Stefana Broadbent

Why you should listen

Stefana Broadbent, a cognitive scientist, has spent decades observing people as they use technology, both at home and at work and everything in between. She looks at the way we use digital channels to forge relationships, to perform our jobs, to engage as citizens, to learn and care for others.

Using traditional and evolving ethnographic practices in her research, now at If You Want To and formerly as Head of Collective Intelligence at NESTA and a Lecturer in Digital Anthropology at University College London, she has made some surprising findings. Did you know, for instance, that the majority of our digital interactions are still with 4 or 5 of our closest ties? Or that one the most significant transformation in our working life has been the possibility of keeping in touch with our loved ones from our workplace?

What others say

“She does not only feed you with plenty of data indicating new trends; she also goes deeper by connecting them to higher-level issues ([such as] cognitive psychology).” — Pasta & Vinegar blog