Lola Oyelayo Pearson challenges narrow ideas of UX and asks how designers can remain useful as business and technology change. The talk connects user-centered practice with commercial understanding and opportunities beyond familiar interfaces.

In this session:
• Understanding business constraints and prioritization
• Keeping research in the design toolkit
• Service design and interactions beyond screens
• Bringing a design perspective into product management

Recorded at World Class Design Conference 2021. Roles, examples and references reflect the time of recording.

More from World Class Design: https://world-class.design
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPIPUUQY2yk

Katja Forbes examines how design decisions can earn or undermine trust, especially when technology makes decisions people cannot see. The session offers ways to think about trustworthiness in products and services.

In this session:
• Individual and institutional trust
• Making invisible decisions understandable
• The role and limits of transparency
• Avoiding manipulative trust signals

Recorded at World Class Design Conference 2021. Roles, examples and references reflect the time of recording.

More from World Class Design: https://world-class.design
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtWGqguUfaM

Alipta Ballav explores how products can support pleasure, meaning and a sense of accomplishment. The session introduces positive-design ideas and the PERMA model as ways to think beyond basic functionality.

In this session:
• Balancing practical, pleasurable and meaningful product qualities
• Positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and achievement
• Distinguishing momentary happiness from life satisfaction
• Considering what happiness means for the people using a product

Recorded at World Class Design Conference 2021. Roles, examples and references reflect the time of recording.

More from World Class Design: https://world-class.design
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shV32CA6Pvg

Jane Vita explores how design can help organizations move through uncertainty and build a shared direction. The talk connects dialogue, collaboration and service planning with the practical work of testing assumptions.

In this session:
• Recognizing the limits of individual perspectives
• Creating space for productive dialogue
• Connecting service blueprints and roadmaps
• Identifying and testing important unknowns

Recorded at World Class Design Conference 2021. Roles, examples and references reflect the time of recording.

More from World Class Design: https://world-class.design
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfui-Ovpbek

Visible design work is only part of the value a designer creates. Lily Konings explores the decisions, trade-offs and understanding behind effective products, and why beautiful output needs a clear purpose.

In this session:
• Distinguishing visible output from meaningful outcomes
• Understanding the wider business and user context
• Navigating trade-offs beyond the interface
• Explaining the reasoning behind design work

Recorded at World Class Design Conference 2021. Roles, examples and references reflect the time of recording.

More from World Class Design: https://world-class.design
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coK9XbD7NeY

Brenda Laurel revisits the research behind Purple Moon to show how better questions can challenge stereotypes. The session connects research methods with self-inquiry and the responsibilities of allyship.

In this session:
• Questioning assumptions about girls and technology
• Learning through interviews with children and their friends
• Making research findings tangible
• Examining your own biases before and after research

Recorded at World Class Design Conference 2021. Roles, examples and references reflect the time of recording.

More from World Class Design: https://world-class.design
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ_NxfdJ1MU

What responsibilities come with being a design professional? Johnathon Strebly connects the history of designing to the standards, collective action and public obligations that can shape the profession’s future.

In this session:
• Design as a human practice across cultures
• Professional standards and collective responsibility
• The Montreal Design Declaration
• Considering environmental, social and cultural consequences

Recorded at World Class Design Conference 2021. Roles, examples and references reflect the time of recording.

More from World Class Design: https://world-class.design
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Fysv54JO74

Working across cultures starts with recognizing that your own assumptions are not universal. Zoey Nguyen shares mindsets for building respectful, inclusive relationships in teams without borders.

In this session:
• Respecting different perspectives and your own cultural identity
• Adapting without losing your core values
• Making everyday team interactions more inclusive
• Responding to mistakes with humility and learning

Recorded at World Class Design Conference 2021. Roles, examples and references reflect the time of recording.

More from World Class Design: https://world-class.design
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2-OF7Zgz7w

Innovation needs both creativity and execution. Sam Yen and Janaki Kumar explore why finding the right problem matters as much as solving it, and how design thinking can spread beyond a small design team.

In this session:
• Finding problems worth solving
• Moving from pushing design to creating demand for it
• Documenting practices and training colleagues to scale
• Avoiding innovation by checkbox

Recorded at World Class Design Conference 2021. Roles, examples and references reflect the time of recording.

More from World Class Design: https://world-class.design
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73ffAqnFmEc

Design debt builds up when teams ship decisions without clear user needs, shared product goals or a plan to learn after launch. Susan Park and Sahana Kumar explain how to spot those warning signs and bring design into product decisions earlier.

In this session:
• Recognizing design debt before it becomes expensive rework
• Aligning business goals, user needs and success metrics
• Using research, storytelling and engineering input to compare solutions
• Planning post-launch measurement and iteration

Recorded at World Class Design Conference 2021. Roles, examples and references reflect the time of recording.

0:00 Welcome and introductions
1:40 Design debt across startups and larger teams
4:06 A product decision that creates design debt
8:03 What design debt means
9:25 Three warning signs to look for
13:06 Tools across the product life cycle
22:09 Balancing advocacy with teamwork
25:18 Audience questions

More from World Class Design: https://world-class.design
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ASBkiHfR18