2027 speakers
Hertje Brodersen
TALK
Good enough is better: Why letting go of merit makes us better human-centered designers
The narrative of meritocracy used to be catnip for people in tech. It told us we earned our place in the industry because we were talented and put in the work—and therefore we deserved success.
The increasing automation of cognitive and creative work, layoffs, and a power shift in the job market have crushed this belief and left us uncertain about our talents, deservingness, or futures. And while that is anything but easy to navigate, Hertje argues that this is a good thing for those of us who self-describe as human-centered practitioners.
Why? There is something freeing in seeing our own exceptionalism challenged. Because it was always at odds with human-centered design. After all, our whole practice rests on the premise that everyone is worth designing for. It’s the exact opposite of meritocracy.
Overcoming our own belief that we personally earned our place in this system will enable us to build more equitable systems for everyone moving forward.
ABOUT THIS SPEAKER
Hertje Brodersen (she/her) has a soft spot for messy problems that don’t fit into neat boxes: She currently works as a service designer, supporting the digital transformation of the German public sector.
With two decades of experience, she has held roles such as head of product design at Zalando and lead UX designer at AKQA, with freelance work across design studios, startups, and large organizations in between. Her talks, and most recently a master’s thesis in systemic design, explore the tension between human-centered practices and growth-centered environments. Outside work she reads, bakes, and collects photos of misplaced chairs.