Having technology constantly present in our everyday lives has led people to question how it’s affecting us and our interactions with the world around us. The introduction of wearables and related technology has only increased this constant connection, and influenced cultural anthropologists Genevieve Bell of Intel Labs and Mimi Ito from UC Irvine to join together for a discussion about how user experience and cultural ideas intersect.

Everyone talks about how tech is global, and it is, but it’s also completely dependent on local and cultural context.

“One of the challenges of user experience research is understanding the things people don’t say and making sense of behavior in context,” Ito said.

A common mistake in UX research is in assuming the action only takes place between the user and the device, but there’s a contextual level also, and the ripple effects must be considered in the research. Consumers don’t just buy a product anymore; they buy an emotional experience. This idea has to be considered when designing for user experience.

“Tech is moving fast, but what people care about changes at a different pace; it’s much slower,” Bell said. “User experience should take this into account.”

When they opened the floor to questions, the topics were broad, but relevant. Bell discussed three techniques you can use to persuade an organization that your design idea is the one they should choose.