Rosenverse
Expanding your Design Lens with Systems Thinking

This video is only accessible to Gold members. Log in or register for a free Gold Trial Account to watch.

Log in Register

Most conference talks are accessible to Gold members, while community videos are generally available to all logged-in members.

Expanding your Design Lens with Systems Thinking

Gold
Tuesday, March 28, 2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Share the love for this talk
Expanding your Design Lens with Systems Thinking
Speakers: Sheryl Cababa
Link:

Summary

Many of today’s processes and methods for design thinking and UX design feel limited in a world where we use these approaches to solve complex problems. Systems thinking is a mindset and approach that helps designers and researchers broaden their lens and empowers them to increase their impact. Join us for this session with Sheryl Cababa, the author of Closing the Loop.

Key Insights

  • Systems thinking helps designers address wicked problems by viewing issues as interconnected wholes rather than isolated parts.

  • Plastic pollution data often obscures the true system, as wealthy countries export much of their waste to poorer countries with weaker waste management.

  • User-centered design can unintentionally perpetuate harm by focusing narrowly on individual experience without systemic context.

  • Infinite scroll is an example where optimizing for user ease led to negative societal consequences.

  • Systems thinking concepts revolve around interconnectedness, causality, and wholeness to avoid shifting problems within the system.

  • Causal loop diagrams and iceberg diagrams are effective tools for visualizing complex system feedback and root causes.

  • Systems thinking encourages engagement with diverse, multidisciplinary stakeholders including policy makers, researchers, and affected communities.

  • Anticipating unintended consequences of design interventions helps mitigate harmful long-term systemic effects.

  • Tools like causal loop maps do not have to be large or complex; even small loops provide meaningful insights and facilitate stakeholder alignment.

  • Temporary solutions to crises risk becoming permanent emergencies unless designed with systemic foresight.

Notable Quotes

"We made a thing an actual thing. It’s a book called Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers."

"Systems thinking is not just about complexity but grounded in ethics to help deliver a better future for humans and the planet."

"When China banned plastic waste imports in 2018, it caused ripple effects increasing waste in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia."

"Rich industrialized countries outsource their plastic waste disposal to less capable countries."

"Optimizing something for ease of use does not mean it’s best for humanity — infinite scroll is a cautionary example."

"Today’s problems come from yesterday’s solutions — unintended consequences emerge when systems aren’t fully understood."

"A system is more than the sum of its parts; it exhibits adaptive, goal-seeking, self-preserving, sometimes evolutionary behavior."

"Systems thinking requires collaborating with diverse stakeholders rather than working in isolation."

"Temporary measures have a nasty habit of becoming lasting emergencies, especially with new crises always on the horizon."

"You don’t need a giant system map; even two or three causal loops can reveal root causes and align stakeholders."

Ask the Rosenbot
Ashley Sewall
Exit Interview #5: Designing My Life After Tech
2026 • Rosenfeld Community
Anna Avrekh
Diversity In and For Design: Building Conscious Diversity in Design and Research
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Christian Rohrer
Research Operations at Scale
2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Gold
Kurdin Bazaz
Culture, DIBS & Recruiting
2021 • Design at Scale 2021
Gold
Sam Proulx
Accessibility: An Opportunity to Innovate
2022 • Civic Design 2022
Gold
Christian Crumlish
Morning Insights Panel
2022 • Design in Product 2022
Gold
Sam Proulx
Online Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
2023 • Enterprise UX 2023
Gold
Bram Wessel
Enterprise Information Architecture
2020 • Enterprise Community
Scott Jensen
Short Take #2: UX/Product Lessons from Your Industry Peers
2022 • Design in Product 2022
Gold
Fisayo Osilaja
[Demo] The AI edge: From researcher to strategist
2024 • Designing with AI 2024
Gold
Prayag Narula
Dialing for Research: How to Reach the Unreachable
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Abby Covert
Panel: Collaboration Tools
2017 • DesignOps Summit 2017
Gold
Amy Brana Stuart
Rest in Peace Fly-in-fly-out Design
2022 • Design at Scale 2022
Gold
Sam Proulx
Understanding Screen Readers on Mobile: How And Why to Learn from Native Users
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Maria Rosala
Research Repositories
2026 • Advancing Research 2026
Gold
Dagmara Kukawka
Tiny team, moonshot impact: Democratizing research across continents
2026 • Advancing Research 2026
Gold

More Videos

Carl Turner

"Our technical leads started attending other teams’ meetings, helping break down integration barriers."

Carl Turner

You Can Do This: Understand and Solve Organizational Problems to Jumpstart a Dead Project

March 28, 2023

Karen Pascoe

"Don’t send your recruiters to spam LinkedIn. That damages your brand and turns off potential candidates."

Karen Pascoe

Developing Experience Teams and Talent in the Enterprise

June 8, 2016

Jilanna Wilson

"Sending small care packages to remote team members goes a long way in showing we care and building connection."

Jilanna Wilson

Distributed Design Operations Management

October 23, 2019

Shawna Hein

"Slack channels and weekly meetings encourage cross-contract collaboration, avoiding duplication and sharing learnings across teams."

Shawna Hein Kevin Hoffman

Create a Cohesive Civic Design Practice Across Agency, Vendors, and Contracts

November 17, 2022

Barb Spanton

"Site visits with users don’t just give actionable insight; they give us raw, humbling inspiration to keep going."

Barb Spanton

Doing Work That Matters: A Look Beyond The Idealistic Notion of 'Doing Meaningful Work'

June 10, 2022

Briana Thomas

"Silent leaders are people who prefer action over words and advocate in more intimate settings."

Briana Thomas

The Quiet Force: Uncovering Hidden Leadership in High-Impact Design Teams

September 24, 2024

Gina Mendolia

"In large complex systems, the dots are scattered across silos and time zones, making progress feel elusive."

Gina Mendolia

Therapists, Coaches, and Grandmas: Techniques for Service Design in Complex Systems

December 3, 2024

Lija Hogan

"Being fluent in multiple data languages and understanding behavioral and attitudinal data will be essential."

Lija Hogan Milan Mijatovic Sam Proulx Louis Rosenfeld

Three Years Out: Perspectives on the Near-Term Future of User Research

March 15, 2024

John Calhoun

"A design ops career ladder can look like a step stool unless you create multiple tracks for growth and specialization."

John Calhoun Rachel Posman

Two Sides of the DesignOps Coin: Teams Ops and Product Ops

January 8, 2024