Leveraging radical ingenuity for a more equitable future

How radical ingenuity has helped me transform my design process to meet the needs of people who are often excluded

Woman in Vr Glasses Working Process by kit8

Quantum computing is almost fully realized, artificial intelligence exists in the real world and is used in practical applications, and varying forms of web 3.0 are beginning to tether our digital world with the analog variant in unprecedented ways.

As technology continues to advance, our world is starting to resemble the futuristic societies depicted in sci-fi movies and comic books that many of us grew up admiring. But for many people, the reality of living in a world that is not yet fully advanced can be a daunting and difficult experience.

Just as the X-Men comics served as an allegory for the Civil Rights movement, for many of us, it feels as though we are the mutants with the “X” gene, struggling to survive in a society that is defined by systemic persecution and inequality.

The tech industry has long been plagued by a lack of diversity and inclusion, leading to the exclusion of marginalized voices and the perpetuation of harmful systems and policies.

This lack of diversity and inclusion is a well-known and ongoing issue that continues to menace the industry. It is a refrain that has been echoed in numerous reports released by tech giants each year, yet remains unresolved. It is a problem that refuses to disappear, a haunting melody that repeats itself endlessly.

As a Black leader in the design and tech industry, I often found my perspective on inclusion drowned out by the needs of upper-middle-class, cis-gendered, white males when it came to product development.

I observed that many in the industry are content or at least complacent with ignoring the symptoms of exclusion, as seen in corporate America, the state of design in advertising, and the view of “innovation” in tech.

I have recently been questioning the validity and usefulness of many of the design principles, technological development approaches, and startup ecosystem strategies that I have previously accepted as fact.