Margaret Price is a principal design strategist and researcher at Microsoft focused on studying human to human interaction as a model for human to technology interaction.

She has a background in studying human nature and monitoring the cultural landscape to identify areas for creative and strategic growth. Prior to Microsoft, Margaret held various positions across business, design, marketing, R&D,  and, brand strategy serving companies like PepsiCo, Target, AT&T, and, Procter & Gamble.  Her passion for research and identifying latent human needs has taken her to over 40 countries.

Most recently, Margaret collaborated with a series of industry and internal experts to create a documentary about Inclusive Design and the importance of understanding, designing for, and embracing human diversity. Margaret is currently helping to create, evolve, and, scale the Inclusive Design practice at Microsoft.

Her content strategy is featured in the Inclusive Toolkit which was recently awarded by IXDA, nominated as a FastCO World Changing Idea. Her curriculum has been taught in Universities worldwide. Most recently, within RISD, Brown, and, MIT.

 

 

 

I AM:

A Thinker & Doer 

Hyper-independent 

Left and right-brained  

Hungry  

Actionable Thought Leader

Innovative problem solver

Visionary 

Positive Change

Hit-the-ground-running

Scrappy  

Creative with ambition

Embracer of ambiguity

AM NOT: 

One or the other

Ego-driven

Myopic  

Unable to prioritize 

Pontificating Speaker

 “Just get the job done”

Delusions of grandeur 

Complex Disruption 

Reckless

Stagnant 

Rigid with Process 

Afraid to explore the unfamiliar

 

I've spent the past 10 years working with C-level executives to shape everything from corporate strategy, internal communications, and retail innovation, to design strategy and global branding.  

I love holistic thinking and have the intellectual capacity for multiple specialty areas. 

A pure right/left brained hybrid, I like to work in cultures that enable creative problem solving. I live in a balance between quantitative analyses of complex business models (like cloud brokerages) and innovative qualitative research (like exploring human connection and unearthing insights that brands can use to transcend categories). I'm just as interested in digging into a market sizing analysis as in exploring the role of a brand in the broader culture that they live in.

I love to geek out.

I have a passion for facilitating exploratory research and using insights to inform business and design decisions like packaging, visual languages, new product development and internal communications/employer branding.

I love consumer insights.

Ambiguity, white space, and problem-solving under pressure fuels me. I recently acted as a lead consultant to help a $21B company build a centralized marketing team from the ground up. I'm currently helping to create a practice that's radically redefining the way Microsoft makes products. 

I love messy and complex challenges. 

I'm constantly hungry to learn and get creative stimulus from exposure to new people and surroundings.  I achieve this by taking classes where success simply means participating vs. becoming an expert. Favorites include: zorbing 101 in Swizerland, beginning trapeze in Seattle, surf week in Bali, Painting in Rome,  Meditation in Vienna, and Zombie Survival Training in Chicago.