0:00:01.309,0:00:03.501
I'll never forget the sound

0:00:03.525,0:00:05.587
of laughing with my friends.

0:00:07.000,0:00:08.796
I'll never forget the sound

0:00:08.820,0:00:12.275
of my mother's voice[br]right before I fell asleep.

0:00:14.426,0:00:18.689
And I'll never forget[br]the comforting sound of water

0:00:18.713,0:00:20.731
trickling down a stream.

0:00:22.593,0:00:25.969
Imagine my fear, pure fear,

0:00:26.622,0:00:28.386
when, at the age of 10,

0:00:28.992,0:00:31.569
I was told I was going to lose my hearing.

0:00:33.386,0:00:35.450
And over the next five years,

0:00:35.474,0:00:40.004
it progressed until I was classified[br]as profoundly deaf.

0:00:42.350,0:00:45.685
But I believe that losing my hearing

0:00:45.709,0:00:49.162
was one of the greatest gifts[br]I've ever received.

0:00:50.278,0:00:53.924
You see, I get to experience[br]the world in a unique way.

0:00:54.901,0:00:58.929
And I believe that[br]these unique experiences

0:00:58.953,0:01:01.340
that people with disabilities have

0:01:01.364,0:01:06.384
is what's going to help us[br]make and design a better world

0:01:06.408,0:01:11.748
for everyone -- both for people[br]with and without disabilities.

0:01:13.393,0:01:15.419
I used to be a disability rights lawyer,

0:01:15.443,0:01:19.093
and I spent a lot of my time[br]focused on enforcing the law,

0:01:19.117,0:01:21.268
ensuring that accommodations were made.

0:01:21.998,0:01:26.360
And then I had to quickly[br]learn international policy,

0:01:26.384,0:01:30.266
because I was asked to work[br]on the UN Convention

0:01:30.290,0:01:32.593
that protects people with disabilities.

0:01:33.490,0:01:36.391
As the leader of the NGO there,

0:01:36.415,0:01:41.073
I spent most of my energy[br]trying to convince people

0:01:41.097,0:01:44.341
about the capabilities[br]of people with disabilities.

0:01:45.775,0:01:48.260
But somewhere along the way,

0:01:48.916,0:01:51.087
and after many career transitions

0:01:51.111,0:01:53.158
that my parents weren't so happy about --

0:01:53.182,0:01:54.768
(Laughter)

0:01:54.792,0:01:57.899
I stumbled upon a solution

0:01:57.923,0:02:03.283
that I believe may be[br]an even more powerful tool

0:02:03.307,0:02:06.617
to solve some of the world's[br]greatest problems,

0:02:06.641,0:02:08.321
disability or not.

0:02:10.207,0:02:14.003
And that tool is called design thinking.

0:02:15.853,0:02:20.842
Design thinking is a process[br]for innovation and problem solving.

0:02:21.773,0:02:23.549
There are five steps.

0:02:23.573,0:02:26.148
The first is defining the problem

0:02:26.821,0:02:29.427
and understanding its constraints.

0:02:29.451,0:02:34.497
The second is observing people[br]in real-life situations

0:02:34.521,0:02:36.821
and empathizing with them.

0:02:36.845,0:02:40.815
Third, throwing out hundreds of ideas --[br]the more the better,

0:02:40.839,0:02:42.373
the wilder the better.

0:02:43.186,0:02:47.720
Fourth, prototyping:[br]gathering whatever you can,

0:02:47.744,0:02:49.196
whatever you can find,

0:02:49.220,0:02:51.819
to mimic your solution, to test it

0:02:51.843,0:02:53.275
and to refine it.

0:02:53.968,0:02:56.409
And finally, implementation:

0:02:56.433,0:03:01.491
ensuring that the solution[br]you came up with is sustainable.

0:03:03.007,0:03:09.575
Warren Berger says that design thinking[br]teaches us to look sideways,

0:03:09.599,0:03:13.599
to reframe, to refine, to experiment

0:03:13.623,0:03:15.970
and, probably most importantly,

0:03:15.994,0:03:18.551
ask those stupid questions.

0:03:19.601,0:03:22.686
Design thinkers believe[br]that everyone is creative.

0:03:24.710,0:03:29.428
They believe in bringing people[br]from multiple disciplines together,

0:03:29.452,0:03:32.667
because they want to share[br]multiple perspectives

0:03:32.691,0:03:35.107
and bring them together[br]and ultimately merge them

0:03:35.131,0:03:37.384
to form something new.

0:03:39.919,0:03:43.610
Design thinking is such a successful[br]and versatile tool

0:03:43.634,0:03:46.705
that it has been applied[br]in almost every industry.

0:03:48.586,0:03:52.961
I saw the potential that it had[br]for the issues I faced,

0:03:52.985,0:03:56.217
so I decided to go back to school

0:03:56.241,0:03:59.111
and get my master's in social design.

0:03:59.832,0:04:04.971
This looks at how to use design[br]to create positive change in the world.

0:04:06.209,0:04:07.630
While I was there,

0:04:07.654,0:04:09.471
I fell in love with woodworking.

0:04:10.217,0:04:12.914
But what I quickly realized

0:04:12.938,0:04:15.382
was that I was missing out on something.

0:04:16.058,0:04:18.997
As you're working with a tool,

0:04:19.021,0:04:21.450
right before it's about[br]to kick back at you --

0:04:21.474,0:04:24.733
which means the piece or the tool[br]jumps back at you --

0:04:24.757,0:04:25.923
it makes a sound.

0:04:26.992,0:04:28.582
And I couldn't hear this sound.

0:04:29.313,0:04:31.268
So I decided,

0:04:31.873,0:04:33.323
why not try and solve it?

0:04:34.363,0:04:37.847
My solution was a pair of safety glasses

0:04:37.871,0:04:41.663
that were engineered[br]to visually alert the user

0:04:41.687,0:04:44.279
to pitch changes in the tool,

0:04:44.303,0:04:47.175
before the human ear could pick it up.

0:04:48.802,0:04:52.668
Why hadn't tool designers[br]thought of this before?

0:04:52.692,0:04:54.595
(Laughter)

0:04:54.619,0:04:58.410
Two reasons: one, I was a beginner.

0:04:58.856,0:05:03.411
I wasn't weighed down by expertise[br]or conventional wisdom.

0:05:04.284,0:05:06.729
The second is: I was Deaf.

0:05:08.070,0:05:13.013
My unique experience of the world[br]helped inform my solution.

0:05:13.886,0:05:17.839
And as I went on, I kept running into[br]more and more solutions

0:05:17.863,0:05:21.435
that were originally made[br]for people with disabilities,

0:05:21.459,0:05:24.765
and that ended up being picked up,

0:05:24.789,0:05:27.711
embraced and loved by the mainstream,

0:05:27.735,0:05:28.940
disability or not.

0:05:29.448,0:05:31.862
This is an OXO potato peeler.

0:05:31.886,0:05:35.508
It was originally designed[br]for people with arthritis,

0:05:35.532,0:05:37.959
but it was so comfortable,[br]everybody loved it.

0:05:39.792,0:05:44.198
Text messaging: that was originally[br]designed for people who are Deaf.

0:05:44.817,0:05:47.067
And as you know,[br]everybody loves that, too.

0:05:47.091,0:05:49.009
(Laughter)

0:05:49.033,0:05:50.746
I started thinking:

0:05:51.492,0:05:54.618
What if we changed our mindset?

0:05:55.578,0:06:00.706
What if we started designing[br]for disability first --

0:06:00.730,0:06:02.007
not the norm?

0:06:02.721,0:06:06.511
As you see, when we design[br]for disability first,

0:06:06.535,0:06:11.356
we often stumble upon[br]solutions that are not only inclusive,

0:06:12.090,0:06:17.216
but also are often better[br]than when we design for the norm.

0:06:18.398,0:06:19.953
And this excites me,

0:06:19.977,0:06:26.301
because this means that the energy[br]it takes to accommodate someone

0:06:26.325,0:06:27.926
with a disability

0:06:27.950,0:06:32.813
can be leveraged, molded and played with

0:06:32.837,0:06:36.860
as a force for creativity and innovation.

0:06:37.712,0:06:43.245
This moves us from the mindset[br]of trying to change the hearts

0:06:43.269,0:06:46.392
and the deficiency mindset of tolerance,

0:06:46.416,0:06:49.134
to becoming an alchemist,

0:06:49.158,0:06:53.128
the type of magician that this world[br]so desperately needs

0:06:53.152,0:06:55.475
to solve some of its greatest problems.

0:06:56.860,0:06:58.894
Now, I also believe

0:06:58.918,0:07:03.437
that people with disabilities[br]have great potential to be designers

0:07:03.461,0:07:05.809
within this design-thinking process.

0:07:06.360,0:07:09.343
Without knowing it, from a very early age,

0:07:09.367,0:07:12.622
I've been a design thinker,[br]fine-tuning my skills.

0:07:13.621,0:07:19.029
Design thinkers are, by nature,[br]problem solvers.

0:07:19.580,0:07:23.885
So imagine listening to a conversation

0:07:23.909,0:07:27.902
and only understanding[br]50 percent of what is said.

0:07:29.640,0:07:32.538
You can't ask them to repeat[br]every single word.

0:07:32.911,0:07:35.476
They would just get frustrated with you.

0:07:35.500,0:07:38.240
So without even realizing it,

0:07:38.264,0:07:43.176
my solution was to take[br]the muffled sound I heard,

0:07:43.200,0:07:44.352
that was the beat,

0:07:44.376,0:07:48.886
and turn it into a rhythm[br]and place it with the lips I read.

0:07:49.908,0:07:55.581
Years later, someone commented[br]that my writing had a rhythm to it.

0:07:56.105,0:08:01.066
Well, this is because I experience[br]conversations as rhythms.

0:08:02.369,0:08:07.444
I also became really,[br]really good at failing.

0:08:07.468,0:08:08.702
(Laughter)

0:08:08.726,0:08:10.300
Quite literally.

0:08:10.801,0:08:13.882
My first semester in Spanish, I got a D.

0:08:14.569,0:08:18.383
But what I learned[br]was that when I picked myself up

0:08:18.407,0:08:20.707
and changed a few things around,

0:08:20.731,0:08:23.546
eventually, I succeeded.

0:08:25.187,0:08:29.807
Similarly, design thinking[br]encourages people to fail

0:08:29.831,0:08:31.467
and fail often,

0:08:31.491,0:08:34.722
because eventually, you will succeed.

0:08:35.404,0:08:39.284
Very few great innovations in this world

0:08:39.308,0:08:43.126
have come from someone succeeding[br]on the first try.

0:08:44.906,0:08:47.778
I also experienced this lesson in sports.

0:08:49.460,0:08:52.421
I'll never forget my coach[br]saying to my mom,

0:08:53.389,0:08:56.623
"If she just didn't have her hearing loss,

0:08:56.647,0:08:58.331
she would be on the national team."

0:09:00.061,0:09:04.242
But what my coach, and what I[br]didn't even know at the time,

0:09:05.019,0:09:09.723
was that my hearing loss[br]actually helped me excel at sports.

0:09:10.704,0:09:15.771
You see, when you lose your hearing,[br]not only do you adapt your behavior,

0:09:16.441,0:09:19.577
but you also adapt your physical senses.

0:09:20.785,0:09:22.435
One example of this

0:09:22.459,0:09:26.962
is that my visual[br]attention span increased.

0:09:27.543,0:09:32.001
Imagine a soccer player,[br]coming down the left flank.

0:09:32.025,0:09:34.828
Imagine being goalkeeper, like I was,

0:09:34.852,0:09:37.000
and the ball is coming[br]down the left flank.

0:09:37.024,0:09:41.808
A person with normal hearing[br]would have the visual perspective of this.

0:09:42.872,0:09:46.863
I had the benefit of a spectrum this wide.

0:09:46.887,0:09:49.324
So I picked up the players over here,

0:09:49.348,0:09:51.862
that were moving about[br]and coming down the field.

0:09:51.886,0:09:55.560
And I picked them up quicker,[br]so that if the ball was passed,

0:09:55.584,0:09:59.177
I could reposition myself[br]and be ready for that shot.

0:10:00.955,0:10:02.472
So as you can see,

0:10:02.496,0:10:05.162
I've been a design thinker[br]for nearly all my life.

0:10:06.788,0:10:11.346
My observation skills have been honed[br]so that I pick up on things

0:10:11.370,0:10:13.353
that others would never pick up on.

0:10:15.233,0:10:19.197
My constant need to adapt[br]has made me a great ideator

0:10:19.221,0:10:20.538
and problem solver.

0:10:21.392,0:10:25.664
And I've often had to do this[br]within limitations and constraints.

0:10:26.164,0:10:30.439
This is something that designers[br]also have to deal with frequently.

0:10:32.638,0:10:35.527
My work most recently took me to Haiti.

0:10:36.049,0:10:40.238
Design thinkers often seek out[br]extreme situations,

0:10:40.262,0:10:44.517
because that often informs[br]some of their best designs.

0:10:44.541,0:10:47.580
And Haiti -- it was like a perfect storm.

0:10:48.415,0:10:52.822
I lived and worked[br]with 300 Deaf individuals

0:10:53.656,0:10:56.775
that were relocated[br]after the 2010 earthquake.

0:10:57.805,0:11:00.971
But five and a half years later,

0:11:01.566,0:11:03.698
there still was no electricity;

0:11:03.722,0:11:06.208
there still was no safe drinking water;

0:11:06.232,0:11:08.373
there were still no job opportunities;

0:11:09.120,0:11:12.429
there was still rampant crime,[br]and it went unpunished.

0:11:13.069,0:11:16.540
International aid organizations[br]came one by one.

0:11:17.199,0:11:18.351
But they came

0:11:18.375,0:11:21.071
with pre-determined solutions.

0:11:21.095,0:11:25.482
They didn't come ready[br]to observe and to adapt

0:11:26.215,0:11:29.511
based on the community's needs.

0:11:30.750,0:11:34.789
One organization gave them[br]goats and chickens.

0:11:35.484,0:11:36.793
But they didn't realize

0:11:36.817,0:11:40.736
that there was so much hunger[br]in that community,

0:11:40.760,0:11:44.586
that when the Deaf went to sleep[br]at night and couldn't hear,

0:11:44.610,0:11:47.874
people broke into their yards[br]and their homes

0:11:47.898,0:11:50.779
and stole these chickens and goats,

0:11:50.803,0:11:53.344
and eventually they were all gone.

0:11:54.896,0:11:59.425
Now, if that organization[br]had taken the time

0:11:59.449,0:12:04.186
to observe Deaf people,[br]to observe the community,

0:12:05.029,0:12:07.249
they would have realized their problem

0:12:07.273,0:12:11.669
and perhaps they would have[br]come up with a solution,

0:12:11.693,0:12:14.771
something like a solar light,

0:12:14.795,0:12:18.976
lighting up a secure pen[br]to put them in at night

0:12:19.000,0:12:20.380
to ensure their safety.

0:12:22.018,0:12:25.989
You don't have to be a design thinker

0:12:26.013,0:12:29.218
to insert the ideas[br]I've shared with you today.

0:12:31.387,0:12:34.051
You are creative.

0:12:34.793,0:12:37.295
You are a designer --

0:12:37.319,0:12:38.765
everyone is.

0:12:40.152,0:12:43.371
Let people like me help you.

0:12:44.270,0:12:48.855
Let people with disabilities[br]help you look sideways,

0:12:48.879,0:12:50.441
and in the process,

0:12:50.465,0:12:53.074
solve some of the greatest problems.

0:12:53.605,0:12:54.952
That's it. Thank you.

0:12:54.976,0:13:00.492
(Applause)