Reconnecting in Remote Times and the Lasting Value of Community
Research keeps pointing me to it, and there never seems to be enough.
The last few years presented both beauty and struggle, personally. Beauty in the way life has unfolded with family and self-acceptance. Struggle in remote work, moving and feeling distant, a sense of longing for connection, and something that has been missing.
In February, I sent out a survey to my network. I hoped to find ideas to combat my own disconnects with isolation. I wanted to know how others were doing, and if they had suggestions.
For all that responded, not a single person indicated that they had too much community.
It was validating, but not less lonely-feeling. Others felt similar things, despite no shortage of options to connect with the world. It also wasn’t an unfamiliar concept.
I was at the heart of building community in transformative times.
I led large ethnographic studies and facilitated grassroots research for localities. I worked in community management at the beginning of social media. And I consulted institutions as an SME for years on the subject. I helped universities institute AI-based listening to understand and engage with their campus experiences.
Community has been core to my career, for 20 years now, and I’ve yet to see any regret investing in it. Still, I’ve watched plenty argue its necessity.
Clear value of community, still dismissed by stakeholders
In 2022, I stopped teaching UX to help General Assembly’s operations and product teams. The post-campus remote learning model proved difficult from the onset, riddled with challenges. GA was flipping the portfolio, going fully remote, and needed research ops. Their ask was to capture UX and define value.
Being on the frontlines for years, I knew community was a driving force, but those days were behind us.
Historically, survey data wasn’t analyzed, except for NPS as an aggregate. Survey owners weren’t researchers, and couldn’t offer insight. Over the next few months, I stood up research ops and explored the depths of business survey data.
With the help of AI, I was able to get clear context about customer and team journeys. I had qualitative and statistical analysis for tens of thousands of responses. They sought more individualized support, practical experiences, and face time with other people.
But above all, and most consistent, they wanted more community.
GA’s value came from its community. It was an intrinsic part of its campuses. But it also fueled its circular economy. For years, campus community was a reliable source for all avenues of the business—it brought in B2B/B2G and hiring partners, drove admissions, provided local and peer services the company couldn’t, and gave people solace in knowing they weren’t alone in a very daunting process.
But in this new remote age, there was no intent to build it again. And for a strategy focused on reduction, that was a non-starter.
Community was what brought me to GA in the first place. And when that chapter ended for me, I was forced out.
Yet in all my introversion, it’s still the thing I can’t help but keep coming back to.
Now more than ever, it’s harder to find. As tech careers are dismantled by AI and design teams are left in the balance, it’s apparent there’s few paths or resources to feel supported.
The talent pool is huge, and only getting bigger. Talent is moving away from traditional work. Decentralized workforces demand more human interaction and community. But what platform exists for support, maturity, and growth? What connective tissue is…connecting us?
But back to the survey—
I shared with 300 mid- and senior-level designers in my network and received about 40 responses. On its face, the 15% response didn’t seem significant. But, there’s no doubt legitimacy in the results.
From the responses, the insights were telling:
Most sought mentorship, sharing/creating content, engaging in discourse
Some seek escape from remote-work doldrums, wanting to share life updates and work accomplishments
Many reported burnout, looking for jobs and needing feedback, lack of connection
There were concerns about the design and tech community, lacking work they cared about, and struggling with mental health
Also clear needs and solutions:
Workshops, meetups, facilitation and design practice
Regular check-ins, coffee chats, co-working sessions
Learning new tools, and honing technical and professional skills
Career coaching from practitioners, networking and interview practice
These aren’t complex concepts. They’re not insurmountable challenges. The need for deeper community connections is clear. As we adapt to more decentralized times, we need to rethink and rebuild the structures that support real, meaningful interactions.
If countless people sought it before, there’s reason to pursue it again.