# How to lead in a time of seismic change — MC Monsalve — session 2026-08-27T02:00:00.000Z → 2026-08-27T02:30:00.000Z _487 transcript lines · 96 slides_ ## Transcript of themselves with their coffee, which is also wild. And then while I was sort of out there, three people almost got hit by cars standing in the middle of that laneway taking selfies. So, I hope their insurance is good, but anyway. We don't have to worry about that, do we? Look, it's my pleasure to introduce somebody, I've known for a a few years now and an admirer of her work. Finds herself now at the ABC, talking to us today about leadership through uncertainty and change. Which is relevant Call it relevant. Yes. Please join me in welcoming emcee to the stage. Thank you. So people have said, no, you cannot be nervous. And Okay. I can't hear you. Can't hear me. Well, that's good. Do we need to think you can hear me now. Now we can. Yeah. I know it might be that. Oh. Sorry. I'm sorry. Okay. Sorry. I think it's on. Oh, it's on. It's on. It's working? Alright. Good. As you love this. Hi, everybody. So I'm gonna make a bold statement and say that design is in its main character era. So Steve has already explained who I am. And so I guess I'll just jump to the paragraph which says, I'm here today to talk to you about how I've been leading my wonderful exceptional team at the ABC through the seismic change that we are all witnessing across our field, because of the latest expressions of AI. My talk today is specifically about my team, and what we are up to. And it's not more broadly about the ABC or AI. Just in case there's any journalists in the room. Okay. So I'd like everyone to kind of cast their minds back to when playing snake on your phone was the most exciting thing that it could do. Like this global boot. Okay. So when it was when it was the most exciting thing you could do, I remember having a Nokia. I remember playing Snake and I really love it. And actually, really do think that it is the one game that we should all still have. It was the only thing that we could do on our phone other than making phone calls. And the point of this is I don't think our profession has had as a huge amount of disruption since the introduction of mobiles. Mobile phones and responsive design. It was a hugely disruptive period. We had conferences about it. I'm pretty sure we had lots of UX Australia conferences about it. We had workshops about it. It was something that we all had to kind of upskill. Particularly in things like accessibility. At the time, it felt revolutionary. It felt exciting. And it also felt kind of bonkers that we would ever use our mobile phones for anything other than plain snake and making phone calls. I was working in finance at the time, and a good friend of mine said to me, one day you're gonna do all your mobile banking on your phone. And I thought he was wild. But just like mobiles and having the impact and the impact of having that power in our pocket has changed the way we design, has changed the way we live. Is what it is. It isn't something that we challenge. We've adapted. We've reinvented. And our lives have moved on. The difference between that time and this time is that there is a notion that AI is kind of democratizing product development. Coders can be designers. Designers can be coders. Coders and product management Well, they can do it all. But that is not true. It's a terrible simplification of where we're up to specifically at the ABC and it's very reductive to the practice what the practices bring. I personally think that this time is elevating the need for designers more than ever before. As my daughter would say, design is is now a main character. Because when almost anything can be made, the real question becomes, what should we make and why? So today, I'm here to talk to you about the introduction of this new tech and how it feels like something we've been through before and how we're facing it within my team, front on and practically. I'm not sure what types of questions you've all been faced with over the last two years from your staff. The questions that you've asked yourself. But these are some of the things that I've been asked. What are we supposed to be experts at? Happens if we get it wrong? Will AI make us better designers? What should I protect? What will will it make us faster? What parts of our craft are going to be eroded? We parts of our craft are gonna be enhanced? What happens if design as we know it dies? What my team was really asking me is, emcee, what is gonna happen to us? There started to be discussions around how instead of having teams of people, that product development would look like this. You just put some things in a chat box, It would turn it into code and suddenly, we would have the live product. I don't know how you all felt when you first started to see VO, but this stuff started to really really kind of come at the core of people. And again, it reminded me of another time. Google Sprints came about. I don't know how you all thought about Google Sprints, but the idea that anyone could make anything within three days That rhetoric went around where I worked for a really long time. Again, it was that whole disruption of what design brings. So no matter what the questions were and no matter how we I tried to address the concerns, more would come because the questions were a symptom of a much larger question. What is gonna happen? And the last time I was faced with that question, and they need to answer it but with no idea how to answer it, when COVID arrived. And my staff, all of us, everyone in this room were all sent to work from home. And, you know, sometimes not with the tools we needed. I remember how we initially addressed it. We just kept working. And for those who've got kids, we just kept working and we also taught our kids syllabus. So daughter's math has never ever ever improved. And then something changed. We realized that this was a huge event. We actually needed to stop and we needed to talk about how we were feeling. So we changed our weeks to suit the environment we were in. At that at the time, that looked like daily check ins in the morning, At the peak of COVID, that was daily check ins in the morning and afternoon. And then we had things like online quizzes and we introduced things like Friday night drinks and all of that. We did it all online. Things have changed since then. We've evolved. I'm really lucky that we've kept some of those things at the ABC. I get to work from where I what love to work. I get to work from home. And some things were let we have let go of. Which I'm also pleased about because I hated online quizzes. So But it was a really safe space to explore new ways of working. And so connecting that mobile's COVID AI I like a good analogy. We're in a time of change where no one knows the answer. But whatever it is, it's changing our tooling. It's changing the ways of working. It's happening in real time. And I believe we need to solve it with humanity. What I was actually more worried about was my team. I was worried about the change curve of learning new tech whilst people were already under the pump. AI didn't come and then road maps stopped. AI came and our road maps are still there. That people in the team were adopting AI at various levels and speed. That resistance was coming from a place of fear. And that there was a potential of going back to the era of the unicorn. There was a real big fear that all of our jobs were coming to an end in real time. So a team that was once spiraling Now Sorry. One a team that was once aligned now felt like it was spiraling. And there was a real moment where, December last year, I was like, well, I just get everybody to just use AI and make them do it and get them to put it into their job plans that they're using AI. And I had to stop myself. And it was like, okay. That's not gonna work. That's not gonna solve anything. So instead of mandating the tools and creating rules and actually forcing people to do it, I had a moment where I was like, no. We're gonna actually I'm gonna just the things that I can control is I can create space. I can create focus time. And I can let the team decide how they're gonna use it. So in January this year, looked at that change. Instead of resisting what might happen, it was time to take the bull by the horns and understand what AI was gonna give us and how we could leverage that and be clear about what we bring and what we wanna continue to bring to the table a space and time where we're getting to actually control these new ways of working. The first step was to stop and regroup. First is the design LT, and then as a design team. We needed to shift the needle from fear and fearless to something that was more galvanized. Less the hero's journey and a lot more like band of brothers. So we created many spaces for the team to give us feedback about how they're feeling. The team is a team of 30. So it's not just a small team. It's quite a large team and everybody's kind of dispersed. So firstly, we did that in surveys. Then we had an in person session, which we called a campfire session. And this was really important because this session wasn't recorded, it wasn't transcribed, and it wasn't shared. So And then we also then had lots of one on one conversations. From there, as a design OT, we use this information to create these working group focus areas. A research focus area, a design and systems component working area, and a strategic and conceptual design working area. The first part of this journey, very stock standard discovery process. And from there, the as a as from there, the design LT, we create a direction. And then we have the wonderful Mina who is shaping us to follow a process. And to make life simpler in this journey, we've agreed to inherit the ABC AI principles as our building blocks. And just for ref they they are. To help guide the work, as I mentioned, Mina gave us a shared discovery process for all the three working to use. This is the process. The process moves us from foundations to applied experiments to integrating successful practices into our design practice and finally into a sustainable operating model. Right now, we're at the applied experiments phase, and I'll walk you through what that looks like for each group in a moment. So the process itself isn't the most important thing. What is be the most important thing is that the team is staying connected. We have a shared cadence of fortnightly working group sessions. We use the common discovery process and everybody follows that. And we also have monthly playback so that the broader team gets is informed of what we're working on. That means that we're learning together. We're sharing what's working. We're sharing what's not working. And no one team straight goes too far and no one gets left behind. For me, the most important thing is that I'm starting to see people going from this like individual uncertainty and, nervousness into being a space that they've got collective exploration. So taking you to through each of the working groups. The first working group is the research working group. Their goal is to improve how research is safely captured synthesized, stored, reused, and applied to decisions with clear principles that follow and workflows and clear principles, workflows, and human oversight. The research working group is exploring how AI can reduce the administrative overhead of research without diminishing the intellectual rigor behind it. One area they're exploring is AI assisted synthesis. And then try the most important thing here is they're not going they're not they're looking at ways to make sure that we're not offloading synthesis to AI. Again, that's critical because I just you just see it happening so often. And it's terrible. So the goal is to use AI to help with some of the more manual tasks like organizing notes, structuring evidence and connect collect connecting themes. So researchers can spend more time doing the things that are unique uniquely skilled at, interpretation, sense making, and exercising judgment. They're also exploring what a research repository could look like. We face the challenge that everybody in this room faces. We have research everywhere, and we really wanna make create a space and be able to use AI to help make those repositories actually stay alive and for us to be able to find that research more easily. And finally, they're exploring how research insights can become become a context layer for AI enabled design systems. Helping ensure that future design decisions are grounded in real audience evidence rather than just assumptions. The next working group is the design systems working group. And their goal is really around how to improve design system consistency, scalability, component quality, developer hand off, and AI readiness across platforms. The design systems working group is tackling the challenge that I suspect many of you have in the room. Our design system knowledge is everywhere. It's in Figma. It's in Confluence. It's in Storybook. It's in GitLab. It it and a whole bunch of other places In people's minds, it's everywhere. The result is duplication, inconsistency, and a lot of effort to spend keeping everything in sync. What the team is exploring is whether AI can help us create a single knowledge layer across all of those systems. Instead of people manually updating documentation in multiple places and hunting for differences, could AI help us identify those changes and propose updates and then just have a human review and approve those changes? The vision is a living ecosystem. One where design systems stay connected current, and much easier to maintain. The second area that they're looking at is exploring what an AI fluid design system might look like. Not just a design system for humans, but a design system that AI can understand as well. So how do we structure our documentation and components so that AI can generate work that's aligned to our standards, patterns, and ways of working from the start? This is something that we're still exploring and it's really fascinating and I I look forward to presenting at another talk. Actually, it'll be Simon and his team. And then the third working group is a strategic and conceptual design working group. Their goal is to use AI to strengthen con concept concept generation and prototype in narrative framing and stakeholder alignment. While ensuring concepts are grounded in real evidence and critical design thinking. They're looking at three areas. The first is the maker, How AI can help us create richer, more tangible concepts and prototypes that allow us test ideas earlier with greater realism. The second is aspiring partner. Exploring how AI can help support synthesis challenge our thinking, and help us connect ideas without replacing human judgment. And the third is the challenger where AI deliver We devil's advocate. Helping us to surface blind spots, risks and opportunities to see what we ever missed. Now all of the teams have are working with very common themes. Human judgment remains essential. Guardrails and principles are needed. Tully needs to be evaluated intentionally and cross functional collaboration is critical. So after setting up those working groups, the question becomes, happens when we actually put this way of working into practice? This is where the approach starts to become tangible. At the ABC, our product is our content. Of the challenges we're testing new content experiences with our audience is if people don't connect with the content they're looking at, they can only suspend disbelief for so long. Eventually, the feedback becomes about the content and not the experience you're trying to test. So we asked, how can we make prototypes feel more like the products we're actually trying to evaluate? At the same at the same time, we're also exploring the more broader question which is, does a personalized what does a personalized experience actually mean? We should be personalized and when? Through an AI prototype hackathon with engineers and designers, we built digital twins of our three flagship products in days rather than months. Using Figma make and Claude Code, we connected these prototypes to make real content collections and created personalized home page experiences that responded to audience preferences and behaviors in real time. That meant we could test dynamic personalization concepts before making major engine veterinarian investments. You told me we could do this two years ago, again, I'd say there's no way. We also tested this approach on eye view. What you're seeing is a homepage that adapts to the individual. As people move through these onboard through the onboarding, we're able to explore different recommendation models understand how genre preferences might influence navigation, change the order of content selections, highlight live and low local content that is most relevant to them, and surface different content based off their interest and behaviors. All in a prototype. What surprised the team through this process was how AI didn't diminish the role of design. Actually expanded it. Decisions and conversations that usually take place at the technical discussions much closer to implementation were unpacked early, earlier with feedback from the audience who could see and feel the implications. Conversations such as which degree of personalization is too far in news, When refreshing collections, what is a sweet spot between flooding the feed and being too cautious? In the context of the ABC where trust is paramount, being able to test these concepts with low stakes and high fidelity means we can navigate these complex spaces with humanity and care. Again, the break breakthrough here isn't just a prototype. It was the ability to test genuine personalized experiences with audiences before committing to a single before committing two significant engineering effort. And instead of people asking us, instead of saying to people, please, imagine what this feels like, we can now put it in front of them and observe their reactions in real time. All of this was made possible through a combination of Figma make and Core Code. Not really. It only happened because the team specifically Manon and Danny, saw the opportunity to lean in and because we'd created the space for it to happen. So saying all of that, is with these informed perspectives, we've started to incorporate AI in both our conceptual design work as well as our audience facing features. I'm now gonna show you how we use AI to help us create something to leverage content in new ways. But before I do, I do really wanna stress that trust is paramount at the ABC. Especially in news, but across every single division. Wanna do the right thing. We take our role and obligations to Australians seriously. So with that in mind. Another team has tackled something, very different. Long standing problem that we have. Regional reporters produce trusted journalism every day for radio audiences. But what about the people who don't listen to the radio? What about the people who just read their news? The question wasn't how to create more journalism It was how to help existing journalism reach more people without asking already stretched teams to do everything twice. The result is ABC Assist, an AI assisted workflow that brings that helps to convert verified local radio journalism into digital briefings. Journalists still review and edit and approve every story. The AI isn't replacing the journalism. It simply helps to extend its reach. No new roles. No replacements. Just a practical application of AI that helps us to get more journalism to find its audience. So what have we learned? When we look about on what the biggest difference, it hasn't been the prototypes, it hasn't been the tools. It was creating the conditions for the team to explore together. We started with people not technology. We created safe spaces for discussion agreed on principles early, gave ownership to the team, and focused on practical experiments. Most importantly, we hope we share what we are learning as we go. And we also have Mina keeping us on track. The goal remain The goal still remains. We're not looking for one answer. The goal continues to be to build confidence through exploration. Leverage where AI where we want to. Six months ago, people asking whether AI would replace them. Today, they're bringing experiments, ideas, and opportunities back to the team. Have moved from a place where there was a lot of fear to a place where there's lots of curiosity. Where people had individual anxiety to this collective exploration, people were looking to me for answers, now they're running their own experiments. Where AI was happening to us and it was quite a negative thing. To shaping what happens and how we are gonna embrace AI. So what does the future hold for design? I believe it is bright for us. In a world where everything is gonna be made more possible, easier to implement and road map are gonna be formulated with the click of a button or a chat prompt. Able to make sense make sense make and story tell has never been more important. Being able to hold of perspective grounded in real insight to have designs that are being formulated, tweaked, and iterated based off real research, and having the ability to tell a room why this versus something that lacks genuine insight is the right choice is something that we have been doing our entire careers. Some steps are gonna get easier for sure. Upskilling just like when the mobile came out is a non negotiable. So Being clear about where AI fits into our world and being open and not denying it is key. Whilst the UI Utopian product pipeline may still come, I'm less scared of this future. Twenty years ago, we learned how to design for mobile. A few years ago, we learned how to lead through a global pandemic. I mean, I words I'd never thought I would say. And today, we're learning how to work alongside AI. And just like every major shift before it, the tools will continue to change The workflows will continue to change. Parts of our craft will get faster. Some will feel uncomfortable. Some already do feel uncomfortable. But the thing that won't change is our responsibility to understand people, make sense of complexity, and help organizations make better decisions. We are still gonna be the advocates for humans. That is what designers have always done. And do I think I've solved it? Not a chance. But my team is more curious, they're more galvanized, and they're more prepared. And honestly, I really do think that's enough. Thanks y'all. Thank you. My pleasure. But like a perimenopausal hot flash through the middle of that which was very enjoyable. There you go. Have some water. Take a moment. Sorry for the overshare. No. That's good. Take a moment. Does anyone have a question for emcee? If it's about the hot flash, that can wait. Okay. Do that one later. But if it's about AI leadership and change, let's take that one now. Yes, we'll get a microphone just here for you, if that's right. Sorry? Yeah. You're right. Come over. Tell me what's happening. Come and join me over here. We'll get the question. I've left my mobile over there. Thank you so much. That was incredible. My question is around how you you said you built time in for play and practice, and I'd love to hear, like, what that practically looks like for busy teams with BAU. So I'm very fortunate that my boss, Joel, he running the, digital products area within ABC. He understands that AI is coming into our world. And so it was very easy for me to ask him for a couple of hours, half a day, for the team to lean into it. So, yeah, I've been very lucky that I've been supported in that way. But I'd say on the flip side, if we don't lean into it, then we will lose people. Because they'll either upskill in a way and go somewhere else, or we'll have atrophy or we won't be able to, like, we won't be able we'll have like people not wanting to come to us because we just don't know what we're doing. So yeah, really lucky to have Joel supporting us. What does that look like practically? From him? So what does that support from him look like? That was just a Slack message and I said, may the team have time every week And he said, yes. And so then but I mean in practicality Slow down emcee, slow down talk me through that again. So one day, I got to work but what it means practically is that every working group has a cadence in their diary and they've got meetings in their diary that they attend. And I and I skipped over it because I just couldn't I just lost my bearing. But everybody had to self select into a team. There was no no opting out. And then we have each of the working groups have, leaders. Those leaders have set up meetings. And if they don't do what they're told, then mean a crack sweep and but we I think the thing is that we have rituals in. And we have playbacks in and everybody wants to come and listen to other people and hear what other groups are up to. And so then I think the teams have just kind of self organized because they don't wanna let the rest of the teams down. I think there's a lot of that, was thinking about the first talk and it's about participatory design and that's kind of what we've done and the team have all lent in. So, yeah. That's awesome. Please join me in thanking MC. Alright. Ready? Excellent. And next week this morning is, no, it's afternoon, geez. Emma Buckland, who's an independent mobile UX designer, researcher, leader Bit of everything. Person, one of those all up things. He's gonna talk to us today, about mobility UX, has spent a number of years at Australian Super, very large, very complex environment, helping them deliver their mobility solutions. So please join me in welcoming Emma to the stage. Thank you. Okay. Hey, thank you very much to everybody and also to the people online. I wanna start with something that actually happened to a friend of mine a while ago. And when he told me about it, it seemed like a pretty ordinary story, but I kept coming back to it. So, he was sitting in a busy doctor's studio doctor's waiting room with his daughter. It was the last day of the financial year, and his accountant had told him if he was going to transfer his shares, today was the day. So while they were waiting, he thought, well, I'll just get this done. So he opened the trading app, and it asked for his password, and he hasn't been into the trading app that often. He'd forgotten it. Face ID didn't work because he was wearing his sunglasses, so he took them off. And he heard what he thought was his name being called. He looked up. No. Was someone else. So back to the screen. Eventually, he was in. He started entering the transaction. Then he realized he needed to check the current market price, so he switched over to Google checked the figures, back to the trading app, reentered the numbers, and then his daughter tapped him on the arm. Hey, dad. Look at this. He leant over, looked at her Instagram stream. Someone at reception started arguing loudly. Then he heard another name called, and he looked up No, not his. And he looked back at his phone. And his thumb was hovering over submit. And suddenly, he didn't trust himself anymore. Not did I make a mistake, but have I made a mistake? So, he went back. He checked every number, He compared them again. He switched back to Google, checked the market price, read everything a second time, and eventually, he locked his phone and put it in his pocket. He thought, you know what, I'll finish this later when I can focus. But later would be after 4PM. And he'd miss that day's trading rate. He hadn't entered the wrong amount, He hadn't pressed the wrong button. In fact, he'd stop precisely because he wasn't confident. ## Slides ### 00:00:11 ## LEADING A DESIGN TEAM THROUGH AI, UNCERTAINTY AND CHANGE [Partial radar chart or spider web diagram with radiating lines] ### 00:00:34 ## DESIGN IS IN ITS MAIN CHARACTER ERA ### LEADING A DESIGN TEAM THROUGH AI, UNCERTAINTY AND CHANGE [Illustration of a person standing on a stage next to a potted plant in a room] ### 00:00:47 # DESIGN IS IN ITS MAIN CHARACTER ERA LEADING A DESIGN TEAM THROUGH AI, UNCERTAINTY AND CHANGE MC [Abstract geometric pattern of an orange square divided into radiating triangular segments] ### 00:01:08 # DESIGN IS IN ITS MAIN CHARACTER ERA ## LEADING A DESIGN TEAM THROUGH AI, UNCERTAINTY AND CHANGE MC [Abstract geometric design with an orange square divided into triangular segments by lines radiating from the center] ### 00:01:29 # ...WHO AM I? [Geometric sunburst pattern on the left side of the slide] ### 00:01:48 # ...WHO AM I? Glad you asked. [Geometric pattern on the left side of the slide] ### 00:01:51 # ...WHO AM I? Glad you asked. [Abstract line art resembling a sunburst pattern on the left side of the slide] ### 00:02:11 # HELLO? IT'S FOR YOU. [Illustration of a Nokia phone playing the game Snake] ### 00:02:32 ## HELLO? IT'S FOR YOU. [Illustration of a Nokia 3310 phone playing the Snake game] ### 00:02:47 ## HELLO? IT'S FOR YOU. [Illustration of a Nokia 3310 phone with the game Snake displayed on its screen] ### 00:03:07 ## HELLO? IT'S FOR YOU. [Illustration of an old Nokia phone (Nokia 3310) with the game Snake on its screen] ### 00:03:28 ## HELLO? IT'S FOR YOU. [Illustration of a vintage Nokia phone displaying the game Snake on its screen] ### 00:03:46 ## HELLO? IT'S FOR YOU. [Illustration of an old Nokia phone (model 3310 or similar) with the game Snake displayed on its screen] ### 00:03:49 # HELLO? IT'S FOR YOU. [Illustration of a vintage Nokia phone (model 3310) with the game Snake displayed on its screen] ### 00:04:09 # QUESTION BECOMES: WHAT SHOULD WE MAKE, AND WHY [Geometric design with radiating lines on the left side of the slide] ### 00:04:30 ### AI ARRIVED AND **QUESTIONS** ARRIVED TOO ### 00:04:47 # AI ARRIVED AND QUESTIONS ARRIVED TOO - What are we supposed to be experts at? - Will it make us faster? - What parts of our craft are being eroded? - What happens if we get it wrong? - What should we protect? - What should I encourage? - What happens if design, as we know it dies? - Will AI make us better designers? - What parts of the craft will be enhanced? [Nine speech bubbles containing questions about AI's impact on design] ### 00:04:51 # AI ARRIVED AND QUESTIONS ARRIVED TOO - What are we supposed to be experts at? - Will it make us faster? - What parts of our craft are being eroded? - What happens if we get it wrong? - What should we protect? - What should I encourage? - What happens if design, as we know it dies? - Will AI make us better designers? - What parts of the craft will be enhanced? [Nine speech bubbles containing questions about AI's impact on design] ### 00:05:13 # Utopian AI Product Development [Diagram showing a process flow: three red squares feeding into a funnel, followed by a red diamond with a question mark, a red diamond with an exclamation mark, two overlapping speech bubbles, a red square labeled `', which leads via an arrow to a red square labeled 'LIVE PRODUCT'.] ### 00:05:47 ## UTOPIAN AI PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT [Diagram illustrating a product development flow: two red diamond shapes (one with a question mark, one with an exclamation mark), followed by two speech bubble icons, then a funnel with three red squares above it, leading to a red square labeled "", which points via an arrow to a red square labeled "LIVE PRODUCT".] ### 00:06:09 ## ...WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN... [Geometric design with radiating lines on the left side of the slide] ### 00:06:31 # ...WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN... [Bright orange slide with a geometric sunburst pattern on the left and the number 8 in the bottom left corner] ### 00:06:47 # ...WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN... [Geometric sunburst pattern on the left side of the slide] ### 00:06:51 # ...WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN... [Geometric pattern with radiating lines] ### 00:07:14 ### ...WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN... [Geometric pattern resembling a radiating fan on the left side of the slide] ### 00:07:38 ## WHAT I WAS ACTUALLY MORE WORRIED ABOUT - My team - The change curve of learning new tech whilst we are already under the pump - People were adopting AI at various levels - People's resistance was coming from a place of fear - There was a potential that we were going to go back to the era of the Unicorn. - Fear that our jobs are coming to an end ### 00:08:04 ## WHAT I WAS ACTUALLY MORE WORRIED ABOUT - My team - The change curve of learning new tech whilst we are already under the pump - People were adopting AI at various levels - People's resistance was coming from a place of fear - There was a potential that we were going to go back to the era of the Unicorn. - Fear that our jobs are coming to an end ### 00:08:25 # A TEAM WHO WAS ONCE ALIGNED FELT LIKE IT WAS SPIRALING ## INSTEAD OF: - Mandating tools - Creating top-down rules - Forcing change ## I DECIDED TO: - Create space. - Create focus time. - Let the team decide. ### 00:08:46 # A TEAM WHO WAS ONCE ALIGNED FELT LIKE IT WAS SPIRALING ### INSTEAD OF: - Mandating tools - Creating top-down rules - Forcing change ### I DECIDED TO: - Create space. - Create focus time. - Let the team decide. ### 00:09:07 # SHOW AND TELL ## TEAM WORKING GROUPS [Orange slide with a vertical graphic on the left featuring a starburst pattern] ### 00:09:29 # SHOW AND TELL ## TEAM WORKING GROUPS [Geometric design with radiating lines on the left side of the slide] ### 00:09:47 # SHOW AND TELL ## TEAM WORKING GROUPS [Geometric pattern of radiating lines on the left side of the slide] ### 00:09:51 # SHOW AND TELL ## TEAM WORKING GROUPS [Geometric pattern of radiating lines on the left side of the slide] ### 00:10:13 ## WORKING GROUPS - RESEARCH - DESIGN SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS - STRATEGIC AND CONCEPTUAL DESIGN [Icon of a magnifying glass next to "RESEARCH"] [Icon of a gear inside a box with connection points next to "DESIGN SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS"] [Icon of a magic hat with rabbit ears popping out next to "STRATEGIC AND CONCEPTUAL DESIGN"] ### 00:10:34 ## ABC AI PRINCIPLES ### **SERVING AUDIENCES** We will use AI tools to strengthen the public media services we provide to audiences and meet evolving audience expectations. ### **ENHANCING QUALITY** We will use AI to enhance, not substitute for, the creativity, expertise and editorial judgment of our staff. AI will not be used to produce content in ways that diminish the quality, distinctiveness or editorial value audiences expect from the ABC. ### **HUMAN OVERSIGHT** We will ensure that our staff are accountable for any use of AI technologies, including in content-making, operational and internal contexts. Human editorial oversight is especially important for news, information and factual content, where accuracy is paramount. ### **OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY** We will be open with audiences about our use of AI when it could materially affect their understanding of the content we provide. ### **ALGORITHMIC FAIRNESS** We will seek to use AI systems and data that do not disadvantage individuals or groups. We will avoid or take steps to mitigate AI systems that reflect stereotypes or biases. ### **RESPECTING CREATORS' RIGHTS** We will always consider the rights of creators and rights-holders when using AI. We will protect our rights in the works that ABC staff create. ### 00:10:47 # Timeline **MAY** ### Phase 1: **Foundations** - Refine the purpose and scope of each working group - Understand relevant industry practice - Identify how CoPilot, Figma Make and other tools could support ABC design workflows. ### Phase 2: **Applied Experiments** - Move from research and prompt discovery into structured experiments using real design work. - This phase should produce practical evidence of what works and what doesn't **DEC** ### Phase 3: **Design practice integration** - Embed successful AI practices into day-to-day design work. - This is where we shift from: 'interesting experiments' to 'this is how we work' ### Phase 4: **Mature sustainability** - Create a sustainable operating model that keeps the design team current, improves over time, and shares the team's work more broadly. - This phase should reflect what is already feasible and realistic [Timeline graphic showing progression from May to December, with four phases] [BBC logo] ### 00:11:09 # Timeline ## Phase 1: Foundations - Refine the purpose and scope of each working group - Understand relevant industry practice - Identify how CoPilot, Figma Make and other tools could support ABC design workflows. ## Phase 2: Applied Experiments - Move from research and prompt discovery into structured experiments using real design work. - This phase should produce practical evidence of what works and what doesn't ## Phase 3: Design practice integration - Embed successful AI practices into day-to-day design work. - This is where we shift from: 'interesting experiments' to 'this is how we work' ## Phase 4: Mature sustainability - Create a sustainable operating model that keeps the design team current, improves over time, and shares the team's work more broadly. - This phase should reflect what is already feasible and realistic [Timeline diagram showing four phases from May to December] ### 00:11:32 # Timeline ### Phase 1: **Foundations** - Refine the purpose and scope of each working group - Understand relevant industry practice - Identify how CoPilot, Figma Make and other ### 00:11:48 # RESEARCH GOAL: Improve how research is safely captured, synthesised, stored, reused and applied to decisions, with clear principles, workflows and human oversight. Three focus areas: - Interview synthesis - Research Repository - Research informed Design System [Stylized illustration of a microscope and stacked books] ### 00:12:09 ## RESEARCH GOAL: Improve how research is safely captured, synthesised, stored, reused and applied to decisions, with clear principles, workflows and human oversight. Three focus areas: - Interview synthesis - Research Repository - Research informed Design System [Illustration of a microscope, stacked books, and DNA strands, representing research] ### 00:12:32 ## **RESEARCH** GOAL: Improve how research is safely captured, synthesised, stored, reused and applied to decisions, with clear principles, workflows and human oversight. Three focus areas: - Interview synthesis - Research Repository - Research informed Design System [Illustration of a stylized microscope with a stack of books on top, against an orange background] ### 00:12:48 ## RESEARCH GOAL: Improve how research is safely captured, synthesised, stored, reused and applied to decisions, with clear principles, workflows and human oversight. Three focus areas: - Interview synthesis - Research Repository - Research informed Design System [Illustration of a microscope with books stacked on top and a DNA-like structure] ### 00:12:52 ## RESEARCH GOAL: Improve how research is safely captured, synthesised, stored, reused and applied to decisions, with clear principles, workflows and human oversight. Three focus areas: - Interview synthesis - Research Repository - Research informed Design System [Illustration of a microscope with books stacked on top and a DNA-like structure] ### 00:13:13 # RESEARCH GOAL: Improve how research is safely captured, synthesised, stored, reused and applied to decisions, with clear principles, workflows and human oversight. Three focus areas: - Interview synthesis - Research Repository - Research informed Design System [Illustration of a microscope, a stack of books, and abstract patterns, symbolizing research] ### 00:13:36 # DESIGN SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS GOAL: Improve design system consistency, scalability, component quality, developer handoff and AI-readiness across platforms. Three focus areas: - Design Systems Knowledge ### 00:13:47 ## DESIGN SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS GOAL: Improve design system consistency, scalability, component quality, developer handoff and AI-readiness across platforms. Three focus areas: - Design Systems Knowledge hub - AI Fluent Design System [Illustration of a stylized, mechanical device with a glowing orb and a small tree growing from it] ### 00:14:08 ## DESIGN SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS GOAL: Improve design system consistency, scalability, component quality, developer handoff and AI-readiness across platforms. Three focus areas: - Design Systems Knowledge hub - AI Fluent Design System [Illustration of a stylized, mechanical structure with a glowing orb and a small tree branch] ### 00:14:30 ## DESIGN SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS GOAL: Improve design system consistency, scalability, component quality, developer handoff and AI-readiness across platforms. Three focus areas: - Design Systems Knowledge hub - AI Fluent Design System [Illustration of a complex, mechanical device with a central glowing orb and a small tree branch, on an orange background] ### 00:14:48 # DESIGN SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS GOAL: Improve design system consistency, scalability, component quality, developer handoff and AI-readiness across platforms. Three focus areas: - Design Systems Knowledge hub - AI Fluent Design System [Illustration of a stylized machine with a glowing orb and a small tree] ### 00:14:50 # DESIGN SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS GOAL: Improve design system consistency, scalability, component quality, developer handoff and AI-readiness across platforms. Three focus areas: - Design Systems Knowledge hub - AI Fluent Design System [Stylized illustration of a mechanical device with a central glowing orb and floral elements] ### 00:15:12 ## STRATEGIC AND CONCEPTIONAL DESIGN GOAL: Use AI to strengthen concept generation, prototyping, narrative framing and stakeholder alignment, while ensuring concepts are grounded in real evidence and critical design thinking. Three focus areas: - Maker - Sparring Partner - The Challenger [Illustration of a hand pulling a rabbit out of a top hat] ### 00:15:33 ## STRATEGIC AND CONCEPTIONAL DESIGN GOAL: Use AI to strengthen concept generation, prototyping, narrative framing and stakeholder alignment, while ensuring concepts are grounded in real evidence and critical design thinking. Three focus areas: - Maker - Sparring Partner - The Challenger [Illustration of a hand pulling a rabbit out of a top hat] ### 00:15:47 ## STRATEGIC AND CONCEPTIONAL DESIGN GOAL: Use AI to strengthen concept generation, prototyping, narrative framing and stakeholder alignment, while ensuring concepts are grounded in real evidence and critical design thinking. Three focus areas: - Maker - Sparring Partner - The Challenger [Illustration of a hand pulling a rabbit out of a magician's top hat] ### 00:16:08 ### DYNAMIC PERSONALISATION CONCEPT Your selections will improve recommendations, but not hide content. - ABC Radio - News & Analysis - triple j & new music - ABC Sport - Continue [Screenshot of a mobile app UI for dynamic personalization, showing categories like ABC Radio, News & Analysis, triple j & new music, and ABC Sport, with associated channel logos. Some categories are selected.] ### 00:16:30 # DYNAMIC PERSONALISATION CONCEPT [Screenshot of a mobile app interface showing a personalized feed with sections for "Based on your interests" and "Today's Top Picks", featuring various podcast or news programs.] ### 00:16:47 # DYNAMIC PERSONALISATION CONCEPT [Screenshot of a mobile application interface for a sports/news app, showing cricket content and other news items] ### 00:16:50 # DYNAMIC PERSONALISATION CONCEPT [Screenshot of a mobile application interface showing personalized content for sports news and cricket] ### 00:17:11 # DYNAMIC PERSONALISATION CONCEPT ### App screen: What do you want to listen to? Your selections will improve recommendations, not hide content. **ABC Radio** - ABC Radio National - ABC Local - ABC AM **News & Analysis** - ABC News Daily - ABC News Radio - ABC Listening **triple j & new music** - triple j Continue [Screenshot of a mobile app interface showing a "What do you want to listen to?" screen with selectable categories for ABC Radio, News & Analysis, and triple j & new music, each with multiple station options.] ### 00:17:33 # DYNAMIC PERSONALISATION CONCEPT [Screenshot of a streaming service interface showing a featured show "Bad Company" and other recommended titles] ### 00:17:48 # DYNAMIC PERSONALISATION CONCEPT [Screenshot of a streaming service user interface displaying a show called "Bad Company" with a description, "Continue Watching" section, and "Up Next" content.] ### 00:18:10 # DYNAMIC PERSONALISATION CONCEPT ## BAD COMPANY NEW SERIES HILARIOUS AUSSIE COMEDY Margie, the unstable artistic director of the iconic theatre company, The Argyle, is up for the fight of her life, when Julia is hijacked from her corporate career to save the place from financial ruin. ### Featured - Bad Company - 7:30 - Four Corners - Planet America - She... ### Your Friday Fix [Screenshot of a dark-themed streaming service user interface concept, showing a hero section for "Bad Company" and rows of featured content thumbnails below.] ### 00:18:32 ## DYNAMIC PERSONALISATION CONCEPT ### BAD COMPANY NEW SERIES HILARIOUS AUSSIE COMEDY Margie, the unstable artistic director of the iconic theatre company. The Argyle, is up ### 00:18:47 # DYNAMIC PERSONALISATION CONCEPT [Screenshot of a streaming service UI showing a featured show "Bad Company" and rows of recommended content categories like "Discover More" and "Comedy Gold"] ### 00:19:08 # IN THE WORLD ## AI IN CONTENT ### 00:19:29 # IN THE WORLD ## AI IN CONTENT ### 00:19:47 # LIVE: LOCAL NEWS 1. **Scripting**: Radio bulletin stories gathered and scripted by local journalists for broadcast 2. **Reformatting**: Radio stories converted into digital style ### 00:19:48 # LIVE: LOCAL NEWS 1. **Scripting**: Radio bulletin stories gathered and scripted by local journalists for broadcast 2. **Reformatting**: Radio stories converted into digital style with help from ABC Assist 3. **Production**: Digital news briefing produced by local team 4. **Human Verified**: Briefing fact-checked by producer before sending to local editor for review 5. **Publishing**: Briefing submitted by separate team and published online after final review ### Screenshot of ABC News website [Flow diagram illustrating a 5-step news production process] [Screenshot of the ABC News website displaying headlines and article summaries] ### 00:20:10 # LIVE: LOCAL NEWS ## News Production Process 1. **Scripting**: Radio bulletin stories gathered and scripted by local journalists for broadcast 2. **Reformatting**: Radio stories converted into digital style with help from ABC Assist 3. **Production ### 00:20:34 # WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT? AI IN CONTENT ### 00:20:47 # WHAT HAVE WE LEARNT? ## AI IN CONTENT ### 00:21:08 ## WHAT HAS CHANGED? - Fear -> **Curiosity** - Individual anxiety -> **Collective exploration** - Waiting for answers -> **Running experiments** - AI happening to us -> **Shaping what happens next** ### 00:21:29 # WHAT HAS CHANGED? - Fear → **Curiosity** - Individual anxiety → **Collective exploration** - Waiting for answers → **Running experiments** - AI happening to us → **Shaping what happens next** ### 00:21:48 ## SO... WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR DESIGN? [Geometric pattern with lines radiating from a central point on the left side of the slide] ### 00:21:49 ## SO... WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR DESIGN? [Geometric pattern with lines radiating from a central point on the left side of the slide] ### 00:22:11 ## SO... WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR DESIGN? [Abstract graphic with a central point radiating lines upwards and outwards] ### 00:22:32 # SO... WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR DESIGN? [Geometric pattern resembling a sunburst or fan on the left side of the slide] ### 00:22:47 # SO... WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR DESIGN? [Geometric pattern of radiating lines on the left side of the slide] ### 00:23:08 ## SO... WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR DESIGN? [Geometric pattern of lines radiating from a central point within a vertical rectangle] ### 00:23:29 # SO... WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR DESIGN? [Geometric pattern with lines radiating from a central point on the left side of the slide] ### 00:23:47 # THANKS MONSALVE.MC@ABC.NET.AU ### 00:23:49 # THANKS MONSALVE.MC@ABC.NET.AU ### 00:24:10 # THANKS MONSALVE.MC@ABC.NET.AU ### 00:26:48 ### Key Areas - Product (details unreadable) - Design (details unreadable) - Engineering (details unreadable) [Three circular icons, each above one of the ### 00:26:50 - Design - Develop - Deploy [Three circular icons representing design, development, and deployment, each above its respective label.] ### 00:27:13 # The hidden risk in mobile UX ## Designing for interrupted attention Emma Buckland - UX Australia 2026 ### 00:27:34 # The hidden risk in mobile UX Designing for interrupted attention Emma Buckland - UX Australia 2026 [Overhead view of people moving on an escalator and standing in a public space, some figures blurred to suggest motion] ### 00:27:47 # The hidden risk in mobile UX Designing for interrupted attention Emma Buckland - UX Australia 2026 [Overhead view of people in a public space, some walking on an escalator ### 00:27:54 # The hidden risk in mobile UX Designing for interrupted attention Emma Buckland - UX Australia 2026 [Overhead view of people in a public space, some walking on an escalator ### 00:28:19 [A doctor talks to a patient in a hospital room, while two women wait in a hallway outside, one comforting the other.] ### 00:28:44 [A doctor talks to a patient in a hospital room, while two women wait anxiously in the hallway outside.] ### 00:28:46 [A doctor talks to a patient in a hospital room, while two women wait anxiously in the hallway outside.] ### 00:29:06 [Image of a hospital waiting area with two women, one comforting the other, and a doctor with a patient visible through an open doorway.] ### 00:29:28 Photo: Dalila Dalprat / Pexels [Close-up of a hand with a tattooed arm, using a finger to tap on the screen of a dark smartphone held in the other hand.] ### 00:29:47 [Photograph of a city street scene at dusk, featuring a building with large windows revealing an office interior and an LED ticker displaying text like "JOBS ADS 'FALL FOR'" and "ARRAMATTA ### 00:29:52 [Photograph of a city street scene at dusk, featuring a building with large windows revealing an office interior and an LED ticker displaying text like "JOBS ADS 'FALL FOR'" and "ARRAMATTA