Asking the Right Questions: Life, Hope and Moving Forward During the Pandemic
Summary
Details to come.
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
"Small wins are big overall in healthcare because they build credibility and trust for bigger changes."
Eric ShumakeDiagnosis UX: Building Influence in Healthcare Design
April 9, 2026
"Our careers in design that aren’t regularly examined are unlikely to last."
Brendan JarvisIt was the Best of Times. It was the Worst of Times.
September 25, 2024
"Don’t try to tag all historical work at once — tag as you go to avoid re-platforming nightmares."
Jon White Erin MayUnsticking Research for Better Information Flow
March 11, 2026
"Today's theme around researchers thriving in the organization is led by Steve Portico."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
January 8, 2024
"Matchmaking connects AI capabilities to user needs so you find the low hanging fruit projects."
Dan SafferWhy AI projects fail (and what we can do about it)
May 14, 2025
"If AI makes building trivial, the challenge shifts to figure out who’s best to decide what to make."
Erin MaloneUnderstanding the past to prepare for the future
July 19, 2024
"Are you able to say I caused harm, and can you repair the relationships and impacts your work has created?"
Sahibzada MayedThe Politics of Radical Research: A Manifesto
March 27, 2023
"Order today is change, and the uncertainty that it brings rules us day and night."
Jon FukudaTheme One Intro
October 2, 2023
"Today we’re gonna be talking about researchers as organizational change makers."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
March 28, 2023