From Users to Shapers of AI: The Future of Research
Summary
Discover the transformative power of shifting from passive users to active shapers of AI in Tricia's compelling closing keynote. Unveiling the insidious "User Trap," Tricia exposes the pervasive sense of powerlessness entrenched in our tech-driven world. She champions a radical shift in the researcher's mindset, advocating liberation from the confines of being "user researchers" to versatile professionals adept at navigating the complexities of human-tech interactions, especially ones that force people into becoming users. As AI tooling improves, Tricia envisions a future where human ingenuity stands as the cornerstone, complementing and enhancing the capabilities of advanced AI tools. In this world, researchers who can truly understand human beings, gather thick data, and communicate complexity and context-loss with clarity, will become even more indispensable.
Key Insights
-
•
The term 'user' reduces complex human relationships to passive roles that serve platform interests.
-
•
AI’s cultural fear stems not only from the technology itself but from legacy issues of control in Web 2.0.
-
•
The 'user trap' describes our dependence on digital platforms that erode agency but are essential to modern life.
-
•
Shapers actively collaborate with AI, going beyond passive use to shape technology’s role in their lives.
-
•
Four key care skills of shapers are coaching, adaptive intelligence, responsibility, and viewing AI as an extension of self.
-
•
Big Tech’s control over AI risks repeating the mistakes of social media, potentially amplifying existing problems.
-
•
Thick data, or qualitative context-rich data, is essential to combat the complexity and context loss in AI-driven outputs.
-
•
Insight-driven organizational cultures outperform data-driven ones by integrating qualitative and quantitative knowledge.
-
•
Researchers need to move beyond 'user research' to fully embrace the complexity of people’s interaction with technology.
-
•
Experimenting personally and professionally with AI helps demystify the technology and encourages proactive engagement.
Notable Quotes
"AI is super polarizing — on one end, it’s discovering millions of new materials, on the other, it’s corrupting children’s experiences."
"We are stuck in the user trap because these platforms are central to being human today."
"In Web 2.0, a small group sets the rules and most people just play within them."
"Fear of AI comes from not trusting the inputs, the data powering these models."
"The user identity is a digital construct that commodifies humans for their data."
"Shapers combine human and machine intelligence and amplify each other’s strengths."
"Researchers might be the last people in organizations accountable for understanding humans."
"Our job is to fight context loss as data moves up layers of abstraction in AI outputs."
"Thick data is the opposite of big data and essential for rescuing lost context."
"Language matters — calling people 'users' reflects and reinforces the reality of reduced agency."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Getting executive buy-in is so critical to the success of research, yet it remains a challenge for many."
Caroline VizeThe State of UX: Five Lessons from 2021 to Accelerate Digital Experience in 2022
March 9, 2022
"Communities are the glue that bring together work across silos, people, and practice."
Kara KaneCommunities of Practice for Civic Design
April 7, 2022
"Fostering a culture of use and leadership is essential to make these tools part of daily rituals."
Jon Fukuda Ellie KryslDesign Planning and Management Support
October 3, 2023
"We believe in being a rock band, not rock stars—success comes from the team, not the individual."
Mark TempletonCreating a Legacy: the ultimate experience
June 9, 2017
"Our relationship is like a genuine brotherhood. We hang out almost every day."
Jim KalbachPeace is waged with sticky notes: Mapping Real-World Experiences
June 14, 2018
"Automations and template buttons in Notion enabled us to build consistent onboarding workflows that are reusable and interactive."
Scott StephensThe Next Generation in DesignOps Toolsets
July 28, 2022
"People’s brains are hardwired to pick up on status signals, even if there’s no real data."
Cheryl PlatzCollaborative Creativity through Improv
November 7, 2018
"Learning is fractal—self-similar at different scales from individuals to organizations."
Jen BriselliLearning Is The Engine: Designing & Adapting in a World We Can’t Predict
April 16, 2025
"We had a great depth of customer understanding, but our view of partners was two-dimensional; we didn't know their needs or goals well."
Mac SmithMeasuring Up: Using Product Research for Organizational Impact
March 12, 2021