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
Ariel Kennan
Theme 2 Intro
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold
Catherine Dubut
Bridging Physical and Digital Spaces: Approaches to Retail Service Design
2021 • Enterprise Community
Natalie Dunbar
DesignOps and Content Strategy: Envisioning the Future Together
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold
Feleesha Sterling
Building a Rapid Research Program
2023 • Enterprise Community
Megan Blocker
Theme 2 Intro
2025 • Advancing Research 2025
Gold
Dan Hill
Designing for the infrastructures of everyday life
2024 • Designing with AI 2024
Gold
Louis Rosenfeld
Founder’s Welcome
2022 • Design in Product 2022
Gold
Bria Alexander
OKRs—Helpful or Harmful?
2022 • DesignOps Community
Aras Bilgen
Research Democratization: A Debate
2023 • Advancing Research 2023
Gold
Shreya Dhawan
Making service tangible: the fastest path to higher performance
2025 • Advancing Service Design 2025
Gold
Jane Reid
Self-care in User Research
2020 • Advancing Research Community
Bria Alexander
Opening Remarks
2024 • Advancing Research 2021
Gold
Dan Willis
Filling the Void
2018 • DesignOps Summit 2018
Gold
Prayag Narula
Dialing for Research: How to Reach the Unreachable
2022 • Advancing Research 2022
Gold
Irina Tikhonova
Small Wins, Big Impact: Leveraging and Elevating User Engagement
2021 • Civic Design 2021
Gold
Kristin Skinner
Theme 1 Intro
2021 • DesignOps Summit 2021
Gold

More Videos

Anna Avrekh

"Don’t position yourself as the research expert; you are the expert in facilitating the quest for knowledge."

Anna Avrekh Dr. John Pagonis Klara Pelcl Sina Schreiber

Expert Panel: Leading in and with Research

March 10, 2022

Taylor Klassman

"AI-driven results are often 30 to 50 percent hallucinogenic—meaning not real—so we need to be cautious about overreliance."

Taylor Klassman

Shaping the Next Era of UX Research: Collaborative Forum

March 11, 2025

Dr. Jamika D. Burge

"Strategic positioning means research is a decision-making tool, not just a service to requests."

Dr. Jamika D. Burge Steve Portigal Alba Villamil Sam Ladner

The Future of Research: Bridging the Gaps

July 29, 2021

Marisa Bernstein

"Compensation is so important to thank people for their time, and you will definitely build your recruitment pool much faster if you offer it."

Marisa Bernstein

It Takes GRIT: Lessons from the Small, but Mighty World of Civic Usability Testing

December 9, 2021

Dan Mall

"You have to know what the development roadmap is to ensure design system changes are properly integrated and prioritized."

Dan Mall

“Ask Me Anything” with Dan Mall, Author of Upcoming Rosenfeld Title, Design that Scales

October 2, 2023

Chris Geison

"I challenge all of us to pull back from self-congratulations when we hear talk of extractive practices."

Chris Geison

Theme 1 Intro

March 9, 2022

Bruce Gillespie

"If someone only reads the first few paragraphs or attends the first 10 minutes, they should still get the key takeaways."

Bruce Gillespie

Learning from journalism: Balancing impactful communication with compassionate storytelling

March 13, 2025

Nancy Douyon

"People in some countries are three times more likely to buy a product if it’s localized in their language."

Nancy Douyon

We'll Figure That Out in the Next Launch: Enterprise Tech's Nobility Complex

June 15, 2018

Liz Ebengo

"Redemptive design means to buy back or restore something or someone to its rightful place."

Liz Ebengo

The Burden on Children: The Cost of Insufficient Post-Conflict Services and Pathways Forward

December 4, 2024