Rosenverse

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Designing with culture: Unlocking impactful insights for Product and UX
Gold
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Share the love for this talk
Designing with culture: Unlocking impactful insights for Product and UX
Speakers: Deanna Mitchell
Link:

Summary

The most iconic products and designs aren’t created in a sprint—they’re deeply influenced by and evolve with culture. Cultural insight techniques—when applied inclusively and non extractively—unlock powerful opportunities and fresh perspectives, transforming our work from useful to truly impactful. We’ll inspire you to integrate these methods into your product and UX work, helping you understand when to use them and how to communicate their transformative value to your teams.

Key Insights

  • Gaming culture is broader than the traditional gamer stereotype; many engage in gaming without identifying as gamers.

  • Cultural insights can redefine product design and open new market opportunities.

  • Neighborhood immersion helps product teams gain fresh perspectives by stepping outside their usual environments.

  • Informal exploration can lead to unexpected insights that challenge existing assumptions.

  • Combining qualitative insights with quantitative data enhances the product development process.

  • Effective communication of narratives is crucial for making cultural insights actionable within teams.

  • Visual storytelling helps translate complex findings into simple frameworks that resonate with stakeholders.

  • Conversational analysis enables scaling qualitative research by analyzing vast amounts of user interaction data.

  • Diverse user roles in gaming communities provide insights for tailored product features and enhancements.

  • Reflection on immersion experiences enriches understanding and informs future design challenges.

Notable Quotes

"It's fascinating that very few people identify as gamers, yet they engage in meaningful gaming experiences."

"Culture is about the stories we tell ourselves and others about who we are."

"When you stay in a closed loop, similar outcomes will be produced, which can limit innovation."

"Immersion is when you as the researcher are reflecting on what you experienced."

"Observation does take practice, so give yourself time to reflect."

"The gift that keeps on giving is immersion; once you experience it, you can't shake it off."

"Conversational analysis helps observe and engage in real-world context but in a digital environment."

"It's about amplifying human understanding through narratives collected at scale."

"Simplifying complex findings into actionable items is critical for team alignment."

"The privilege we have as product team members allows us to respond and contribute to culture."

More Videos

Jon Fukuda

"No one wants to hear a story that makes them feel bad."

Jon Fukuda

Storytelling for DesignOps

August 17, 2023

Christian Bason

"Designers have the incredible capacity to make the abstract tangible."

Christian Bason

Innovating With People: Unleashing the Potential of Civic Design

December 8, 2021

B. Pagels-Minor

"Compartmentalizing creates too much brain drain to do your best work."

B. Pagels-Minor

Breaking the Tension: The Power of Enabling Your Employees to Show Up Authentically

June 10, 2022

Louis Rosenfeld

"Our authors go through a rigorous editorial process and our speakers prepare for three months to be on stage."

Louis Rosenfeld

GenAI for UXers: A Rosenbot Demo and Discussion

June 11, 2025

Megan Nipe

"Less than half of veterans with PTSD receive care from the VA in two years."

Megan Nipe Lyndsay Booth

Human-Centered Design for Engagement: Maturing from Newsletterville to Personalized, One-to-One Messaging

December 8, 2021

Tim Frick

"Sustainability involves both ecological and social dimensions — it's not just about emissions."

Tim Frick

The journey of building a sustainable design practice

April 23, 2025

Jackie Ajoux

"It's really important to build a repository of everything you learn."

Jackie Ajoux

Leveling-Up: A Single-Player’s Guide to the DesignOps Team-of-One

January 8, 2024

Deanna Zandt

"Making room for the complicated and the messy is essential for creating healthier systems."

Deanna Zandt

The Unspoken Complexity of “Self-Care” with Deanna Zandt

July 21, 2022

Dave Malouf

"What parts of our visibility spectrum are we ignoring?"

Dave Malouf

Theme 3: Introduction and Provocation

January 8, 2024