Summary
The speaker reflects on the pandemic as a catalyst for change and opportunity rather than loss, sharing insights from several experts. Brendan Jarvis talks about how his vision for remote collaboration tools finally became essential, despite initial setbacks. She Has Greco emphasizes growth for Mastercard designers amid uncertainty. Emily Dalton coaches on applying design skills in physical disaster response. Amy Stewart discusses empowering global communities and promoting equity among practitioners. Separivala shares stories of three global retailers who rapidly adapted to being frontline digital workers during the pandemic. Nicole Offe explains how IBM successfully transitioned their design education program online, offering guidance on pivoting or establishing design education in such times. Collectively, the talk provides hope, practical tips, and a mindset that crisis can be a moment for transformation.
Key Insights
-
•
Brendan Jarvis predicted remote collaboration would become essential years before the pandemic.
-
•
Designers can serve as first responders in real physical disaster situations, not just digital contexts.
-
•
The pandemic accelerated retail workers into 'digital frontline' roles requiring rapid change management.
-
•
Mastercard focused on meaningful growth for designers balancing people and business needs during uncertainty.
-
•
Crisis can empower global communities and promote equity among design practitioners worldwide.
-
•
IBM’s pivot from in-person to online design education offers a practical model for others.
-
•
Seeing crisis as opportunity leads to transformation rather than loss.
-
•
Three global retailers managed overnight digital pivots successfully despite extreme pressure.
-
•
A well-designed online design education program can be quickly established or adapted in crisis.
-
•
A hopeful mindset and practical strategies are key to navigating uncertainty and driving innovation.
Notable Quotes
"The pandemic track was the I told you so moment for those of us designing remote tools since 2006."
"We have a choice in crisis — see it as a loss or see it as an opportunity."
"Designers can be first responders, not just in digital but in real disaster situations."
"The digital frontline workers in retail became critical almost overnight during the pandemic."
"Mastercard designers grew meaningfully for both people and business despite uncertainty."
"IBM pivoted its design education program from in person to online very quickly and successfully."
"Crisis can empower global communities and bring equity to practitioners worldwide."
"Those three retailers pivoted literally overnight under intense change management pressure."
"No matter the circumstances, the answer to 'Can we?' is always yes, we can."
"Our biggest hope is that you gain confidence to see opportunity and realize it amid crisis."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"You have to present UX value from the stakeholder’s perspective: what will John the developer get from doing this?"
Kit Unger Jackie Ho Veevi Rosenstein Vasileios XanthopoulosTheme 2: Discussion
January 8, 2024
"Every bee understands the same purpose — the survival of the hive for winter."
Mariesa LenzWhat Beekeeping Taught me about Product Teams
October 29, 2025
"Having a huge appetite for research and a huge manner for research is a good problem to have. So let's lean into it."
Jesse ZolnaInviting the Whole Org to Come See For Yourself
March 30, 2020
"Propose new IC roles like a design problem: identify the need, gather research, and try it as an experiment with retrospectives."
Catt Small Micah Bennett Brian Carr Jessica HarlleeWhat's Next for ICs: Exploring Staff and Principal Designer Roles
February 22, 2024
"People tend to forget that the A in AI stands for artificial, which is basically fake intelligence."
Louis Rosenfeld Billy Carlson Jon Fukuda Maria TaylorHow AI will Change DesignOps Tooling
October 3, 2023
"We made a thing an actual thing. It’s a book called Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers."
Sheryl CababaExpanding your Design Lens with Systems Thinking
March 28, 2023
"If you only measure vanity metrics like downloads, you risk tracking numbers that don’t translate to real usage or value."
Saara Kamppari-Miller Nicole Bergstrom Shashi JainKey Metrics: Comparing Three Letter Acronym Metrics That Include the Word “Key”
November 13, 2024
"Career growth isn’t just vertical but also horizontal development in design skills."
John DevanneyThe Design Management Office
November 6, 2017
"Holding down the C button lets you drag connectors to visually link objects in Mural."
Erika FlowersIntroduction to MURAL for UX
June 11, 2021
