Asking the Right Questions: Life, Hope and Moving Forward During the Pandemic
Summary
Key Insights
-
•
Starting meetings or classes with a simple warm-up increases attentiveness and presence.
-
•
Remote teaching often results in students keeping cameras off, impacting engagement, but this can be navigated with inclusive strategies.
-
•
Peloton taught the speaker practical leadership lessons including compassion, collaboration, and community support.
-
•
Consistency is critical in leadership and personal growth, exemplified by the speaker's 73-week exercise streak.
-
•
Inclusive leadership requires acknowledging where people are physically and emotionally, offering alternatives accordingly.
-
•
Organizations must consistently provide education and enforce policies addressing discrimination, considering intersectional identities.
-
•
Leadership must listen actively and avoid placing the burden of diversity work solely on marginalized groups.
-
•
Recognizing external stressors such as global events is essential to empathetic leadership and inclusive workplaces.
-
•
Language matters; everyday expressions can unintentionally exclude or offend marginalized communities.
-
•
Inclusion and accessibility should be embedded into every designer's responsibilities, not isolated to specialists.
Notable Quotes
"I had you all do a warm-up before we started to help everyone be present and calm."
"Sometimes working with a bunch of boxes and letters on Zoom was the reality of remote classes."
"Be compassionate with yourself and others. Not everyone likes high fives, and that's okay."
"Collaboration is key. I'm never alone in a Peloton class, even at 4:30 in the morning."
"Consistency is key. I'm on a 73-week streak right now, and that's pretty badass."
"Identity is not monolithic; policies should address layered experiences."
"It is not the responsibility of marginalized groups to do all the educating about their experiences."
"Listen is a skill that is not emphasized enough in leadership."
"Watch your language; terms like 'that's so lame' can be exclusionary or offensive."
"Inclusion and accessibility need to be part of every designer's role, even if today it is one person's job."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"We do a lot of work to avoid design jargon and make conversations accessible to all."
Scher Foord Corey Greenltch Sarah RoweTurn the Ship Around: How to Apply Design Thinking Across Your Organization
June 10, 2021
"You have to ask, what are we deciding, and what are we quitting, on a regular basis."
Adam ThomasSurvival Metrics – Making Change in a Fast, Data-Informed, and Politically Safe Way
December 6, 2022
"With all this influx into UX research, many still struggle to find their footing and feel underutilized."
Rebecca BuckMission: Keep Talent in Research Roles!
March 10, 2021
"Move fast and break things doesn’t work when you’re designing for cancer patients or disaster victims."
Barb SpantonDoing Work That Matters: A Look Beyond The Idealistic Notion of 'Doing Meaningful Work'
June 10, 2022
"Fraud detection automatically refunds you if a participant is found to be fraudulent and helps find a replacement."
Roberta Dombrowski Lianna Aduana5 Reasons to Bring your Recruiting in House
September 30, 2021
"Start small by delivering the minimum amount of useful information, like a UX glossary or a single community of practice."
Maria TaylorKnowledge is Power: Managing the Lifeblood of the Design Org
October 3, 2023
"When I pitched the investment plan, CFOs and board members nodded because it was expressed in their language."
How to Identify and Increase your "Experience Quotient"
June 15, 2018
"People with disabilities must be involved as producers, contributors, and consumers throughout the digital creation process."
Amber KnablEmpowering innovation: The critical role of inclusive product development in the AI era
June 4, 2024
"Talking to the people that I work with about the experience of doing their job in order to improve their job experience is probably the most overlooked skill set that we have."
Holly ColeUnderstanding Experiences: When you have to do more than work
November 8, 2018
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What advice do Julia and Clay give for transitioning into product management from design or other adjacent roles?
How has the collapse of design institutions like IDEO impacted designers’ professional identity?
What practical steps can UX researchers take to demonstrate measurable business impact with AI?