David Dylan Thomas, author of Design for Cognitive Bias, creator and host of The Cognitive Bias Podcast, and a twenty-year practitioner of content strategy and UX, has consulted major clients in entertainment, healthcare, publishing, finance, and retail. As the founder and CEO of David Dylan Thomas, LLC he offers workshops and presentations on inclusive design and the role of bias in making decisions. He has presented at TEDNYC, SXSW Interactive, Confab, An Event Apart, LavaCon, UX Copenhagen, Artifact, IA Conference, IxDA, Design and Content Conference, Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise, and the Wharton Web Conference on topics at the intersection of bias, design, and social justice.

“That’s Great, But How Do I Convince My Boss?”: Overcoming Bias to Advocate for Change

It’s one thing to know what your organization should be doing, but that’s not always enough to convince the people who sign the checks. How do you get them on board? In this talk, we’ll discuss biases that drive organizations to make counterproductive and sometimes unethical choices, and what we can do about it. You’ll come away with a greater understanding of how to fight bias with bias to navigate some of the risk-averse, short-sighted, and poorly-incentivized habits organizations and clients often fall into.

In this session, attendees will learn:

• How to change behavior even if you can’t change minds
• How to create metrics that motivate better behavior
• How to get folks to adopt ideas when just stating the facts isn’t enough
• How to get folks to take a risk in risk-averse organizations