Designers as anthropologists: On empowering design teams

This week on Catalyst, Tammy is joined by Dani Snyder, the Head of Design AI, Servicing and Communications at JPMorganChase. As someone who started out as an industrial designer and previously led teams at companies like Fjord and Humana, Dani deeply understands the design process and how it connects (or sometimes fails to connect) to user needs, data, and business goals. Dani and Tammy discuss leadership philosophies, the power of curiosity and where design is headed in the age of AI.

Highlights from the conversation include:

• The importance of curiosity in design. Dani encourages designers to be anthropologists and observe their users closely; Tammy shares that asking “Why?” as a leader opens the floor for others to feel safe doing the same. ‍
• Empowering design teams in corporate organizations. Dani explains her process of mapping corporate initiatives to individual projects and roles, helping teams understand their contributions to the bigger picture.
• The impact of AI on experience design. Dani describes how AI and conversation design can create hundreds of potential customer journeys vs. the expected handful. She and Tammy talk about how the complexity of human experience plays into the way machines and models are designed.

Check out the full episode to learn more about connecting minds and skillsets across organizations, what aspects of design are most at risk with AI, and why digital problems don’t always need digital solutions.

Please note that the views expressed in this episode may not necessarily be those of NTT DATA.

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