Theme 1 Intro
Summary
Despite personal struggles with COVID, the speaker expresses gratitude and frames the conference as an act of defiance against systemic global issues like the pandemic and war. They emphasize advancing research as a practice and profession with a human-centered focus to shape better futures. The program includes Devon Powers discussing lessons from futurists and trend watchers, Sam Ladner exploring ethno futures and strategic foresight, Mackenzie Geinen addressing career and gatekeeping challenges, and Metro providing perspectives on learning frameworks for researchers outside big tech pedigrees. After lunch, Brian Moss will focus on resilience within research teams, and Victor Udayawa will delve into participatory research, decolonization, and research justice. The speaker calls for self-reflection to move beyond self-congratulation and confront extractive practices for imagining inclusive futures.
Key Insights
-
•
Research as a human-centered profession must grow to address systemic problems and institutional failures.
-
•
Futurists often study immediate futures, but their insights remain crucial for organizational foresight.
-
•
Ethno futures and strategic foresight enable researchers to play a larger role in shaping better futures.
-
•
Gatekeeping in research careers risks excluding diverse voices, requiring new learning frameworks.
-
•
Resilience is vital for research teams to sustain impactful work in challenging times.
-
•
Participatory research and decolonization are key to delivering on human-centered design promises.
-
•
The field must avoid insularity and exploitative practices by encouraging personal accountability.
-
•
The conference program reflects diverse geographic and professional perspectives, including voices from Jakarta.
-
•
Research aspirants must be aware of challenges noted by futurists to avoid repeating them.
-
•
The speaker frames the conference as defiance against global crises, highlighting research’s societal role.
Notable Quotes
"I feel like probably the luckiest person here. And I have COVID."
"Six million people worldwide have died of COVID. Millions more are dealing with lasting effects."
"We’re here, not in denial of plague and war, but in defiance of it."
"The researchers I know aspire to do lofty work, but we have a long way to go to get there."
"The futures the field seeks to shape are typically more immediate than those studied by futurists."
"We need to create learning frameworks that allow researchers to be effective, even without big tech pedigree."
"To do the kind of work we aspire to do, we need to better understand the role of resilience."
"Participatory research, decolonization, and research justice are vital takes on human-centered discipline."
"I challenge all of us to pull back from self-congratulations when we hear talk of extractive practices."
"What am I personally doing to contribute to the dynamics that stand in the way of better futures?"
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"We’re not trying to change behavior, but help researchers in their existing processes to make research faster."
Kate Towsey Basel Fakhoury Oren Friedman Graham GardnerParticipant Recruitment and Management Tools
March 12, 2026
"Documentation is important for liability and useful for patient handoffs, so notes must be concise yet detailed."
Jennifer KongJourneying toward AI-assisted documentation in healthcare
June 5, 2024
"We need to sequence activities carefully so we innovate while also keeping code shipping without stopping progress."
Kevin M. HoffmanTheme 2: Enterprise Team Journey
June 3, 2019
"Making your chief legal officer your best friend as a designer makes a lot of sense."
Amy MarquezINVEST: Discussion
June 15, 2018
"No wiki in the world is as good as somebody who can come and tell you how to bend the rules a little bit."
Gretchen AndersonScaling the Human Center
June 8, 2017
"The division between haves and have-nots is real, but history shows periods of immense innovation and progress can follow."
April ReaganLook, Think, Act: The Futures-Smart Design Organization
October 1, 2021
"Engagement at hiring, onboarding, and growth stages prevents talent churn."
Dante GuintuHow to Crush the Talent Crunch
September 8, 2022
"Document your design decisions and architecture visually so new team members can quickly understand your system."
Jaime CreixemsBest Practices when Creating and Maintaining a Design System
June 7, 2023
"Balsamiq is more a communication tool, intentionally limiting high polish so you focus on sharing ideas and getting feedback."
Billy CarlsonPrinciples of Team Wireframing
October 2, 2023
