February 15–16, 2025 Dubai, UAE
Joined the panel on Driving Meaningful Innovation, on treating technology as a partner that amplifies creativity rather than replaces it. Also gave a solo talk, Designing for Youth in the Metaverse, on what younger users actually need from social VR, the patterns emerging across the most popular apps, and the safety measures worth building for preteens and teens.
October 22–23, 2022 Lisbon, Portugal
Virtual reality lets us drop into vibrant digital spaces with a real sense of social presence: the feeling that someone is right there with you, wherever they actually are. This also opens up new possibilities to cause harm, especially when a virtual identity is cut loose from a real one. In VR, we sometimes see abusive behaviors such as harassment, bullying, grooming, and racial and sexual discrimination. So how do we discourage bad behaviors and encourage pro-social ones? How do we get people to trust and respect each other while they stay anonymous? This talk walks through building trust systems in a virtual environment, how the social norms of virtual spaces compare to real ones, and the principles worth following to build for the safety and inclusion of every kind of person.
March 28, 2019 Microsoft Design Blog
An article I wrote for the Microsoft Design blog on how AI will change the role of the designer, and how we can adapt to a future where we work in partnership with it.