Designing for a Global Culture

The lines humanity has drawn in the dirt that we call borders are vanishing! The need to learn about and respect the differences in all cultures is central to our professional development and acceptance of deliverables. We are no longer designing for our boss or the corporation. Our focus should be on creating experiences that demonstrate the values others hold dear - especially those that may differ from our own fundamental beliefs. This very much includes what we frame as being “good” design, or what is ethically correct in the eyes of our collective global audience. A daunting challenge perhaps, but one that reveals benefits that exceed traditional measures allowing for the creation of ubiquitous designs for people - not machines.

Sharing personal and professional experiences from his own work with people from South Africa, Jamaica, the Ivory Coast, France, Korea, Brazil, Canada, and the United States - in addition to Fortune 500 business leaders the world over - Jeff will share the latest in Neurological research that binds us across all cultures, along with conversations he’s lead with thought leaders over the past five years, and how humility and the desire to continue learning from a variety of resources will result in gaining buy-in with decision makers in any corporation.

Drawing on over a decade of experience in the health care services working with kids in gangs, pre-kindergarten children with learning disabilities, and adults with acquired brain injuries - in addition to leading conversations through podcasts with thought leaders in IA, IxD, UX, and HCI over the past five years - Jeff Parks will share a series of stories drawing on his own professional experiences in design and mentoring that shift the conversation from “Defining The Damn Thing” to the essence of every successful design - people.

Transcript

1. 2012 Polish IA Summit Closing Keynote
   “Designing for a Global Culture”
   

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2. “I pronounce it ‘about’ not ‘a-boot’... I can proudly sew
   my country’s flag on my backpack... A chesterfield is a
   couch... Canada is the first nation of hockey, the second
   largest land mass and the best part of North America!”
   I Am Canadian - Molson Canadian
   Commercial
   

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3. “I grew up in Canada...Whenever I told
   my friends down in Los Angeles where I
   came from I always got the same
   response: Canada! Wow! Must have
   been cold!”
   Jim Carrey Actor and Comedian
   

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4. 2010 Interaction Design Conference
   ‘Design Research’
   http://theuxworkshop.tv/design-research-discussion-ixd10/
   

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5. “Community - across cultures - is about trust and respect of
   other people, their ideas, and values.”
   Jeff Parks - Polish IA Summit
   Werner Purchert
   South Africa
   Afshan Kirmani
   India
   Jan Jursa
   Germany
   

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6. “Your experiences in life determine your perspective. It is that
   unique perspective that ultimately determines your reality in any
   given circumstance.”
   MCT Program CogniLore
   

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8. “Boring environments, stressful noises, and
   the primate’s particular slot in the dominance
   hierarchy all shape the architecture of the
   brain...Poverty and stress aren’t just an idea,
   they are an anatomy. Some brains never have
   a chance!”
   Dr. Elizabeth Gould Neurologist
   

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9. “I wanted to come to Canada to study... but the
   Government required my banking information. The
   banks in the Ivory Coast - my homeland - were all
   destroyed due to the violence in my country.”
   Listening Lab at University of Ottawa
   

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11. “When the water flows through the eyes of the statue it
    represents the sorrow of the community and the young souls
    who have been lost due to inner city violence over the years.”
    Old Kingston, Jamaica
    

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12. “The passion of the Jamaican people to learn and make a stronger
    community for future generations is like no other culture I’ve
    experienced...Their creative insights are simply phenomenal.”
    Jeff Parks - Workshops on Information Architecture
    

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13. “If you aren’t familiar with all stakeholders
    involved, you have the potential to create myth
    and in this context, myth can perpetuate
    ineffective responses to those on the periphery.”
    Research by Kara Pecknold, University
    of British Columbia, Ministry of
    Health and UNICEF
    

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16. “I think the number is like 77% of
    the world’s consumption is now in
    developing markets.”
    Jim McNerney - Chairman,
    President, and CEO The
    Boeing Company
    

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17. “It has become very apparent in the
    last 12 to 18 months demand is now
    coming from countries that were
    traditionally producers.”
    Dr. Victor Fung - Group
    Chairman, Li & Fung Group
    

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18. “The miracle of the mind isn’t that you can
    see the world as it is... It’s that you can see
    the world as it isn’t!”
    Kathryn Schulz TED March 2011
    

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19. “Technology is a glittering lure but there’s the
    rare occasion when the public can be engaged at
    a level beyond flash - if they have a sentimental
    bond with the product.”
    Mad Men - The Carousel
    

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20. “The conductor doesn’t make a sound -
    he depends for his power on this ability
    to make other people powerful...I
    realized my job was to awaken
    possibility in other people!”
    “Who am I being that my players eyes
    are not shining?”
    Benjamin Zander - TED
    

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21. “We’re very good with Heart Attacks. We’re
    very bad with Cancer.”
    Dr. Fareed Zakaria Time, CNN
    

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22. “We need to shift the conversation
    from what we ‘could’ be doing to what
    we ‘should’ be doing!”
    Richard Seymour
    

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23. “Everyone wants to feel like what
    they are doing is of value and that
    they are valued in the process”
    Mike Parks - DuPont
    

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24. Create an Empathic Corporate Culture
    Sense of Value
    Everyone experiences a sense of
    individuality and self-expression
    There is a capacity to express
    compassion to develop close
    relationships
    A way of reacting with spontaneity,
    integrity, and integration exists.
    There is a drive towards
    actions, self-expression
    and creative experiences.
    There is an ability to reason
    and exchange
    ideas with others.
    

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25. “What do you want to do? ...And that
    question cleared the space - there was no
    program directive, no manual to follow. I
    endeavoured to clear such a space - an empty
    space - to make meaning out of their own
    understanding.”
    John Hunter - TED
    

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26. Dziękuję!
    

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