In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Stephanie and Molly sit down with David Evans, a social psychologist turned research leader who has spent more than a decade shaping Microsoft’s approach to AI, brand strategy, and user experience. David entered tech as social media was reshaping behavior and quickly saw how teams were obsessed with what technology could do, while he remained anchored in what humans needed. That tension still drives his work today. David talks about the “bottlenecks” in human attention, memory, and motivation and why these limits are not obstacles, but protective filters that help people focus on what matters. He shows how this lens guided real product decisions at Microsoft, from easing the transition from Windows 10 to 11 by addressing user fears head-on, to designing Together Mode in Teams to strengthen belonging during remote work. David draws a clear line between using AI to accelerate valuable work like surfacing insights in historical data and deepening qual analysis and using it to cut corners. He calls out the rise of “research theater,” especially when teams fabricate synthetic survey data and attempt to generalize from it. They further examine how conversational interfaces shift UX into a social space where memory, tone, and continuity matter as much as UI patterns. David also broadens the conversation on privacy, emphasizing that protection must include behavioral traces and predictions, not just what people choose to share. He posits that AI can support thinking, but it cannot replace the human work of reasoning, writing, and carrying insight across the finish line.

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