Tent Talks Featuring: Sheetal T. Patel

Background on the CIA and Patel's Role

• The CIA's core missions include foreign intelligence, counterintelligence, all-source analysis, and covert action.
• The agency is organized into directorates and mission centers, integrating different functions for regional or functional focus.
• Patel's Transnational and Technology Mission Center (T2MC) synchronizes with the private sector and addresses global strategic technology issues.

User Experience in the Intelligence Cycle

• UX plays a critical role in presenting intelligence to policymakers in a digestible and usable format.
• Key elements of effective intelligence presentation include:
  • Bottom-line upfront: presenting the most crucial information first.
  • Conciseness: limiting reports to one or two pages.
  • Structured storytelling: ensuring a clear narrative with a story arc and relevance to national security.
  • Visualization: using maps, charts, and graphics to aid memory retention.
  • Accessible formatting: maintaining white space and larger fonts to enhance readability.

Evolution of Technology in the CIA

• Technological advancements have significantly impacted intelligence operations, with ubiquitous technical surveillance becoming a norm.
• The PRC's rise as a tech competitor and the shift of innovation from government to the private sector and academia have influenced CIA's approach.
• Collaboration with private sector and academic entities is increasingly critical for staying abreast of technological developments.

Challenges in Applying UX and HCD in Intelligence

• Predominantly paper-based dissemination requires maintaining effective traditional methods while exploring interactive products.
• Policymakers' varying levels of expertise necessitate adaptable presentation formats, balancing detailed technical information with simplicity.

Opportunities for Transforming Intelligence Gathering and Analysis

• Tailoring information to user needs is crucial, distinguishing between detailed technical explanations and concise summaries.
• Understanding what level of detail is necessary for users to grasp the significance of intelligence findings.

Advice for UX and HCD Professionals Interested in National Security

• The CIA seeks a broad range of expertise, welcoming applications from individuals with diverse backgrounds.
• Opportunities for contributing to national security extend beyond employment, with the agency open to external insights on technological trends.

Notable Quotes

• "Your bottom line is up front. Your first sentence of your paragraphs, your first sentence of your briefing is going to tell a policymaker literally what the bottom line is."
• "Visualization comes in, maps, charts, graphics, however it is possible to get that information in a format that is not only quickly digested, but remembered."
• "Since World War II, a lot of the tech innovation was happening in government. And what has happened in the last decade, 15, 20 years, I think, there has been a shift."
• "You don't want to lose the audience before the message has been downloaded."

Reference Materials

• CIA's official website: CIA.gov

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!