The history of design has been largely focused on enhancing human agency through the products and services we create. Through designed technology, we have enabled humans to extend their capabilities to run faster, work more productively, and address our limitations. Yet, as we approach 2020–the future is really here–ubiquitous wireless broadband internet connectivity combined with predictive analytics embedded into every aspect of our lives, we product developers and designers can “help” users be better than ever before by making decisions for them.
While our ability to act as an agent for users presents an exciting opportunity, it also forces us to deeply interrogate our intent in each design decision. Are we creating agents to act on behalf of our users, or are we instilling agency in the humans we design for? This talk will introduce the boundaries of the most fundamental design question of our era: agent vs agency. Where should control reside?
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Zachary Jean Paradis
Global lead,
Experience Strategy practice,
SapientNitro
Zachary is an experience strategist, professor and writer obsessed with transforming lives through experience innovation. He works at SapientNitro as global lead for the Experience Strategy practice, teaches at the IIT Institute of Design and lives in Chicago, USA.
Zachary has spent his career helping companies develop connected product, retail and service experiences–a service or purchase moment really can happen anywhere at anytime. His experience in retail is highlighted in having led the strategy for the two largest omnichannel commerce projects in the world, for global retail leaders Target and M&S. Each program fundamentally reshaped their company’s ability to engage and develop customers, across all touch points.
His experience across other industries includes helping Chrysler launch a more compelling connected car product to combat Sync and OnStar, building a platform for John Deere to effectively communicate to customers across 160 countries, co-leading a start-up offered $100M to be purchased by Microsoft, and helping to launch the supercar luxury brand McLaren Automotive.
Zachary teaches classes at the Illinois Institute of Technology: an undergraduate primer on entrepreneurship and innovation and a course on experience modeling at the graduate Institute of Design. Zachary authored Naked Innovation, outlining a shared practice for creating value, available at NakedInnovation.com and is also currently working on his second book, focused more exclusively on customer experience.
