Organizations pioneering emerging technology need designers as much as scientists, both as user advocates and creative contributors. For designers, this provides a unique chance to push boundaries and help define the products of tomorrow. But how can designers make these contributions when the technology in question is beyond their understanding? Worse, how can they make their voices heard when the rest of the room is skeptical of the value of design? As designers working in Cloud and Quantum Computing, we live these struggles every day. To help you thrive in the unknown, we will share some concrete strategies that will allow you to quickly understand your domain, communicate effectively across knowledge divides, and make valuable contributions to highly technical teams.