Summary
It’s a wonderful time for UX people who work in enterprises. We’ve made huge strides—from greater acceptance to concrete impacts—and our opportunities seem endless. But don’t get too comfortable, as enterprises are on the cusp of a huge and disruptive change. A variety of trends are converging to make it increasingly cheap and easy to develop software. In effect, software is becoming a material, and what enterprises make from it is far more important than how we make it. UX people can sit by and watch as enterprises figure out what to make out of the new material of software. Or we can be smart and partner with developers to define the coming generation of products and services. Greg Petroff will help us understand thIs new materiality of software and the opportunities for UX people to increase their impact and relevance.
Key Insights
-
•
Software is becoming a material, blending architecture and UX principles to shape how we build digital experiences.
-
•
Machine learning advances exponentially, enabling systems to learn human-like patterns, drastically changing UX possibilities.
-
•
IoT growth enables systems to predict future behaviors through real-time data and analytics, creating new UX demands.
-
•
Compute costs are dropping, allowing powerful 'edge' devices that combine IoT and AI capabilities locally.
-
•
Blockchain will enable secure, trustworthy interactions across distributed systems, especially in IoT.
-
•
The new tech stack supports platform as a service with microservices, drastically increasing speed and modularity in software development.
-
•
Traditional PRDs are being replaced by small, iterative backlogs, emphasizing rapid cycles and continuous integration/deployment.
-
•
Context-first design, personalizing experiences based on user intent and environment, will dominate future enterprise UX.
-
•
Designers must become business-savvy and embrace abductive thinking to guide what to build and why in this uncertain landscape.
-
•
Designers have a critical role as teachers who train AI systems by embedding human cultural and behavioral insights into algorithms.
Notable Quotes
"Machine learning is moving so fast that systems can learn whole codgers of content and change how we think about experiences."
"Amazon Echo is the first technology my artist wife really loves because it's genuinely useful and gets smarter over time."
"The biggest security risk is human behavior, like plugging a USB stick into a copier, not nefarious hackers."
"The way we build software now is fundamentally different; it's just easier to write code using platforms and microservices."
"We’re entering a world where design is going to be core to strategy and where making will become thinking."
"No one knows how to cook with the new ingredients of technology yet, and that’s why we face ambiguity and uncertainty."
"In enterprise, we’re moving from systems of record, to systems of engagement, to systems of assets where context drives experience."
"Designers are great at juxtaposition—putting unrelated things together to create new possibilities that engineers may not see."
"If we don’t lead technology change, others will, and we want that change to be design-led and human-centered."
"Abductive thinking, or what if thinking, is a core capability designers bring to defining what to build and why."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"When you don’t see yourself in leadership, you don’t go there. Representation matters deeply in agency culture."
Frances YllanaDesignOps–Leading the Path to Parity
April 27, 2023
"We do this with intention of fostering a more inclusive experience for audience members who might be sight impaired."
Kim Holt Emma Wylds Pearl Koppenhaver Maisee XiongA Salesforce Panel Discussion on Values-Driven DesignOps
September 8, 2022
"Many culture-building moments at Shopify happen because individual contributors see opportunity and take action."
Amy ThibodeauOpening Keynote: Process and Ambiguity
October 23, 2019
"The words we use should enable clear paths of understanding so recipients know their role, what to do next, and why both easily and quickly."
Laura Gatewood Laine ProkayBeyond Buzzwords: Adding Heart to Effective Slack Communication
September 23, 2024
"Humans remain essential for evaluation, especially to interpret cultural nuance that AI often misses."
Patrick BoehlerFishing for Real Needs: Reimagining Journalism Needs with AI
June 10, 2025
"A regular heartbeat and familiar structure are really important principles to keep a community alive."
Marc Fonteijn Ru ButlerIncrease your confidence, influence, and impact (through a Professional Community)
December 3, 2024
"Even though we're virtual, our code of conduct still applies and requires respect and kindness."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
January 8, 2024
"You can’t eliminate judgment; it’s part of human biology, but you can be conscious about it."
Laura WeissThere is No Playbook: Leader as Coach During Challenging Times
April 26, 2024
"We found a lot of points of confusion where tools don’t really align, causing frustration for end users."
Tony TurnerCapturing Deep Insights
September 30, 2021
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
How can service design artifacts like customer journey maps risk becoming just check-box exercises?
How can combining strategic intent with visual skills improve service design communication?
How does shifting organizational language from AI as a tool to AI as a way of working reflect cultural maturity?