Summary
There’s something shifting in our field. Increasingly, design professionals are drawn to work in domains that truly help humanity, rather than building another ‘Uber for X’, to make the rich richer. While this is an expected response to recent world events, the reality of doing such impactful work is full of obstacles. Spanton will draw on 12+ years of UX design in healthcare to share some experiences and strategies, helping you anticipate and navigate predictable obstacles, so that you can apply your skills toward solving meaningful problems and realizing your goal of a truly impactful career. The talk will cover: 5 common obstacles 3 coping mechanisms 1 big bag of hope and determination to create lasting meaningful impact
Key Insights
-
•
Working in meaningful impact domains often involves heavy regulatory constraints that are more complex and far-reaching than initially apparent.
-
•
Medical product standards, like Australia’s on-screen medication guidelines, are thoughtfully designed to prevent fatal errors and serve as crucial safety tools.
-
•
The mantra “don’t kill grandma” encapsulates the ethical imperative behind regulated healthcare design: preserving life and safety above innovation speed.
-
•
Large-scale impactful products are inherently complex, making quick fixes or simple solutions rare and slow to ship.
-
•
Scope decisions in complex projects, such as Canada's COVID exposure app, can unintentionally exclude vulnerable populations, undermining intended impact.
-
•
Meaningful work in sensitive domains demands utmost respect for users’ dignity, privacy, and emotional state, influencing every design detail.
-
•
The familiar startup motto “move fast and break things” is often inappropriate and harmful in healthcare and other sensitive fields.
-
•
Seeking smaller, quicker projects that avoid most obstacles can boost team morale and sustain motivation for longer, slower initiatives.
-
•
Direct connection with end users, such as site visits to cancer centers, revitalizes teams with empathy and real-world insight.
-
•
Anchoring work in a core meaningful purpose—whether a corporate vision, a symbolic detail like a Periwinkle carpet, or the ethical mantra—provides resilience amid challenges.
Notable Quotes
"I still kind of pause in my tracks when I see our corporate vision: a world without fear of cancer."
"Don’t kill grandma is our mantra reminding us the stakes of the tiny design details we face every day."
"Regulations aren’t obstacles to dismiss but tools to respect and embrace that help us protect grandma."
"Quick fixes rarely exist in these domains because beneath every problem are layers of complexity."
"The scoping of Canada’s COVID app protected people with new phones, but left vulnerable populations unserved."
"Working in healthcare means every tiny moment in a patient’s experience can either uphold or erode their dignity and sense of control."
"Move fast and break things doesn’t work when you’re designing for cancer patients or disaster victims."
"Shipping smaller, less complex side projects helps build team morale and energizes us for the big slow work."
"Site visits with users don’t just give actionable insight; they give us raw, humbling inspiration to keep going."
"You need to find your own mattress—a grounding purpose or phrase—that you can rely on when progress feels hopeless."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"We need honest, transparent conversations about futures because the impacts can be huge and wide-ranging."
April ReaganLook, Think, Act: The Futures-Smart Design Organization
October 1, 2021
"We’re really passionate about our craft but we’re not in control — that’s a shared hallucination we must give up."
Craig VillamorResilient Enterprise Design
June 8, 2017
"What does it mean to bring a systems lens to a complex problem within the enterprise?"
Uday GajendarTheme One Intro
June 6, 2023
"If we think about accelerating learning velocity, it's about creating specific altitudes of research questions to answer for the organization."
Jen Cardello Dr. Shadi Janansefat Alex WrightCurating insight: Strategies for integrating knowledge across research functions
March 11, 2025
"Systems and tools who didn't consider accessibility upfront exclude many people and isolate them from the wider world."
Phil HeskethDesigning Accessible Research Workflows
September 29, 2021
"If you are a cohort participant and don’t see your private Slack channel, please let us know so we can guide you."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
November 17, 2022
"UX researchers are really good at applying their methods to people outside the business but terrible at applying them to the leaders they work with."
Sarah Alvarado Nalini P. Kotamraju Anne Mamaghani Peter MerholzHow to make UX research leadership more effective [Advancing Research Community Workshop Series]
October 26, 2023
"The design of our systems should make room for messy, complicated human realities, not just positive illusions."
Deanna ZandtThe Unspoken Complexity of “Self-Care” with Deanna Zandt
July 21, 2022
"Dark patterns are UI designs that trick or manipulate users into doing something they wouldn't otherwise do or that go against their or society’s best interests."
Craig VillamorDesign Systems for Ethical Design
January 26, 2023
