Trauma-Responsive Design: Reimagining the Future of Design Now
Summary
The last year-and-a-half of crises demonstrate why researchers and designers must anticipate and plan for trauma as it emerges in our work (and our lives). This session is an introduction to trauma-informed design frameworks. Through real-life examples, attendees will see how concepts from care fields, like social work, are integrated into the research and design process to center the safety and empowerment of the individuals and communities we serve. Attendees will leave the session with an understanding of how they can begin to explore using trauma-informed frameworks in their own practices.
Key Insights
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Trauma differs fundamentally from stress or PTSD; it disrupts core meaning-making and belief systems.
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Mass trauma from the pandemic will affect societal design and civic systems for decades to come.
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Designers and social workers share complementary goals and should collaborate to create socially responsible work.
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Trauma-informed care principles, originating in medicine, can be effectively adapted to design practice.
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Trustworthy design requires transparency and proactive integrity to minimize inevitable harm.
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Peer support and slow, careful pacing—moving at the speed of care—are vital in trauma-responsive design.
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Radical participatory design demands significant time and care beyond good intentions.
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Trauma is embodied and connected to memory, affecting both users and designers themselves.
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Anti-racist design cannot exist without trauma-informed approaches; both require ongoing commitment.
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Providing spaces for debrief and processing trauma among design teams sustains their well-being and effectiveness.
Notable Quotes
"Trauma is a rupture in meaning making; the way you see yourself, the world and others is shocked and overturned by an event."
"Our ability to entice participants to share their most personal stories raises the potential to exploit them for design research."
"People must feel emotionally, physically, and psychologically safe in our design spaces."
"We need integrity designers who are proactive and minimize the damage that is certain to happen in services we design."
"What if we moved at the speed of care, support, and hospitality instead of just the speed of trust?"
"Authentically engaging with people traumatized by racism demands a significant abundance of care."
"There is a synergy between design and social work values that gives trauma-informed design its meaning and purpose."
"Trauma lives in the body as pain, tension, or numbness and does not impact everyone the same way."
"Radical participatory design is some of the hardest work I have ever done; it takes more than intention, it takes significant care and time."
"To be anti-racist, you must be trauma-informed; to be trauma-informed, you must commit to anti-racist work."
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