Framing Tomorrow by Questioning Today
Summary
You may have noticed that all is not well in the world. Caught between a pandemic, a civil rights reckoning and the spectre of global conflict - you still have to show up each day and lead your team. With so much happening, it's easy to forget that the scale of your impact doesn't only come from the tools, systems or processes that you implement, but also from the depth of the questions you ask of yourself, of your team, and of your users. Drawing from over 75 long-format interviews with some of the best and brightest design leaders, this talk explores some of the big questions facing the field, and how you can use the humble question to be a better leader. Warning: this talk may raise more questions than it provides answers for.
Key Insights
-
•
The COVID-19 lockdown disrupted Bedog's ambitious UX lab plans, forcing reflection on personal and professional resilience.
-
•
Global crises like systemic racism, political populism, and war provoke universal existential questions influencing design leadership.
-
•
Provocative questions can challenge the status quo but carry risks as seen in Socrates’ trial and death.
-
•
UX and design fields remain predominantly white and male, with significant underrepresentation of people of color and women.
-
•
Ethical dilemmas in design require designers to act as de facto ethicists, balancing business pressures with moral responsibility.
-
•
Amy Jimenez exemplifies the difficulty of standing up for ethical principles within large enterprises.
-
•
Successful problem-solving often benefits from mixed methods and respect for indigenous knowledge, as in the Easter Island moai example.
-
•
Changing the stories we tell ourselves about our challenges can empower us to act and find meaning, demonstrated by Dr. Susan Weinschenk’s cancer narrative.
-
•
Bad questions reinforce victimhood and limit potential; good questions foster curiosity, learning, and constructive change.
-
•
Design leaders should focus on creating their own tables and influence through expertise and collaborative respect rather than simply demanding inclusion.
Notable Quotes
"That night at 11:59 PM the entire nation of New Zealand would move into what was called a level 4 lockdown."
"Why was the universe doing this to me? That was a bad question."
"Socrates was known in Athenian society as a gadfly, a fly that bites livestock, for his overt and intentional interference with the Athenian power structure."
"Who do you see? Who do you not see? Why do you not see them?"
"We don’t have to restrict ourselves to playing the canary in the coal mine. We can design the harm out of our products before they’ve even taken flight."
"If only we could just get that seat at the table."
"They walked. The locals were most likely right."
"The stories we tell are framed by the questions we ask. Our stories repeated become our beliefs and our beliefs influence our behavior."
"I’m very fortunate. I have great medical care. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I am going to live my life to the fullest."
"Are the questions that you are asking and the stories that you are telling yourself serving you?"
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Kate Dixon proactively checked on me during COVID and even started a daily movement challenge to keep us connected and healthy."
Caitlyn Hampton Monica Lee Jina YoonCompass 101: Growing Your Career In A Startup World
June 11, 2021
"Teams often reset every 18 months and regress to infancy in trust and decision-making."
Stephen AndersonPuzzled? How to Coordinate Humans for Complex Challenges
May 27, 2021
"If you show something that looks ready to ship too early, you may miss exploring 30 other concepts quickly."
Billy CarlsonPrinciples of Team Wireframing
October 2, 2023
"Giving users the ability to reverse AI-driven actions is critical but currently underexplored."
Heidi TrostWhen AI Becomes the User’s Point Person—and Point of Failure
August 7, 2025
"Agile was built for speed and recovery but often misses depth, purpose, and vision needed for design."
Dave MaloufClosing Keynote: Amplify. Not Optimize.
October 24, 2019
"If design, product, and development use different tools, we end up talking past one another."
Jon Fukuda Amy Evans Ignacio Martinez Joe MeersmanThe Big Question about Innovation: A Panel Discussion
September 25, 2024
"You want to move from ‘make me a thing’ to ‘change customer behavior.’ That’s where the magic is."
Jeff GothelfThe Intersection of Lean and Design
January 10, 2019
"Transformation research is a transformative force."
Victor UdoewaTheme One Intro
March 27, 2023
"There's no universal design for all aging factors; customization is key."
Rittika BasuAge and Interfaces: Equipping Older Adults with Technological Tools
February 23, 2023
