Bringing Customer Research to More Internal Teams

Learn how Brad Orego, Head of Research at Auth0 is bringing research to teams of designers, marketers and product owners. His passion for customer research is infectious and in this 30-minute session, you’ll learn his tips and tricks for getting more teams to do great research.

The Art of Extrapolation

We’re all familiar with the standard justification for secondary research – it’s a process to contextualise what’s already known to plan more focused (primary) research studies. Among research practitioners and non-researchers, secondary research is rarely thought of as a method in itself – and rather a supplementary phase of work before the real investigation begins.

In this talk, we hope to convince fellow researchers that secondary research can be more powerful and impactful than just offering a foundational starting point. With the right “research infrastructure‚” secondary research can allow us to step back, triangulate and evaluate not only a larger corpus of data but also consider data from different sources and teams to make better-informed decisions.

We share how we evolved our secondary research processes to do more efficient research and help our teams make more informed decisions.

Panel: Excellence in Communicating Insights

Insights wither and die when they gather dust on the shelf. Excellence in research is only excellence when data is turned to insight, those insights made actionable and are told in stories which engage, inspire and provoke. Our esteemed panel of research leaders will be sharing their best practices for ensuring that insights are heard, acted upon and given the power to become received wisdom which drive business’ forward.

[Demo] Complexity in disguise: Crafting experiences for generative AI features

AI tools like ChatGPT have exploded in popularity with good reason: they allow users to draft, summarize, and edit content with unprecedented speed. While these generic tools can generate any type of content or perform any type of content task, the user needs to craft an effective prompt to get high-quality output, and often needs to exchange multiple messages with additional guidance and requirements in order to improve results.

When you’re building an AI-powered text generation feature, such as a product description or email writer, you typically can’t expect users to craft their own prompts. And unless you’re building a chat interface, you’re unlikely to offer the ability to iteratively improve the output. Instead, your feature needs a robust prompt skeleton that combines with user input to produce high-quality output in a single response.

For the designer, this means building an interface that helps users provide the exact information that creates a successful prompt. This process is more complex than simple form design or a mad-lib prompt completion tool. The user input, often including free form text fields, might be required to fill in prompt variables, but it also could change the prompt structure itself, or even override base instructions.

The effectiveness of the user input significantly influences the quality of the output, underscoring the need for designers to be deeply familiar with the backend prompt architecture so they can design the frontend.

Drawing on recent text generation projects, I’ll demonstrate how the interface design can respond to and evolve with the prompt architecture. I’ll talk about how to determine which prompt components to make invisible to the user, which to provide as predefined options, and which should be authored by the user in free-form text fields.

Takeaways

1. How prompt structure can impact user interface design and conversely, how design can impact prompt structure
2. Techniques to provide effective user guidance within AI generation contexts to ensure consistently high-quality output
3. Real-world examples and learnings from recent generative AI projects in an e-commerce software product

Make Things Better, Not Just Different with Erin Weigel

Have you ever thought about the similarities between art and science? Or about how math is the language of the universe? No? Welcome to a perspective shift. Ultimately this episode is about making things better, not just different. But how we get there is through a thoughtful and entertaining discussion with the witty and philosophical Erin Weigel.

Erin Weigel wants us to make things better, not just different. But how do we get there?

Lou had a thoughtful and entertaining discussion with Erin, always witty and philosophical—and often funny as hell. Join them on a perspective-shifting conversation that bridges disciplines and challenges conventional thinking, all in the pursuit of genuine improvement.

Erin is the author of the recently published Design for Impact: Your Guide to Designing Effective Product Experiments. She brings a fresh, accessible, and humor-filled take on what may seem like a dry topic: experimentation. Erin digs into the role of experimentation in design, advocating for always defaulting to experiments even if they’re the quick and dirty kind.

Erin and Lou also cover the following:

• Wonky stuff like normal distributions, the central limit theorem, and what can be learned from outliers
• The power of experiments to unite multidisciplinary teams by getting away from opinions and finding the truth
• How professionals can use the principles of experimentation to navigate uncertainties and drive meaningful improvements
• Discerning the impact of changes made

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• How Erin, with a fine arts background, became the principal designer at Booking.com and the Senior Group Product Design Manager at Deliveroo
• The fundamental similarities between art and science
• Why you should never skip the experimental phase
• How experimentation unites people across disciplines
• The difference between making things different and making them better

Quick Reference Guide:
[0:32] – Introduction of Erin; similarities between art and science
[4:05] – Barriers between art and science
[5:58] – Statistics is fun!
[12:37] – Defaulting to experimentation
[18:06] – Break – 5 reasons to use the Rosenverse
[20:36] – Experimentation as a uniting force
[25:49] – Make things better, not just different
[28:32] – Erin’s gift for listeners

Figure It Out: Getting from Information to Understanding

Authors Stephen P. Anderson and Karl Fast discuss the complex world of information (think incomprehensible tax policies to confusing medical explanations) we are faced with, and the ways in which information can be transformed into better presentations, better meetings, better software, and better decisions. Stephen also shares a personal anecdote about part of the inspiration for the book.

Envisioning and Creating New York City’s Next Park with Rosa Chang

Listen wherever you get your favorite podcasts!
Apple podcasts | Spotify

Imagine transforming a forgotten, dark space beneath one of New York’s most iconic landmarks into a vibrant community hub—this is the ambitious vision behind Gotham Park. Facilitating the vision and creation of the space beneath the Brooklyn Bridge is Lou’s guest, Rosa Chang. She shares her dream of transforming the neglected nine-acre area into a community-driven park. Initially underutilized and uninviting, the space is now being reimagined as a vibrant public hub for diverse groups to gather and connect.

Rosa discusses the process of bringing her idea to the public, emphasizing the importance of listening to the community and allowing the vision to evolve through conversations. Rather than adhering to a rigid design from the start, she facilitates discussions with local stakeholders to ensure the park meets the needs of the people it serves. She highlights the significance of respecting the space’s history while meeting contemporary needs.

Their conversation also touches on Gotham Park’s early successes, including the opening of the first acre and the push to revive iconic spaces like the Brooklyn Banks skate park. Rosa’s approach has been one of connection and collaboration, bridging gaps between individuals and organizations to create a public space that fosters unity. Listen and be inspired!

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• The Vision Behind Gotham Park – To transform nine acres of neglected space beneath the Brooklyn Bridge into a vibrant, accessible public park for the community.
• The Role of Community Engagement – Discover how Rosa involved local residents and stakeholders in shaping the park, ensuring it meets the needs and desires of the people it’s meant to serve.
• Overcoming Bureaucratic Challenges – Hear about the obstacles Rosa faced in navigating New York City’s bureaucracy and how she’s used persistence and creativity to overcome them.
• The Power of Public Spaces – Understand the importance of creating public spaces that are inclusive, open, and accessible to all, and how these spaces can foster connection and community.
• The Importance of Adaptability – Rosa’s flexible approach to the project allows the vision to evolve based on feedback and the changing needs of the community.
• Rosa’s Challenge to Listeners – step outside your comfort zone and connect with someone new, embodying the spirit of Gotham Park in everyday life.

Quick Reference Guide:
0:00 – Meet Rosa
1:49 – The vision of Gotham Park
4:52 – Progress already made
7:59 – The vision
10:55 – Rosa’s background
13:20 – Why you need the Rosenverse
15:34 – Visions past and present
19:58 – Conversation before renderings; the anchoring values
23:20 – More facilitator, less designer
27:14 – Catching visions through history and renderings
31:41 – Rosa’s gift for listeners

Bring your DesignOps Story to Life! The Definitive DesignOps Book Jam

Your DesignOps journey is a story of ups and downs, lessons learned, and victories won. Join new and veteran DPMs alike in shaping the forthcoming Rosenfeld book, The Design Conductors: Your Essential Guide to Design Operations. Authors Rachel Posman and John Calhoun will guide you through an interactive session to collect the burning questions, inspiring successes, and real-world examples of how DesignOps is practiced in real life by our amazing community, including:

• Getting into DesignOps
• The skills and competencies of a DPM
• DesignOps in the context of your team and organization
• The tools in your DesignOps toolkit
• DesignOps case studies you most want to see

Join us on this journey and make your mark on the future of DesignOps!

Civic Design for the Next Seven Generations—A Discussion on Sacred Civics (Videoconference)

In Sacred Civics: Building Seven Generation Cities, Jayne Engle and Tanya Chung-Tiam-Fook assemble visions for how spirituality and sacred values are essential for reimagining how we live, organize and govern ourselves, determine and distribute wealth, inhabit and design cities, and construct relationships with others and nature. Join us for a discussion with Jayne and Tanya on what it looks like to design for the next seven generations. 

Optional: read Sacred Civics: Building Seven Generation Cities in print or open access!

A Proactive Approach to Inclusive Design with Zariah Cameron

Zariah Cameron is Co-Director of Community + Research and the founder of AEI – Advocate, Educate, Innovate Black Design. She will be a speaker at October’s DesignOps Summit on streamlining an inclusive design practice.

Many companies and corporations have good intentions when it comes to inclusive design. But too often that’s where things both start and stop. Zariah helps companies operationalize their inclusive design principles and ideals by looking at design from all angles and instilling effective processes.

When exploring ideals of equity and inclusivity, many confuse inclusivity with accessibility. Accessibility is a fine place to start, but it’s just the beginning. Accessibility tends to be passive while inclusivity is active. Inclusive design proactively seeks out the marginalized, the underserved, and minority groups. It doesn’t make assumptions but seeks input, feedback, and follow-through.

For many companies, the most effective way to pursue inclusive design is to work with grassroots organizations. Partnering with such organizations provides corporations access to a diverse pool of participants. It’s a process of co-creation and involves a long-haul-relationship mentality.

Zariah mentions a variety of organizations that design teams could partner with to access diverse talent:
Creative Reaction Lab
Pause and Effect
Aroko Cooperative – seeking equity, liberation, community healing, and ecocentricy

What you’ll learn from this episode:
About Zariah’s talk at the upcoming October 2024 DesignOps Summit
How inclusive design differs from accessibility
How companies can proactively partner with organizations to access a wide range of underserved and marginalized participants

Quick Reference Guide
[0:00:37] Introduction of Zariah
[0:02:04] Inclusive design
[0:04:11] An example of a principle that needs to be operationalized
[0:05:25] How to take a more operational approach to inclusive design
[0:08:04] Inclusivity is active, not passive. It’s also relational.
[0:14:18] Inclusivity is relational and communal
[0:15:03] More on the AEI organization
[0:17:24] Other work with HBCU students
[0:19:40] A reminder about the October 2-4 DesignOps Summit
[0:20:48] Organizations to partner with to advance inclusivity and equity
[0:24:21] Zariah’s gift for listeners