Montréal, Canada • October 22-25
HEC Montréal

EPIC Platinum Sponsors Fjord and IBM convene panels of experts who bring perspectives and provocations on global trends that have profound implications for ethnographic practice. Open to all EPIC2017 attendees.


Ethnography in Agile Contexts: Offering Speed or Spark?

Moderator: Martha Cotton, Fjord
Sunday, 22 October, 2:15–3:30, Amphitheâtre

This panel looks at perspectives that emerge from the intersection of ethnography and agile methodologies—from real constraints to exciting possibilities. We will seek to better understand what “agile” is and where it comes from and then explore tools and approaches that allow us to be relevant in agile contexts. Is being “agile” just about efficiency and speeding up our processes? Or is it about ongoing efforts that offer the right spark at the right time? Or maybe something in between? In this panel we will explore this timely topic that currently—or soon will—affect most members of the EPIC community.

martha cotton
Martha Cotton
Moderator
Design Director, Fjord
Julia Haines
Julia Haines
UX Research, Google
brian king
Brian King
Prof. of Entrepreneurship & Innovation, HEC Montréal
parmentier
Marie-Agnes Parmentier
Prof. of Marketing, HEC Montréal
carrie Yury
Carrie Yury
VP Experience Research & Strategy, BeyondCurious
carrie Yury
Michael Winnick
CEO, dscout

Doing Design Research in a Cognitive World

Moderator: Chris Hammond, IBM
Sunday, 22 October, 3:45–5:00, Amphitheâtre

Increasingly, experiences are being created that incorporate augmented intelligence, promising to make us smarter, more efficient, and more effective. Doctors can recommend more comprehensive personalized treatment plans, teachers can provide lesson plans tailored to individual students, and farmers can vary crop irrigation and fertilization cycles in response to predicted weather patterns. Human capabilities (some might say intelligence) are being augmented, aided by machine learning algorithms that interpret and find meaning in vast quantities of both structured and unstructured data.

This panel will address challenges of doing design research in a cognitive world where predictive analytics, conversational interfaces, and augmented intelligence are core aspects of the technology solutions being designed. What skills and expertise are needed by practitioners to integrate these new cognitive capabilities into their work practices? How do “users” make sense of, derive insights from, and use sophisticated analytics? Is the meaning of expertise and professional identity altered when our cognitive capabilities are augmented through partnerships with machines?

In keeping with the theme of this year’s conference, the panelists will reflect on what new vantage points will be needed to ready our practices for this new cognitive era.

Chris hammond
Chris Hammond
Moderator
Design Research Lead, IBM Design
mark burrell
Mark Burrell
Design Director—Watson Health, IBM
melissa cefkin
Melissa Cefkin
Principal Scientist, Nissan Research Ctr
christian madsbjerg
Christian Madsbjerg
Senior Partner, ReD Associates
dawn snafus
Dawn Nafus
Sr. Research Scientist, Intel