Traditionally design is framed as a marathon, an event with a clean finish line. This framing is naturally competitive, time-centric, and concerned with quantity over quality.
Equity was never built into this traditional framing, leaving design projects with winners and losers. While “sprints” are proven to drive results in design and are not invaluable or inequitable in nature, their language plays into this framing. When embedding equity into the design process, this language reinforces the oppressive system of white supremacy and superiority.
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Research
Researching inequity in design through explorative interviews with experts
and secondary resources.
How is design inequitable?
How can the design process be equitable?
The design of tomorrow is a collaborative concert. Concerts and music festivals aren’t competitive but collaborative efforts between the band and its audience. They value the quality of the performance, over the time it takes, instead of using harsh finish lines they acknowledge a natural gradual ending. They allow for the discovery of new ideas and lyrics, if one is willing to listen, and we rarely attend a concert alone.
This project has been a collaborative concert. We’ve melded together so many different genres or majors and upbringings, each unique in its own way and bringing strong perspectives to the table. We’ve done the exercises and we’ve built a trust with one another, that allows us to bring our whole selves to work every single day.
Download our research report