Indi Young
@indiyoung.bsky.social
Data Science that Listens - indiyoung.com
Book - Time to Listen indiyoung.com/books/
Systems thinking research for solutions that support human variety. (Fully human made posts & illustrations; no use of AI)
Book - Time to Listen indiyoung.com/books/
Systems thinking research for solutions that support human variety. (Fully human made posts & illustrations; no use of AI)
Pinned
When you are creating a basket of ideas, you try to think like the people you serve. During this work, speak aloud what people are thinking, using "I" instead of "they."
One of my team members says, "I get more juice out of it when I say the quote as that person." 💡
One of my team members says, "I get more juice out of it when I say the quote as that person." 💡
Listening sessions are a novel interview technique, with space to truly follow the conversation through twists and turns.
You are free to learn about the topics a person brings up without time cut-offs or scripted questions.
You are free to learn about the topics a person brings up without time cut-offs or scripted questions.
November 26, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Listening sessions are a novel interview technique, with space to truly follow the conversation through twists and turns.
You are free to learn about the topics a person brings up without time cut-offs or scripted questions.
You are free to learn about the topics a person brings up without time cut-offs or scripted questions.
If you work in government or healthcare, the focus is on supporting a greater share of the #population. An intentional, guided way to increase your support for people is to follow a mental model skyline, built from listening sessions about what people are focused on in their lives.
November 24, 2025 at 9:08 PM
If you work in government or healthcare, the focus is on supporting a greater share of the #population. An intentional, guided way to increase your support for people is to follow a mental model skyline, built from listening sessions about what people are focused on in their lives.
"All of my career I’ve been tilting at the windmill of tech’s process of speeding along to launch.
While the practitioners may be aware of the quandary, the orgs as entities enjoy speed like an addiction.
While the practitioners may be aware of the quandary, the orgs as entities enjoy speed like an addiction.
November 22, 2025 at 11:38 PM
"All of my career I’ve been tilting at the windmill of tech’s process of speeding along to launch.
While the practitioners may be aware of the quandary, the orgs as entities enjoy speed like an addiction.
While the practitioners may be aware of the quandary, the orgs as entities enjoy speed like an addiction.
When you are creating a basket of ideas, you try to think like the people you serve. During this work, speak aloud what people are thinking, using "I" instead of "they."
One of my team members says, "I get more juice out of it when I say the quote as that person." 💡
One of my team members says, "I get more juice out of it when I say the quote as that person." 💡
November 20, 2025 at 12:06 AM
When you are creating a basket of ideas, you try to think like the people you serve. During this work, speak aloud what people are thinking, using "I" instead of "they."
One of my team members says, "I get more juice out of it when I say the quote as that person." 💡
One of my team members says, "I get more juice out of it when I say the quote as that person." 💡
Under the stress of making solutions within quick deadlines, teams don't have time to ground their ideas in the complexity of how humans think while addressing an intention or purpose.
Stress and lack of time kill ideas, especially if the team is trying to create new ideas they didn't have before.
Stress and lack of time kill ideas, especially if the team is trying to create new ideas they didn't have before.
November 17, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Under the stress of making solutions within quick deadlines, teams don't have time to ground their ideas in the complexity of how humans think while addressing an intention or purpose.
Stress and lack of time kill ideas, especially if the team is trying to create new ideas they didn't have before.
Stress and lack of time kill ideas, especially if the team is trying to create new ideas they didn't have before.
🧵 Listening deeply help teams broaden their mindsets to serve people they vilify.
“The loud passenger,” “the by-the-book cook,” and “the partying campers” are all humans with cognition which is totally reasonable from their own point of view.
“The loud passenger,” “the by-the-book cook,” and “the partying campers” are all humans with cognition which is totally reasonable from their own point of view.
November 13, 2025 at 10:22 PM
🧵 Listening deeply help teams broaden their mindsets to serve people they vilify.
“The loud passenger,” “the by-the-book cook,” and “the partying campers” are all humans with cognition which is totally reasonable from their own point of view.
“The loud passenger,” “the by-the-book cook,” and “the partying campers” are all humans with cognition which is totally reasonable from their own point of view.
Thinking styles are not like personalities or horoscopes. Thinking styles are specific to ONE thing people are addressing. So I make characters separate from thinking styles. There is not the same number of characters as there are thinking styles.
📣 NEW COURSE on Thinking Styles soon!
📣 NEW COURSE on Thinking Styles soon!
November 10, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Thinking styles are not like personalities or horoscopes. Thinking styles are specific to ONE thing people are addressing. So I make characters separate from thinking styles. There is not the same number of characters as there are thinking styles.
📣 NEW COURSE on Thinking Styles soon!
📣 NEW COURSE on Thinking Styles soon!
A #listening session its not about coverage of topics your org needs answers to. It's more like a tour, so your org can build a better strategy to support more people.
November 7, 2025 at 8:30 PM
A #listening session its not about coverage of topics your org needs answers to. It's more like a tour, so your org can build a better strategy to support more people.
There are teams that are innovative, and there are teams that stay focused on the features of their solutions.
The innovative teams rely on durable knowledge that was built earlier about people’s personal rules, emotional states, and thinking style.
The innovative teams rely on durable knowledge that was built earlier about people’s personal rules, emotional states, and thinking style.
November 6, 2025 at 9:56 PM
There are teams that are innovative, and there are teams that stay focused on the features of their solutions.
The innovative teams rely on durable knowledge that was built earlier about people’s personal rules, emotional states, and thinking style.
The innovative teams rely on durable knowledge that was built earlier about people’s personal rules, emotional states, and thinking style.
Back when teams were encoding processes–making formerly manual things automated, digital, or scaled–there wasn’t a “come up with ideas” phase. There was a process, the team explored all parts of it, and they encoded it.
November 3, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Back when teams were encoding processes–making formerly manual things automated, digital, or scaled–there wasn’t a “come up with ideas” phase. There was a process, the team explored all parts of it, and they encoded it.
Strangely, I see more and more people writing that UX means "user interface." (?!) And that strategic, system-wide decisions are what #PMs and #CX do.
This is ironic because back when we invented UX as a name, it was an effort to move away from being restricted to the role of user interface. 🙃
This is ironic because back when we invented UX as a name, it was an effort to move away from being restricted to the role of user interface. 🙃
October 29, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Organizations engage in making solutions in several different ways. Two of these approaches are the most difficult. Can you guess which two?
1. Look for opportunities for new ways to support people
2. Mend existing solutions so they work for more situations
1. Look for opportunities for new ways to support people
2. Mend existing solutions so they work for more situations
October 27, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Organizations engage in making solutions in several different ways. Two of these approaches are the most difficult. Can you guess which two?
1. Look for opportunities for new ways to support people
2. Mend existing solutions so they work for more situations
1. Look for opportunities for new ways to support people
2. Mend existing solutions so they work for more situations
Ideas gel after you absorb enough information around you. For a team, this step has not always gotten a lot of love and care.
When you look at it as a #watercycle, it's pretty clear that ideas need knowledge (rain) to grow.
When you look at it as a #watercycle, it's pretty clear that ideas need knowledge (rain) to grow.
October 24, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Ideas gel after you absorb enough information around you. For a team, this step has not always gotten a lot of love and care.
When you look at it as a #watercycle, it's pretty clear that ideas need knowledge (rain) to grow.
When you look at it as a #watercycle, it's pretty clear that ideas need knowledge (rain) to grow.
#Founders, #entrepreneurs, #productmanagers, are you solving a problem that you know personally?
If so, can your next problem be something outside your personal experience? Because this is where the complex problems are.
If so, can your next problem be something outside your personal experience? Because this is where the complex problems are.
October 23, 2025 at 6:59 PM
#Founders, #entrepreneurs, #productmanagers, are you solving a problem that you know personally?
If so, can your next problem be something outside your personal experience? Because this is where the complex problems are.
If so, can your next problem be something outside your personal experience? Because this is where the complex problems are.
Historically, software was considered part of the hardware. So I think most software gets treated as if it has the same aspects of physical things. (Games escaped this trap.)
When building physical things, we can figure out how to speed it up, scale it, calculate it more precisely, measure it, etc.
When building physical things, we can figure out how to speed it up, scale it, calculate it more precisely, measure it, etc.
October 20, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Historically, software was considered part of the hardware. So I think most software gets treated as if it has the same aspects of physical things. (Games escaped this trap.)
When building physical things, we can figure out how to speed it up, scale it, calculate it more precisely, measure it, etc.
When building physical things, we can figure out how to speed it up, scale it, calculate it more precisely, measure it, etc.
Are you framing your own studies? Setting the scope of what to find out? Are you a #founder, #servicedesigner, or #productmanager wanting to #innovate?
Framing a study by what a person is trying to get done, instead a product or service, can allow very different & powerful ideas to arise.
Framing a study by what a person is trying to get done, instead a product or service, can allow very different & powerful ideas to arise.
October 17, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Are you framing your own studies? Setting the scope of what to find out? Are you a #founder, #servicedesigner, or #productmanager wanting to #innovate?
Framing a study by what a person is trying to get done, instead a product or service, can allow very different & powerful ideas to arise.
Framing a study by what a person is trying to get done, instead a product or service, can allow very different & powerful ideas to arise.
#Innovation is supporting what people are already half solving and also enhancing their outcomes. Something already exists in their minds. How do we find out what exists in people's minds?
Listening sessions.
Listening sessions.
October 15, 2025 at 6:24 PM
#Innovation is supporting what people are already half solving and also enhancing their outcomes. Something already exists in their minds. How do we find out what exists in people's minds?
Listening sessions.
Listening sessions.
"Edge case" is used to describe part of a process or system.
It's how the things can work given certain circumstances. Like if it's below freezing, if a key ingredient it not available, or if there are not enough players.
It's how the things can work given certain circumstances. Like if it's below freezing, if a key ingredient it not available, or if there are not enough players.
October 13, 2025 at 7:26 PM
"Edge case" is used to describe part of a process or system.
It's how the things can work given certain circumstances. Like if it's below freezing, if a key ingredient it not available, or if there are not enough players.
It's how the things can work given certain circumstances. Like if it's below freezing, if a key ingredient it not available, or if there are not enough players.
Mending existing solutions is a key type of #innovation.
But we call it "maintenance," and we don't glorify it. Some orgs actually despise maintenance work. It's like we only want to work on new "things"... when new _ideas_ are what help us fill in the cracks of systems that we have already created.
But we call it "maintenance," and we don't glorify it. Some orgs actually despise maintenance work. It's like we only want to work on new "things"... when new _ideas_ are what help us fill in the cracks of systems that we have already created.
October 9, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Mending existing solutions is a key type of #innovation.
But we call it "maintenance," and we don't glorify it. Some orgs actually despise maintenance work. It's like we only want to work on new "things"... when new _ideas_ are what help us fill in the cracks of systems that we have already created.
But we call it "maintenance," and we don't glorify it. Some orgs actually despise maintenance work. It's like we only want to work on new "things"... when new _ideas_ are what help us fill in the cracks of systems that we have already created.
We can finally make many solutions out of one!
📢 I'm giving a keynote at #UX Masterclass in #Bengaluru 📅 10-Oct-2025
📢 I'm giving a keynote at #UX Masterclass in #Bengaluru 📅 10-Oct-2025
October 6, 2025 at 7:29 AM
We can finally make many solutions out of one!
📢 I'm giving a keynote at #UX Masterclass in #Bengaluru 📅 10-Oct-2025
📢 I'm giving a keynote at #UX Masterclass in #Bengaluru 📅 10-Oct-2025
Emergent data synthesis is the opposite of top-down categorization or tagging. It helps us perserve the intention and meaning of what people communicated to us.
October 3, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Emergent data synthesis is the opposite of top-down categorization or tagging. It helps us perserve the intention and meaning of what people communicated to us.
A person has a skill or ability, yes. But that person also has thinking styles when they are using that skill. Their thinking style might reflect past experiences or current circumstances.
October 1, 2025 at 7:48 PM
A person has a skill or ability, yes. But that person also has thinking styles when they are using that skill. Their thinking style might reflect past experiences or current circumstances.
We can finally make many solutions out of one!
📢 I'm giving a keynote at #UX Masterclass in #Bengaluru 📅 10-Oct-2025
📢 I'm giving a keynote at #UX Masterclass in #Bengaluru 📅 10-Oct-2025
September 29, 2025 at 7:48 AM
We can finally make many solutions out of one!
📢 I'm giving a keynote at #UX Masterclass in #Bengaluru 📅 10-Oct-2025
📢 I'm giving a keynote at #UX Masterclass in #Bengaluru 📅 10-Oct-2025
👀 Peek at 3 lessons from the #ListeningDeeply course:
Pin to a place & time: Help the person more easily communicate about their interior cognition by asking about a particular event in the past.
Pin to a place & time: Help the person more easily communicate about their interior cognition by asking about a particular event in the past.
September 26, 2025 at 6:26 PM
👀 Peek at 3 lessons from the #ListeningDeeply course:
Pin to a place & time: Help the person more easily communicate about their interior cognition by asking about a particular event in the past.
Pin to a place & time: Help the person more easily communicate about their interior cognition by asking about a particular event in the past.