The Cantina Conversation Series invites leaders to discuss timely topics in design, technology, and business strategy. Our January guest is Indi Young, an internationally recognized researcher who coaches, writes, and teaches about inclusive product strategy. Indi was one of the founders of Adaptive Path, an influential and pioneering UX agency. Join us on January 27, 2023 at 1pm ET.

Challenging Assumption and Bias

It wasn’t that long ago when user research was a hard sell. “We know what our users want” was a common refrain. Yet, bias is the greatest threat to product or service success. People are surprising and unpredictable. Untold products and services have failed because product teams assumed people thought and behaved like they did.

The good news is that insights research is increasingly common. But, we’ve noticed that it’s often undertaken in a way that leaves bias intact and insights thin. Part of the challenge is that every business is an efficiency machine: they take a method or process and seek to wring from it anything deemed inessential.

This leaves us wondering about the risks and consequences of corporate insights research. When is something essential lost? And how can you advocate for it in a system that’s always looking to cut corners?

Join our hosts, Shaun Gummere, CXO at Cantina and Krista Siniscarco, VP at Cantina, for a conversation with Indi Young. Indi’s work is rooted in the problem space where the focus is on people, not users. Indi pioneered opportunity maps, mental model diagrams, and thinking styles. Her way of approaching the problem allows teams to truly pay attention to people, without letting cognitive bias and assumptions creep in.

We hope you can make it. In our view, Indi is the closest thing to a rockstar in the experience strategy field!

More About Indi

Indi has written three books, Time to Listen, Practical Empathy and Mental Models. She is at work on another book in the series, Assumptions Aside, that will cover thinking styles. She builds knowledge and community via a series of live online advanced courses about the importance of pushing the boundaries of your perspective. She was one of the founders of Adaptive Path, the pioneering UX agency.

You can follow her on Twitter @indiyoung and access many resources on her website indiyoung.com as well as at medium.com/inclusive-software.

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