We work at the intersection of humans and machines.
We specialize in AI, data storytelling, decision science and human-centered product design.
We work with clients to craft bold strategies, create empowering experiences, design better products, develop stronger cultures and make better decisions.
I have been involved in executive development and digital transformation for a number of years and can safely say that Helen and Dave's ability to make AI simple and accessible is outstanding. They break down technical barriers so executives can understand new strategic opportunities and the extent to which machines will change people and the way we work.
Helen and Dave have a unique understanding of AI technology, its business opportunities and its effect on people and society. They have a knack for pulling disparate pieces together in a way that helps people understand the bigger picture.
Commercializing a breakthrough green chemistry
We have teamed up with a University of Minnesota spin-out to help commercialize a better, greener and cheaper ingredient for consumer packaged goods.
Helen and Dave have a unique ability to describe what it means to be human in the age of AI. They prompt an audience to think beyond the technology and to consider how technology can be both humanizing and dehumanizing. They are masters in translating complex issues into compelling, relatable stories, and theirs was the first presentation about AI that reassured me that, yes, we can do this, a beautiful future is possible with AI.
Designing a sports coach that learns with you
Using advanced augmented reality and artificial intelligence, we are co-creating a coach-in-your-pocket to improve an athlete’s performance and enjoyment of the game.
As technology and AI diffuse through everything—from devices in our homes, to the apps we use to track our health, to sophisticated equipment in industry—design plays an increasingly important role. We expect things “just to work,” and that expectation extends to AI. Design has long sought to knit human psychology and product functionality together. A fundamental idea in design is feedback: how we adjust our predictions based on our experience. AI presents a unique design challenge because it can be hard to figure out what’s going on and bias can amplify inaccurate and unreliable feedback.
Developing an AI-ready workforce
We led over 200 executives and educators at the State of Oregon’s Talent Summit through a workshop to understand, assess and plan for the skills that working Oregonians need for current and future jobs.
The incredible workshop session led by Sonder Studio at the 2020 Talent Summit was not only thought provoking, engaging, and innovative, but came with practical takeaways. Feedback on the workshop from summit attendees was excellent. The Edwards, and their Redmond Proficiency Academy team of students, knocked it out of the park!
Delivering insights on the future of AI
We built an advisory and publishing business focused on the future of AI which was acquired by Atlantic Media.
Helen and Dave delivered a brilliant session for our 500-person advertising team at The New York Times. For businesses not inherently rooted in technology, there is perhaps no phenomena as alluring in its potential, inevitable in its advance and utterly terrifying by virtue of its technical and moral complexity as artificial intelligence. Dave and Helen delivered a uniquely engaging session that addressed this exact complexity and everyone came away from the workshop more optimistic about the role AI will play in their business moving forward.
As AI pervades more of our physical world experience, AI determines how we interact and learn, offering us less experience in the physical world. That thereby reduces our skills in dealing with, say, quirky individuals or novel engineering challenges or rapidly evolving biological systems for which there are no data for an AI to use. And virtual experiences have their limit. At some point, things need to happen in the physical world, with in-person interaction. These are the skills that an AI won’t be able to beat us at.
Designing ethical, intelligent technologies
We helped the National Head Start Association’s catalyst group, the Headstarter Network, design guidelines and tools for using AI in early childhood education.
Helen and Dave were great workshop facilitators and our diverse group—from AI novices to experts—was able to learn valuable AI insights and create new ideas for ethical AI in education.
Helen and Dave decided that AI wasn't challenging enough on it's own, so they decided to take on my high school class! Within a few sessions, our students were designing AI for applications that they were interested in.
Developing an adventure-oriented spirits brand
We developed a unique brand and multiple formulations that evoked the feeling of adventuring in the mountains.
When Steve Jobs launched the original iPhone, he described the new multi-touch feature as a revolutionary user interface (UI). He said it worked like magic, which it did compared to every other phone at the time. I’ve always thought of Jobs’ UI design as following a simple rule: create products that work for the user, don’t make the user work for the product.
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The Nobel Prize winner who busted intuition explains why we all still use it
In a recent discussion with organizational psychologist Adam Grant, Kahneman reveals that he makes most of his decisions based on intuition.
Making better decisions: new rules for prediction and planning
Prediction is at the heart of making decisions under uncertainty. AI makes prediction cheap.
Making better decisions: calibrating confidence
One human factor can matter more than anything in a decision: overconfidence.
Making better decisions: “which” versus “whether”
Every time you are faced with a “whether” decision, you are far more likely to make a better decision if you can make it a “which” decision instead.
Making better decisions: taming cognitive biases
There are dozens of cognitive biases—far too many to commit to memory, let alone be aware of them in the moment.
Making better decisions: forecasting and pre-mortems
Forecasting is integral to decision making. All decisions implicitly involve a view of the future, something that is getting progressively difficult to do with any level of certainty.
Making better decisions: explore versus exploit
This article is one in a series of life hacks, tips and tricks for making better decisions with data.
Making better decisions: reflection and learning
Learning requires doing. Allow for practice, failure and celebration of well-calibrated risk taking rather than unwittingly rewarding luck.