Research by the Sea: A Research Plan

Background and context

Hold your breath.

The last few years have been traumatic. As individuals and researchers, we’ve weathered a perfect storm of wicked problems that have left us exhausted with the status quo and pessimistic about what is to come.

• The economic downturn, mass layoffs, the UX research reckoning and threat of skills atomisation.
• The post-pandemic optimisation of working methods and short-term thinking of austerity service design.
• The enshitification of digital products with features consuming vast amounts of energy, built on stolen data.
• The increasing societal division, polarisation and loneliness.
• The real and tragic consequences of the climate crisis.

Faced with so much uncertainty,

• where might we find sources of hope?
• Who can be our beacons for change?
• What new mindsets and methods should we adopt?
• How might we begin to imagine positive futures for people, our cultures and our planet?

Now breathe.

Learning objectives

Research by the Sea aims to explore some of the most pressing challenges and opportunities in our careers as researchers and broader societal, and global contexts.

What is the future of research?

Our central research question – what is the future of research? - aims to probe at the futures we are moving toward, the futures we actually want, and how we as researchers are best placed to shape them.

We will examine this question from three different topics:

• People – the people included in our process and recipients of what we create.
• Culture – the cultural systems our practice, products and services interface within.
• Planet – the natural environment and our responsibilities toward it.

As Judd Antin wrote:

It’s time for us to lean into the future, to realize the last 15 years was more fools golden than golden age. That’s ok. Researchers are learners — we know how to adapt. So let’s get busy.

Questions to answer

People

• How might we become more inclusive in our research practice?
• How might we design for people who actively choose not to engage with digital services?
• How might we use alternative solutions spaces to solve user needs?

Culture

• How might we make more impact by better understanding our organisation’s culture?
• How might we use new methods to identify future insights and opportunities?
• How might we confidently navigate ethical design decisions?
• How might we responsibly use the currency of data to solve user needs?

Planet

• How might we use futures storytelling to inspire restorative action?
• How might we approach our research activities with a regenerative mindset?

Participants

• 12 experts within the field of research.
  • Mix of career backgrounds
    • UX and design researchers
    • UX, content and service designers
    • Anthropologists
    • Academics
    • Ethicists
  • Mix of service perspectives
    • In-house
    • Agency
    • Consultancy
  • Mix of lived experiences, heritages and genders
• 175 curious, futures thinking industry peers.

Methodology

• 7 20/25 minute in-person talks
• 1 Q&A session, addressing the questions surveyed during the day
• 1 after-party of socialising and discussion
• 3 half-day workshops

Timeline

• 1 day of talks – Thursday 27th February 2025
• 1 day of workshops – Friday 28th February 2025

Resources

• Visit the conference website and learn more about the speakers and their talks
• Purchase your tickets, currently Early-bird discounted at the time of writing (2024-11-19)
• Add the event to your calendar (usercalendar.com)
• Read about the story behind this year’s theme (more posts coming soon)
• Subscribe and listen to the podcasts that inspired this year’s theme (huffduffer.com – content updated periodically)
• Connect with me on LinkedIn and ask me more about the conference