A new metaphor for looking at teams in organizations
[0:34:04] John’s special words for listeners

Resources and links from today’s episode:
Design in Product 2023 rosenfeldmedia.com/events/
The Beautiful Mess, John Culter’s Substack cutlefish.substack.com/
Images of Organization by Gareth Morgan www.amazon.com/Images-Organizati…an/dp/0761906320/