Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic spaces has led to a spatial collapse. It may feel like all is lost, but Tricia argues that if we look back to previous moments in history of spatial collapses, we learn that they always produce new ways of thinking that would’ve never been possible before. In each moment, entirely new culture is created. New systems, economies, and tools are born out of the disruption caused by spatial collapse. Pain and creativity are well known bedfellows. Tricia argues that if we want to design services, products, and policies that truly respond to people’s needs, we need to learn how to identify emergent culture. We need to learn how to not rely on outdated data sets. We need to abandon business as usual to thrive in this rapid time of change.
Key Insights
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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a total collapse of spatial boundaries between home, work, and community.
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Historical spatial collapses, like the Renaissance's linear perspective, enclosed lands in England, and 20th century urban blight, all produced emergent cultures and new social norms.
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Linear perspective promoted a singular, colonizing worldview that privileged one point of view as objective truth, leading to misunderstandings.
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The Enclosure Movement forcibly removed millions from common lands, creating urbanization and inventing the modern concept of personal time.
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Labor unions formed to reclaim personal time, establishing the norm of eight hours of work, leisure, and rest—dividing spaces into home, work, and community.
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Urban blight and forced displacement in US cities disrupted communities but also led to the emergence of hip-hop culture through reimagined use of public spaces.
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Perspective collisions happen when designed systems fail to recognize the lived realities of their users, revealing designers' blind spots.
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Relying solely on quantitative data risks missing rapid cultural shifts; thick qualitative data (stories, context) is critical to understanding emergent culture.
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People’s identities are elastic and changing; designers should avoid fixed personas that oversimplify or exclude nuanced realities.
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Post-pandemic work may decentralize from major cities, but risks of digital and geographic exclusion persist, requiring careful inclusive design.
Notable Quotes
"We are all experiencing a spatial collapse, a disruption of our mental models of how we navigate physical and virtual spaces."
"Linear perspective created this myth that we can see reality from a single perspective, which is the source of all misunderstanding."
"Working from home during the pandemic is hard because it’s fun only when you can actually leave your home."
"Factory owners manipulated people’s time so much that workers were afraid to carry a watch."
"Hip hop proves that we can re-animate spaces with highly generative communities that weren't built for us."
"Thick data is the opposite of big data; it’s stories, qualitative, and crucial during moments of rapid change."
"Treat identities as elastic, not as fixed personas, because people’s needs and roles are complex and changing."
"Most organizations are still asking design questions at a global level; we need to be hyper-local now."
"Never be afraid to get into good trouble; start by asking why."
"It’s human infrastructure—community organizing, unions, activists—that saves the day when other infrastructures break down."
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