Indi Young

The positive note that I focused on was the heron. That feather-person coped. They were resiliant. They focused on hunting for food. They did not get angry about thoughtless design.

I get angry because I think I can help change thoughless design. I need to get better at coping, instead.

No one thought to try to muffle the sound, neither under water nor in the air. 😧 Ages ago, no one (powerful enough) thought, "Sheesh, these gasoline engines are noisy. Let's stick with the electric engine that we already invented, and focus on batteries."

Finally, out to sea, I could see the speck of a boat. Tugboat, fishing boat, I don't know. It took a long time to approach, probably 30 minutes. You can see it in this photo. The noise in this photo is immense!

I was disgruntled by the *design* of the engine.

I had been exploring this little cove, reading about its human history, and just sitting on the rock to enjoy it and to watch for the beings that lived there. Then there was a faint rumbling with a little whine. The sound didn't go away. Instead, it slowly got louder.

🧵 What does this photo make you think?

To me, it represents loud noise and how humanity intrudes on every other being without giving them the least thought.

I'll tell you why I took this photo. It was a break from work after a conference in Vancouver on the west coast of Canada.

Stefanie Hutka also talks about this and has the beginning of a table to show examples of each.

Have any of you created a diagram or categories of what, exactly counts as an inefficiency, and what requires human judgment?

teybannerman.com
lnkd.in/dSmMmzHY

So many teams at this point are exploring what, exactly, AI fwn be used for. Tey Bannerman had a great phrase for this in his lightning talk at EPICpeople 2026, "What parts of human judgment and context are essential and what parts are inefficiencies we can optimize away?"

Newsletter

So, how can I talk to everyone? My newsletter.

indiyoung.com/newsletter/

I don't want to become one more ad on your feed.

Social media only shows one post and then a bunch of paid-for posts.

I also don't want AI involved in making my posts ... we are getting inundated by AI posts being responded to by other AI.

Helping your team and grow their skillsets is key to everyone's success, including the organization's.

Course – Listening Deeply

If you *want* inspiration, but your org refuses to support you, I give 50% off any of my courses for people paying on their own. That's $250 for a four-week course. And right now, I am offering 25% off the course Listening Deeply, so the paying-for-yourself cost is $187.50. PREP4FTS

Change is always hard, but this time seems harder to grow something new and better out of the flames. (Or maybe I'm feeling too betrayed by everyone who decided that knowledge isn't needed anymore to inform business decisions. You only need to slap experiements up and measure whole-market response.)

Junior roles have been eliminated in many places.

"Everyone’s baseline is already at fight-or-flight." Margo Stern (author of Good Job, for hiring managers & for applicants, a flip-over book) sternlyworded.com/good-job-book

🧵 Organizations don't think their employees need inspiration for creative thinking anymore. Who of you is still encouraged to take courses? Which orgs still have training workshops to usher in new ways of thinking? I hear that Leadership only approves occassional professional development now.

I can walk to Sprouts in 20 min, whereas Whole Foods takes 30 min. Since I rarely go to these stores, I choose to walk to get exercise. But that day was busy with work, so I chose Sprouts.

I didn't have to ask AI. I think first before using a tool that costs the planet and society so much.

If I had stopped to consider that their prices would probably be only 40 cents off, I would have realized that I have a better way to make the decision where to buy it: how close the store is to me.

Both grocery stores are within walking distance.

So, I have to buy it at either of two giant chain grocery stores, Sprouts or Whole Foods.

I asked AI what the 32 ounce bottle would cost at either store. The prices were really close.

🧵 I'm embarrassed. The other day I asked Google search AI a price comparison question that I didn't need to ask.

I had run out of lotion. It's winter here, and I let myself use lotion to offset dry, itchy skin. It's locally produced, but the producer does not sell direct.

Training

indiyoung.com/training/

Outcomes

IT ONLY COSTS YOU ONCE. Collect this deeper, broader understanding once, then use it for years. (It takes a couple of months, working on it 10 hours a week.) Creative thinking is worth it.

Data Science that Listens (DStL) ... it's how orgs enable truly human creative thinking.

Instead, strong signals enable more variety and other perspectives. Recognizing that not everyone thinks like you helps teams support more thinking styles and approaches. Understanding what people are trying to get done in their larger context helps teams see new pathways to support.

But that's wrong. 🛑 Weak signals lead to the same old ideas. Weak signals come from the same old perspective that the team has had for years. It leads to assumptions and bias. Plus, it's easy for leadership to ignore weak signals.

🧵 Is creative thinking dead? (No! But Leadership thinks they don't need it.)

Leadership says "weak signals are fine for ideation." I hear of product craftspeople being urged to chat with a few users of their solution or just ask AI.

Course – Listening Deeply

indiyoung.com/listening-de...
indiyoung.com/live-practice/
indiyoung.com/contact/

If you want to join a Practice Group for Listening Deeply, I can run one. I need ten people, and have four people on the list so far. Please ping me here, or on my website.

Each of my self-paced courses takes a few weeks (in a typical overwrought work schedule). Get started now, one short lesson every workday, and you're there!

Listening Deeply is life-changing for product creators and designers! 25% DISCOUNT on right now: PREP4FTS.

If you want in on the new upcoming Finding Thinking Styles course, you'll need to learn how to listen deeply.

📖 Adquira o livro Tempo para Escutar: bit.ly/tempo-escutar
📖 ¡La versión en español viene en camino! [Próximamente]

#UXResearch #DesignResearch #InclusiveDesign #DesignStrategy #ListeningDeeply

My book or my course helps you learn what questions to ask, what pull-tabs are, and how to make it easier for a person to tell you what happened in their mind.

⏤
🎓 Listening Deeply, the self-paced course: bit.ly/course-listening-deeply
📖 Time to Listen, the book: bit.ly/book-listen

4. The core is how we come closest to understanding:
a. inner thinking
b. emotional reactions
c. personal rules

Listening deeply: never bring up your own topic. Only follow theirs.