IAC 2020
Have you ever found yourself working on a project and realize “I have no idea what this person is talking about” during a meeting? Have you ever struggled to understand why internal teams butt heads and feel like they have to fight to get their point across even when working on the same project?
If so, you’ve likely been a victim of The Curse of Knowledge. Also known as the ‘Knowledge Gap’ this concept is a cognitive bias that occurs when an individual, communicating with other individuals, unknowingly assumes that the others have the background to understand.
This presentation will look to battle this curse with user research tactics, review empathetic methodologies, and review diplomatic approaches that allow teams to find balance, communicate efficiently, and decisively work together.
Key takeaways from the session:
This presentation will outline how to navigate past how we interact with individuals who exhibit behaviors of the Curse of Knowledge by covering a few basics to refocus communication and process:
Because “sense-making is foundational to IA” we’ll look at how to first recognize common signs that the Curse of Knowledge is present in teams/clients projects.
We’ll discuss how to use users research tactics within your own team with the intention of bridging varying knowledge gaps and focusing teams on core foundations for successful processes
Finally, speaking up is hard, so we’ll also outline empathetic procedures to streamline sensitive subjects and enhance communication meant to efficiently move through the timeline and process of a project
Paige DuPont is a Senior User Researcher at Ogilvy where she consults and executes numerous research initiatives for a variety of industries. In her previous role as IA and Researcher at Logic Department, she became a researcher with an eye for IA. Taking into account organization and structure rather than design-only solutions.
With a background in Economics, the balance of social science and business has always been an interest to Paige. She tackles challenges in a methodical and user-centered way that aims to teach both client and project team members that “anyone can be a researcher if you ask the right question.” She believes that to be efficient, research needs to be included in all phases of work as it has proven to produce efficient, logical and cohesive digital spaces.