William Anthony Yanko, PhD
CX/UX Research Leader
Flight Centre Travel Group
Applying Anthropology in Design Research: Why Culture Is the Conversion Strategy
Design Research track
Applying Anthropology in Design Research: Why Culture Is the Conversion Strategy
Why do people really behave the way they do? Not because the UX was frictionless, but because the experience spoke to something about who they are, who they want to be, and what their choices mean within their world.
This talk applies anthropological thinking to design research, unpacking the cultural narratives, social performances, and identity tensions that shape human decision-making. The argument: understanding culture isn't a nice-to-have. It's the strategy.
William Anthony Yanko, PhD
William Yanko is a CX/UX Research leader and PhD-qualified Anthropologist who has spent over a decade figuring out why people do what they do, and making sure that actually matters to the organisations he works with. His path hasn't been a straight line. Along the way, he's embedded himself in contexts most researchers don't get near, from wearable technology and city-scale tracking systems to emergency safety tools in mining and early-stage fintech at a Southeast Asian super-app. He currently heads the Centre of Excellence for Research at Flight Centre Travel Group - Leisure, working closely with senior leadership to ensure major business, product and technology decisions are grounded in real human behaviour. His PhD from RMIT University, where he researched the sociopolitics of Indonesian hip hop, is what shaped his conviction that good research is ultimately about listening carefully to people who are rarely asked.