Blog Post by Susan Stucky
mediaX Distinguished Visiting Scholar

For the first 60 years of digital technology, there have been two basic approaches in the world of work: automate what people do or augment people do. Over those decades, our understanding of human culture and biology has grown. The design and manufacture of technologies has likewise surpassed expectation. Even before the 2020 jolt to people’s lives and the global economy, there was a growing sense that these two worlds needed to work more synergistically for the benefit of humankind. This piece is an invitation to design from a different vantage point: how about designing for humans to work together with technology. Humans collaborating with robots to get something done. Cooperating with an automated editor to create an electronic medical record. Look around, this perspective is popping out all over. One form this can take is to view the interaction of humans and technology through the lens of a conversational protocol, a manner of interaction based on conversation, the most prevalent form of interaction the world has. It’s past time to leave technology to the technologists. It’s past time to change the patterns of interaction across the organization. It’s time to change the patterns of interaction organizations have with technology.

Read Susan’s full article in Global Focus Magazine.

Susan Stucky leverages strategy and implementation planning to develop new ways of working. The introduction of new technology or new processes disrupts current work practices in any organization. Too often new work practices are left to evolve on their own, resulting in ways of working that don’t align with strategic intent. Now there are principles, methods and yes, process, to help ensure successful adoption. These are based on several decades of experience in both large organizations and small. They are based on innovative perspectives such as design thinking, service-dominant logic and decades of experience in managing change.