Beyond Methods and Diversity: The Roots of Inclusion
Summary
Most efforts at advancing research to be more inclusive focus on methods or methodologies or participation. Though helpful, those efforts have unfortunately not been sufficient for inclusion and we continue to be constrained by stronger forces which go to the root of what research means and the definition of inclusion. To be fully unconstrained and reach true inclusion we must learn to let go. Do we have the ability to do that? Let's talk about that. Join us for a half-hour of becoming undone, joyfully.
Key Insights
-
•
Diversity in research teams does not inherently guarantee inclusivity or counter systemic oppression.
-
•
Awareness of power and identity positionality often leads to feeling stuck without clear action steps.
-
•
Our ways of being deeply shape our epistemologies and methodologies in research.
-
•
Colonial Western ways of being emphasize objectification and individualism, limiting emancipatory knowledge production.
-
•
Indigenous knowledge systems, like those of the iBio people, view knowledge as relational and emergent from relationships.
-
•
Songs and oral traditions can serve as valid research methodologies tied to indigenous ways of knowing.
-
•
Systems of value influence which knowledge is considered legitimate or beneficial, often marginalizing community knowledge.
-
•
Immigrant communities bring preserved ways of being that produce measurable health and social benefits.
-
•
Positive deviance in communities reveals untapped local wisdom that can guide effective interventions.
-
•
Radical participatory research requires researchers to relinquish control and let communities define methods based on their own ways of being.
Notable Quotes
"If diversity alone made research inclusive, then police could never be anti-black because they include black officers."
"Whiteness isn’t about color; people of all colors can reinforce white supremacy."
"Awareness leads to feeling stuck because we don’t know what to do or don’t feel empowered to act."
"Our ways of being are roots that grow into ways of knowing, doing, and methods, all nourished by systems of value."
"In Western modernity, if something is not an object, it is not real research or real knowledge."
"For the iBio people, knowledge is relational, not objectified, emerging from relationships like songs."
"Songs become methodologies—the way you identify who is at the door is through the song they sing."
"Colonial ways of being, knowing, and valuing will never produce emancipatory methodologies."
"Community-rooted wisdom like the Mexican 'guana' practice reduces postpartum depression without traditional research."
"Will you learn to let go? Better yet, will you let go?"
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"If the research question requires deep context, remote probably won’t do."
Sarah RinkRemote User Research: Dos and Don'ts from the Virtual Field
June 11, 2020
"We have this piece of glass and there’s a person on the other side, but we don’t understand their purpose."
Indi YoungPaying Better Attention to the Problem with Indi Young
December 12, 2019
"People don’t want a quarter inch drill, they want a quarter inch hole."
Jim KalbachJobs To Be Done
February 25, 2021
"Nobody reads extensive research reports; VPs just want to know what it means for their risk and decisions."
Leah Buley Joe NatoliAsk Me Anything with Leah Buley and Joe Natoli, co-authors of The User Experience Team of One (2nd edition)
October 8, 2024
"Design roles are blurring or dead; super senior individual contributor roles are emerging as a new career path."
Peter MerholzThe 2025 State of UX/Design Organizational Health
November 12, 2025
"You get real coded components, not just HTML snippets or style attributes, meaning developers can drag, drop, and extend with hooks already in place."
George Abraham Stefan IvanovDesign Systems To-Go: Reimagining Developer Handoff, and Introducing App Builder (Part 2)
October 1, 2021
"We’re trading empathy for algorithms… Personalization has gotten so complex that it’s now out of human control."
Jamika BurgeEmbracing change: Navigating shifting landscapes with compassion and agency
March 11, 2025
"Funding structures for design tied specifically to business units bring accountability and early surfacing of value breaks."
Brianna SylverLead With Purpose
March 31, 2020
"Never assume and always ask why."
Susan Simon-DanielsWar Stories LIVE! Susan Simon-Daniels
March 30, 2020