Jennifer Lin

It was great to hear Robert Wong Julie Willem Angie McAllister, Ph.D. and Markus Kunesch on the recent episode of the @Ed-Technical podcast -- the first of a three-part series about how we're applying Google AI to our work in education and learning: https://lnkd.in/e7hQi6a2. This episode delves deep into LearnLM, how we're making Gemini tuned for pedagogy and how we're integrating this technology into our mainstream products to improve learning outcomes, and evolve how people learn on Google products. It explains inspiring new product ideas, and the steps we take across the company to understand and enhance the journey of learning in a responsible and innovative way. #LearnLM #AI #Education #Google

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I really enjoyed this thoughtful article by Dr. Alice Evans, a Visiting Fellow at Stanford, on how to design assessments that go beyond current AI capabilities, all while helping students develop AI-complementary skills. I love how the sample assessment questions Dr. Evans listed here all require deep understanding of course material, careful analysis, and creative thinking. It requires students to solve problems with reasoning that isn’t immediately obvious — a kind of lateral thinking that AI cannot do, but can help inspire and pushes them to think more deeply rather than as a replacement for thinking. Have you been redesigning your homework and assessment strategies in a way that encourages more critical thinking and creative problem-solving? I'd love to hear what’s been working for you.

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tl;dr - I have free time for good conversations; please reach out and connect. I miss you. Friends After much contemplation and soul-searching, I'm thrilled (and terrified) to share that I've decided to take a sabbatical from my role as a Principal User Experience Researcher. This decision wasn't made lightly, but it's the right step for my personal and professional growth. During this time off, I'll be immersing myself in various avenues of personal development. One area I'm passionate about is expanding our definition of inclusive design by researching how dyslexia impacts the UX design profession. Personal experience has shown me that we do little to truly support some of the best thinkers who are also neuro-divergent. It's a topic close to my heart, and I'm eager to delve deep into it. Additionally, I'll be venturing into new territories that nourish my soul. From exploring life coaching, diving into alternative dispute resolution through negotiation and mediation, and a recent discovery of the death doula practice. Exploring these areas will undoubtedly be a profound experience. Moreover, I'm dedicating part of my sabbatical to finding meaningful ways to give back to my community and loved ones. I'm committed to using my design skills and mindset to support the area I grew up in. Among many ways I hope to contribute, here are a few that seem exciting and fun: Giving local UX talks, pro-bono consulting for local businesses, and running improv workshops are all near to my heart. I'll take a three-month hiatus to fully immerse myself in these spaces and see where the journey takes me. While I'll miss the dynamic world of UX design and research, I'm excited for this period of self-discovery and growth. I extend my deepest gratitude to my community, colleagues, and mentors for your support and understanding. Your encouragement has been and will be invaluable. If anyone within my network shares similar interests or would like to connect on these topics, please don't hesitate to contact me. I welcome the opportunity to engage in insightful discussions and share experiences that will help nourish you and me.

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The main concern of a customer I spoke to recently is with the *bias* of AI 💡 Not with finding use cases for AI within the organization. And understandably so, if AI is not being governed and represented by humanity in its entirity. It is imperative that we govern and train AI to the best of our abilities when it comes to diversity and inclusion, and incept it with a diversity-first filter through which every chat, recommendation and suggestion is made. So it can be better than we are, and lead the way. #AI #Diversity

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I wrote this guide to AI for Chief Learning Officer Magazine (chieflearningofficer.com) in February of 2017. I concluded by saying ".... the pace of innovation and development is faster, and the implications more far-reaching, than most learning leaders realize." I think that's still true today. https://lnkd.in/euJxVQ2Y #clo #AI #ChiefLearningOfficer #l&D #enterpriselearning #learningmanagement

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🎧 New Episode Alert! 🎧 This week's episode of Unpacking Organizations features one of the biggest names in Organization Design - Amy Kates! Whether you're an executive, manager, consultant, or simply passionate about Org Design, you won't want to miss Amy (OD royalty 👸🏼) sharing her insights and experiences! #OrgDesign #OD #OPandA

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The article Clark references below does a great job of articulating the reasons for prototyping and its importance to innovation. Margot Brereton’s PhD (https://lnkd.in/g2PJFrzY) at Stanford’s Center for Design Research showed quantitatively that teams that rapidly move back and forth between conceptual design and physical prototypes outperform those that do less prototyping. Prototypes shouldn’t be viewed as the last thing you build before going into production, they need to be a tool to inform innovative thinking throughout the process. One thing missing from the article is a discussion of the different types of prototypes and the purpose each serves. (At Stanford we teach that these classifications include: critical function, critical experience, white horse, dark horse, funky-tional system, functional system, and public version #1.)

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I remember chatting with Steve Jobs when he would come to our office at IDEO with his most intractable design problems. He was so much more than the co-founder of Apple. He was the man who truly merged technology and design. The man who raised consumer expectations for thoughtfully made products. The man who gave users not what they asked for, but what upon seeing it, is what they wanted all along. His influence still looms large more than a dozen years after his passing. Even the staunchest critics of Apple can’t deny he helped shape the modern design and business world. We often ask: “What does it take to make the next Steve Jobs?” I interviewed dozens of designers, design scholars, entrepreneurs, and CEOs on the role of design in Silicon Valley. My research led me to identify five traits (what I call ‘Jobsian’ traits) that could shape the next great design-tech leader. If you want to be the next great leader in design-tech, this is *all* you need.

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[Professional Knowledge Engagement] Design as Creative Life In Jan 2023, I wrote a short note titled [CALL] Design as Creative Life. The subtitle of the note is "Designers' Subjective Experience and Project Engagement". The post initiated the  “Design as Creative Life” project. I used the following frameworks and tools for this project: The Creative Life Curation Framework https://lnkd.in/gaevF6Gi The “Kind of Project Engagement” Framework https://lnkd.in/ga4V-bsj The Thematic Journey Map https://lnkd.in/gsEyThGm This is a collaborative project. I need your help! We need at least 10 designers to share their real-life experiences with design projects. If you are a Designer, you are welcome to join the project and become a storyteller. The project is your stage for telling your creative life stories. You are expected to write your stories with many details such as your personal feeling, change of ideas, details of each iteration, arguments between you and others, etc. You are welcome to share supporting documents such as drafts, diagrams, notes, pictures, videos, etc. [CALL] Design as Creative Life https://lnkd.in/gnjRv5_B George Aye's story is a great example of the "Design as Creative Life" project. cc: George Aye: thank you for sharing your story! 5/26/2024 Oliver Ding Founder of CALL (Creative Action Learning Lab) https://lnkd.in/gB5vtBH6

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AI leaders have a crucial chance to address risks now and strengthen governance practices before playing catch-up to regulations, notes Kjell Carlsson, Ph.D. of Domino Data Lab. In a recent VentureBeat article, he shares his perspective on California's AI bill veto and why proactive governance is key to the future of AI innovation. Learn more about this addressing this opportunity: https://gag.gl/4WCTkP #AI #AIGovernance #AIInnovation #DataScience

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Interesting article on the challenges of implementing AI regulation within existing U.S. agencies: https://lnkd.in/gv7hKq-9 It’s going to be an interesting time for any company building or leveraging AI. The need to have strong yet flexible processes in place for AI governance is becoming critical.

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Today on Design Better, we speak with Carissa Carter and Scott Doorley about their new book, Assembling Tomorrow, one of the The Stanford d.school's newest publications. Aarron Walter and I learn why they wrote the book, and how we might rethink our design processes in light of the rapid changes brought on by AI. We also discuss how we can shift our thinking from short-term gains to look at our moment in time from a broader perspective. Find the episode here (or wherever you get your pods) 🎧 https://lnkd.in/gxSnKrDG

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Eight years ago, Ruthie Musker and I had the fortune to have a great conversation with Stanley Wood at the Gates Foundation about the challenges around access to research and development data. At the height of what might now be seen as #opendata hype, the question seemed to not be whether the idea of increasing access to data was a good thing, but how to do it. The major funders of agricultural development research were frankly confused. Many firmly said they wanted to support grantees to better manage and share their data, but messages were very mixed. The FAIR data principles were emerging at the same time but seemed too mechanistic on their own. Where was the human perspective? Where the understanding of how networks work and the value of co-creation? Ruthie and Fiona Smith examined this confusion in a great policy analysis report and in a follow up Stan introduced us to Christian Witt at the foundation. He wanted support to understanding why data wasn’t being shared in some key digital farmer services investments. From 2018 we worked with partners ODI, foundation investments across Africa and South Asia building understanding of what works. Engaging especially in Ethiopia with colleagues Negussie Efa and Mike Rose, GiZ, government, researchers from the CGIAR, and a coalition of willing soil and agronomy data sharers helped firm up our understanding of what could work, and highlighted the value of understanding relationships, institutional culture and policy. From 2020 Tuu-Van Nguyen at the foundation helped us plan for how we might take these insights to scale. In the past couple of years we’ve been working with Jessica Cagley and with the support of Margarita Aswani to move to mainstream insights at the foundation; to boil down that understanding of what is effective into actionable advice. Based on the idea that support to achieve effective data management and sharing needs to be made as simple as possible and that tools need to be embedded in grantmaking processes and real-world context the team guided by Chipo Msengezi in the UK, helped turn the theoretical into the eminently practical tools of the FAIR Process toolkit https://lnkd.in/ehFccRRn The Framework, launched this week, provides a comprehensive suite of tools to support the implementation of FAIR principles across data-rich AgDev projects. This framework is designed to help unlock the full potential of agricultural data, advancing the Gates Foundation’s Open Access commitments to promote data availability, usability, and accessibility. #FAIRdata #OpenAccess #OpenScience #Agriculture #HCD #Systems Leigh Dodds Deborah Yates Ameen Jauhar Cambria Finegold Gary Pitts Melissa Allan Gideon Abegunrin Boma Beddie-Memberr Charlotte Day Henry Mibei Derek Scuffell Alec Griffiths Medha Devare Teklu Erkossa Jijo Akanksha Nagpal Thomas Chaloner, PhD Kathryn Reynolds Dannie Romney Richard Shaw Jaron Porciello On Ki L. Arun Jadhav Ashitha Ganapathy Ashley Farley Lucy Brett

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Laura Klein’s talk: why a variety of research methods are essential for understanding customers and the market holistically. 💡 Segmenting data and examining diverse metrics allow us to capture the full story of what’s really happening, but, most importantly, there’s no substitute for directly listening to our users to learn about their true needs and behaviors. Insights we can’t find in data alone! She highlights 7 frequent mistakes in product / UXR we’ve likely all seen: ❌ MISTAKE #1: Always doing the same kind of research (commonly prototype testing or A/B testing) ❌ MISTAKE #2: A/B testing absolutely everything ❌ MISTAKE #3: Confusing qualitative and quantitative methodologies ❌ MISTAKE #4: Learning from the wrong people ❌ MISTAKE #5: Looking at aggregate data rather than segmented ❌ MISTAKE #6: Only looking at one metric ❌ MISTAKE #7: Not doing any research at all Each of these can skew our understanding, limit innovation, and ultimately miss the mark on delivering value. 📈 👉 Overall, by combining quantitative analytics with qualitative research, you can gain a full picture, understanding the 'what' + 'why' and make user-driven decisions Lean Product Meetup #ProductManagement #UXResearch #CustomerInsights

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A really practical guide to LLMs is now available! Learn what to do, what to avoid, from prompting to RAG, to fine-tuning, and evaluation. Definitively worth reading. https://lnkd.in/dCC6uKjs

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Everyone interested in algorithmic #creativity should be reading Ted Chiang's excellent overview from the New Yorker. While I think there's more to the discussion, his thinking is clear and helpful in discussing how we consider art and the production of content. #artificialintelligence #AIandcreativity

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Building regulation around AI requires a conversation that supports both innovation and responsibility. I'm happy to see that bills are being drafted and vetoed—it's a process we go through to make things better. I just hope this is a trend that leads towards more bills being presented and more discourse being had in public about this important topic. At the same time, the tech industry needs to think responsibly about guardrails. It's why I'm optimistic about companies like meetsynthia.ai and Squirro who are building real-world solutions today to help organizations leverage Generative AI solutions today while maintaining responsible guardrails. Drew Rayman

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