Video: Cultivating Design Ecologies of Care, Community, and Collaboration

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Cultivating Design Ecologies of Care, Community, and Collaboration

Gold

Wednesday, October 4, 2023 • DesignOps Summit 2023

Sahibzada Mayed

Trauma-Informed Researcher, Abolitionist, Pause & Effect

Lauren Lin

Designer, Researcher, Student, Northwestern University

Summary

“How we are at the small scale is how we are at the large scale” (Adrienne Maree Brown). To truly put humans in “human-centered design,” we must be care-centered. And how we practice care in our own teams or the “small scale” will influence the downstream impacts of our design work. This session is an invitation to explore how we practice and build ecologies of care, community, and collaboration to shift towards mutual power and symbiotic relationships throughout the design process. Drawing from a perspective of trauma-centeredness and harm reduction, we will all engage in deep (sometimes complex) reflection about what it means to care for yourself, with others, and develop an ethics of care to guide design teams. If the purpose of DesignOps is to build systems, processes and tools to support stronger design teams and individuals, this is the case for care: to show up as humans first, before we are designers, researchers, employers/the employed, technologists, or however you define your role.

Key Insights

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Design ecologies view organizations as fluid systems with interconnected relationships rather than rigid hierarchies.
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Decentralizing power within organizations is crucial to enabling authentic care and collaboration.
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Collective care goes beyond individual self-care, focusing on mutual care and interdependence within teams.
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Care can flow bidirectionally in relationships, creating reciprocal and multi-pathway connections.
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Drawing from indigenous and transformative justice practices helps reframe organizational care.
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Adrian Marie Brown’s fractals of change principle shows how small-scale care practices can scale up to larger systems.
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The network-of-care framework encourages mapping core and extended relationships, identifying emotional and practical care needs.
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Practicing anti-urgency and boundary-setting at work fosters sustainable care and collaboration.
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Care practices in corporate environments require intentional conversations and tools to shift power dynamics and build buy-in.
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Integrating care with accountability and recognizing systemic inequities supports liberated, abundant relationships.

Notable Quotes

"What would it look and feel like to be surrounded by a network that is rooting for you to grow and blossom?"

"Ecology isn’t about sustainable product design but about creating sustainable and cared-for organizations."

"Your organization exists within larger ecologies and ecosystems, including the land and waters around us."

"Decentralizing power is really important because power impacts how we can practice care and collaborate."

"Knowing that you love the earth activates you to defend, protect, and celebrate, but feeling that the earth loves you back transforms that into a sacred bond."

"Ecologies thrive on collective care and interdependence, not just individualistic self-care."

"How we are at the small scale is how we are at the large scale."

"Design ops is uniquely positioned to plant new seeds and empower care-centered collaboration."

"Care is a relational practice, a form of reciprocity and kinship that looks different for every person."

"Being anti-urgency and setting boundaries at work are acts of care that support wellbeing and collaboration."

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