“Designing with Youth, Not for Them: Moving Beyond One-Size-Fits-All Tech”
Talk
Too often, tech products aimed at young people are designed for them, not with them, reinforcing narrow assumptions about what young people want, need, and can contribute. As a result, digital spaces frequently work against, rather than for, young people’s wellbeing. But not all young people are struggling with tech. Many are finding ways to connect, create, and express themselves, often in spite of default design choices that fail to reflect their realities.
This matters now more than ever. Gen Z and Gen Alpha make up one of the largest and most powerful blocks of tech users globally. They are not only shaping online culture, they are influencing the evolution of the platforms themselves. And with the rapid rise of AI, we face a critical window to shape how this transformative technology impacts a rising generation. Young people must be supported to navigate both the opportunities and risks of AI, and to develop the agency, fluency, and voice to help shape its future.
This session will explore how default design practices continue to marginalize youth perspectives, and why centering diverse youth voices is essential to building more inclusive, empowering tech. It’s more than just about gaining the technical skills to build new tech, it’s also about developing a critical fluency of how tech intersects into a teen’s life. Our goal is not only to manage and minimize risks, but also to lean into the positives: supporting young people in shaping digital spaces, and AI tools, that foster meaningful connection, creativity, and agency, and helping them find their way in a tech future they help design.
We’ll share insights from Young Futures’ Youth Listening Tour and from youth-led and youth-informed nonprofits that are charting new paths for healthier, more empowering digital experiences. We’ll also explore what it takes to move from tokenistic “youth input” to true youth co-creation, and how funding and scaling youth-developed solutions can shift the broader ecosystem.
“Designing with Youth, Not for Them: Moving Beyond One-Size-Fits-All Tech”
Katya Hancock;
Talk
Too often, tech products aimed at young people are designed for them, not with them, reinforcing narrow assumptions about what young people want, need, and can contribute. As a result, digital spaces frequently work against, rather than for, young people’s wellbeing. But not all young people are struggling with tech. Many are finding ways to connect, create, and express themselves, often in spite of default design choices that fail to reflect their realities.
This matters now more than ever. Gen Z and Gen Alpha make up one of the largest and most powerful blocks of tech users globally. They are not only shaping online culture, they are influencing the evolution of the platforms themselves. And with the rapid rise of AI, we face a critical window to shape how this transformative technology impacts a rising generation. Young people must be supported to navigate both the opportunities and risks of AI, and to develop the agency, fluency, and voice to help shape its future.
This session will explore how default design practices continue to marginalize youth perspectives, and why centering diverse youth voices is essential to building more inclusive, empowering tech. It’s more than just about gaining the technical skills to build new tech, it’s also about developing a critical fluency of how tech intersects into a teen’s life. Our goal is not only to manage and minimize risks, but also to lean into the positives: supporting young people in shaping digital spaces, and AI tools, that foster meaningful connection, creativity, and agency, and helping them find their way in a tech future they help design.
We’ll share insights from Young Futures’ Youth Listening Tour and from youth-led and youth-informed nonprofits that are charting new paths for healthier, more empowering digital experiences. We’ll also explore what it takes to move from tokenistic “youth input” to true youth co-creation, and how funding and scaling youth-developed solutions can shift the broader ecosystem.