Summary
Our understanding of truth is being reshaped. This challenge deepens when considering how truth intersects with shifting views on data ownership, knowledge extraction, and inclusivity. Researchers must respect participants' ownership of their narratives and foster intersectional inclusivity to uncover more equitable truths. This discussion explores practical strategies for understanding what equitable truth means in a world of disinformation, where both participants and researchers are increasingly questioning the meaning of true inclusivity in our field.
Key Insights
-
•
Disinformation thrives on social media algorithms that prioritize engagement over accuracy, exacerbating distrust in research participants.
-
•
AI-generated misleading content and deepfakes pose new challenges by eroding public trust and entrenching biases in digital products.
-
•
Extractive research practices harm marginalized communities and contribute to widespread mistrust toward organizations.
-
•
Declaring positionality helps researchers reflect on how their own identities influence their work and decisions.
-
•
An equity pause is an effective reflective practice to identify biases and knowledge gaps before making research or design decisions.
-
•
Community-based partnerships and participatory co-design are essential for authentic engagement with vulnerable populations.
-
•
Packaging equity-centered research in the language of business metrics and risk mitigation can increase stakeholder buy-in.
-
•
Authentic transparency with participants, including sharing case studies and knowledge, builds lasting trust and ownership.
-
•
Recruiting participants from marginalized communities requires intentional effort to avoid shallow or unrepresentative insights.
-
•
Sustainable progress in ethical research demands courage, community support, and picking strategic battles within organizations.
Notable Quotes
"Our understanding of truth is being reshaped due to the rise of disinformation."
"Researchers must respect participants' ownership of their own narratives and foster intersectional inclusivity."
"Many stakeholders blur fact and opinion, making it harder to influence with sound research insights."
"Social media algorithms prioritize engagement over accuracy, exacerbating echo chambers and polarizing discourse."
"AI tools generate convincing yet potentially misleading content at scale, eroding public trust."
"Instagram's creation of AI influencers co-opted queer and Black identities, essentially digital blackface."
"One of the most important parts of any successful research study is your research sample."
"If you target the right audience but can’t recruit them, you fail to capture the community’s true problems."
"The equity pause helps you recognize what biases might be present before making decisions impacting lives."
"It takes courage to push back against dominant culture and present dissenting opinions in organizations."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"We tend to put the end user first, but we must also ask who we might be doing harm to beyond primary users."
Cornelius RachieruHandling Complexity: Framing a Scale of Design
June 9, 2021
"Disability isn’t just a small percentage; one in five people live with a disability, and it’s an identity we all take on at some point."
Sam ProulxAccessibility: An Opportunity to Innovate
March 9, 2022
"Lauren Cantor is our house librarian and has made an outstanding contribution to the conference."
Bria AlexanderDay 3 Welcome
September 25, 2024
"There are so many different variations of repositories, from research libraries to databases cataloging atomic insights."
Maria Rosala Shivanjali M.Research Repositories
March 12, 2026
"Establishing a shared vision with your boss or team helps align goals, even amid conflict."
Joshua GravesWe Need To Talk: Navigating Conversations with Your Boss (Part 1 of 3)
April 14, 2025
"Safety needs to start with your team first, then slowly scale out to other parts of the organization."
Alla WeinbergWorkers Are Sick of Change: The Cure is Psychological Safety
June 6, 2023
"Metacognition is rigor — being able to explain why you made every decision in your research."
Kwabena Opoku Leonie Annor-Owiredu Sam LadnerMethodological toolkit for unique research impact
March 11, 2026
"Involving designers means treating them like precious individuals who value autonomy and collaboration, not imposing rules."
Nina JurcicThe Design System Rollercoaster: From Enabler and Bottleneck to Catalyst for Change
October 3, 2023
"A pattern library is not a design system. Relying on documentation alone leads to inconsistency and erosion over time."
Nathan Curtis Nalini P. Kotamraju Jack Moffett Dawn ResselDiscussion
June 9, 2016
