News, Opinion & Events

Designed for Empathy: One Day to Align, Energise, and Inspire Teams

In fast-moving, remote-first product teams, empathy can erode - both with users and between colleagues. intO’s Empathy Days offer a one-day immersion that reconnects teams with real people and shared purpose. Blending fieldwork with reflection, these sessions create long-lasting clarity, alignment and motivation. In this article, Research Director, Laetitia Sfez, explains why they’re as energising as they are insightful.

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Posted on June 25th, 2025

News Strategy Research

Short Encounters, Long-Term Insight Impact

In today’s fast-moving, globally distributed work environments, short-form research experiences like Empathy Days and Cultural Immersions are proving invaluable. As Research Director, Laetitia Sfez, explains, these formats reconnect teams with real users, either through energising, collaborative sessions or deep, contextual exploration in local markets. Though brief, both deliver enduring impact by challenging assumptions, aligning teams, and anchoring innovation in authentic human insight. This article helps you choose the right format, and shows how intO delivers each with strategic care and cultural sensitivity.

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Posted on June 23rd, 2025

News Strategy Research

When Assumptions Don’t Travel: Building Global Tech for a Fragmented World

In today’s fragmented global landscape, assumptions made at headquarters no longer hold. In this article, Joanna Brassett, Founder and CEO of Studio intO, explores how default thinking derails innovation, and how intO’s Local Lens Approach embeds real local context into strategy and design. From fintech to AI, global teams use our insight model to create products that are not just adapted, but truly relevant. When you stop assuming, you start designing better.

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Posted on May 19th, 2025

News Strategy Research

Challenging Default Thinking: What design anthropology teaches us about context, culture, and global innovation

What does it take to design truly global innovation? In this article, intO’s Founder & CEO Joanna Brassett shares insights from her recent lecture at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. She explores how design anthropology - and intO’s adapted Local Lens Approach to research - helps global teams challenge default thinking and embed local context into strategy, product, and service development.

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Posted on May 15th, 2025

News AI Strategy Research

Designing for Trust: Why Fintech Needs Equitable AI

AI is transforming how people manage their money but without cultural context, trust and emotional intelligence, even the smartest tools can fail to connect with the end user. In this article, Chloe Amos-Edkins explores how fintech teams can design AI-powered experiences that build trust, serve diverse markets, and reflect real user values. Featuring insights from intO’s Research Director Laetitia Sfez, and grounded in global fieldwork, it’s a call for equity as an essential part of the UX research and design process.

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Posted on April 28th, 2025

News AI Strategy Research

From Buzz to Business Impact: What Fintech Needs from AI – And How UX Research Can Help

In this article, intO’s Commercial Director, Chloe Amos-Edkins, reflects on the insights shared in a recent Fintech Insider podcast episode on AI in financial services. As AI adoption moves from buzz to business-critical, Chloe explores why trust, cultural context, and user understanding are essential to success. Drawing on intO’s global fintech research, she outlines how UX research can help teams design AI that’s scalable, ethical, and truly user-centred.

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Posted on April 8th, 2025

News AI Strategy Research

Events

Why Global Research Networks Matter – and Why You Should Join Us in London

The best researchers know that good research doesn’t happen in isolation; the most valuable insights come from diverse perspectives, cultural awareness, and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Join us at the People of Research event in London on March 27th—a gathering of UX Researchers, Research Ops professionals, Behavioural Scientists, and others who understand the value of expanding their network beyond their immediate environment.

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Posted on March 14th, 2025

News Events Research

intO DISCOVERY Workshop | Using AI tools to boost brainstorms

In this one-hour intO DISCOVERY workshop, you’ll learn how to master prompts to support brainstorming and the development of future scenarios, and receive practical tips for evaluating ChatGPT output effectively and responsibly. The session will be led by intO’s Director of Research, Chloe Amos-Edkins, and Foresight Strategist, Thiara Cavadas. 

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Posted on November 21st, 2023

Methods Contexts AI Events Innovation Research

Inclusivity by Design: An Equitable Approach to AI Innovation

Join intO CEO, Joanna Brassett, and Cultural & Foresight Strategist, Thiara Cavadas, at the AIBA Conference (October 25th, 2023, Katowice and Online). Sharing the stage with speakers from Meta, Microsoft, Miro and more, Joanna will introduce intO’s Equitable AI Framework, designed by intO to support ethical AI-empowered innovation journeys.

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Posted on October 10th, 2023

Methods Contexts AI Events Innovation Research

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