Empathy. Deep Empathy. Accessibility. Inclusiveness. Localization. As the tech industry matures, more and more organizations are acknowledging how the users of their products often differ from those creating them. To close this gap and design better experiences, product teams have begun incorporating more user research into their development cycles.

Including users in the design process presents several ethical challenges, however. For example, how do we test important business assumptions while ensuring participant well-being and privacy? How do we balance user feedback with subject matter expertise? Using examples from the speaker’s work, this talk explores the sometimes thin line between “human-centric” and unethical.