How To Remove Bias From Your Products
The world of interaction design is characterized by a “solving” culture. Designers are transfixed by solutions. Sometimes, a design begins with an idea for a solution, which is then connected backwards to a shallow problem. Additionally, in the quest to generate solutions fast, we assume we know what people are trying to accomplish, and we design from our own perspective rather than theirs.
Ironically, this solution-hungry approach creates harmful interactions, because it’s dangerous to believe in the myth of the “average user” and a one-size-fits-all solution. To prevent this, we need to change how we approach user problems. We need to pay better attention to people’s thinking as they pursue a variety of purposes, with unique moods and contexts, so that our products can provide less harmful support to people who may turn to them.
In this Master Class webinar, you’ll learn about:
- The research theater
- The problem space vs. the solution space
- Types of empathy and how to apply them
- How to recognize different kinds of research tools for knowledge creation
- How to connect the areas of research your organization values
- The difference between a user & a person with a purpose
- How to listen deeply to people, as well as to your stakeholders, to develop trust and get past surface understanding
The result? You can create new solutions that truly support people in nuanced ways, and move in a direction that your competitors couldn't imagine!.
Join the growing tide of design professionals who choose to be intentional, clear-eyed explorers of the people they support. Become a better designer by letting other perspectives in and recognizing where your own biases, and those of your stakeholders, have accidentally contributed to harmful interactions.
Speaker
Indi Young is a freelance researcher who coaches, writes, and teaches about inclusive software strategy. Her work is rooted in the problem space, which she separates completely from any ideation, prototypes, testing, or development. Indi pioneered mental model diagrams and thinking styles to help teams truly pay attention to people, without letting cognitive bias and assumptions creep in.
In 2008, her book Mental Models was published, which introduced the problem space research method. Her second book, Practical Empathy, was released in 2015, and she narrated it for Audible in 2016. She also runs a series of advanced online training about the importance of pushing the boundaries of your perspective.
Indi began her career as a software engineer and then moved into interaction design. She worked with early tablets, and was one of the founders of Adaptive Path, the pioneering UX agency responsible for knowledge sharing via many channels.
You can follow Indi on Twitter @indiyoung and access many resources on Medium and her website
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