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’re not just translators between different ways of thinking, but architects of shared reasoning processes."
Kurt McCullochFaster alone, further together: Rebuilding collaboration in the age of AI research
March 10, 2026
"Enterprise problems are often engineering problems as much as design problems."
Dan WillisEnterprise Storytelling Sessions
May 13, 2015
"Organizations say they want to break down silos but often create new ones in product teams; service design helps reconnect them."
Lavrans Løvlie Ben ReasonAsk me anything – Authors of Service Design: From Insight to Implementation
November 19, 2025
"We end up with this junk drawer phenomenon with spaghetti-fication of different insights being passed around with no clarity."
Jon White Erin MayUnsticking Research for Better Information Flow
March 11, 2026
"People don’t always get straight to their question; they might need to do some investigation first before they figure out what to ask."
Liwei DaiThe Heart and Brain of the AI Research
March 31, 2020
"We are all becoming more human in work, stripping away masks and fronts, which strengthens relationships."
Smitha Papolu Nova Wehman-Brown Melissa Schmidt Adam MenterTheme 3 Discussion
January 8, 2024
"Today's problems come from yesterday's solutions."
Sheryl CababaLiving in the Clouds: Adopting a Systems Thinking Mindset
June 6, 2023
"How can we not forget about women?"
Mansi GuptaWomen-Centric Research: What, Why, How
March 29, 2023
"Use your powers of empathy to see things from your functional partners’ point of view."
Francesca Barrientos, PhDYou Need Your Own Definition of Design Maturity
June 8, 2022
