The meaning of systemic worries me when talking about #SystemicDesign and I need to broaden it out in a few specific directions for #DesignCouncil #DesignForPlanet workshops over the next two weeks. Systems as traps Design and designers can too often get trapped within systems and processes.

Making change Are you concerned about the climate crisis and want to make a difference? Join one of our upcoming workshops that will equip you with the tools and knowledge to approach the climate crisis from a systemic design perspective. We are currently collaborating with the Design Council in the UK. Alastair…

I set up a new web domain today. It is despairshop.com It is partially satirical and partially practical. I am working on a few projects where the ideas behind DespairShop are relevant. There are two key issues: only one of which is addressed by the current webpage. …

The ‘Borrowing’ space I was at a Christmas show in Bristol in January. The Snow Queen was a lovely production for all of us. It was also a good reminder of why I love theatre (and spent many years either as a lighting engineer or producer for amateur drama groups). The show was…

I am working on the design of a few workshops for the Design Council in the UK. They are all around the theme of Design For Planet and more particularly the Systemic Design Framework and Toolkit. There are a lot of diagrams, tools and icons in all this. …

This article was written by ChatGPT as I needed something to react to while thinking about a workshop design problem If you’re new to the concept of systemic design, it can be overwhelming to wrap your head around the idea of designing for complex systems. However, don’t worry! Here’s a…

I am working with the Design Council to develop facilitation materials based on their Systemic Design Framework, part of their mission to Design for Planet. The paper, which was published in 2021, outlines a systemic approach to design practice which they are now developing into tools aimed at designers. Workshop purpose What…

This is a post about nearly dying and why stopping is so important. A couple of years ago, I was swimming by myself in the sea off Sidmouth. I suffered SIPE (Swimming Induced Pulmonary Edema) when 20–30 metres offshore in deep water. What that means is my throat constricted and my ability to breathe collapsed. This was how I became lost at sea. The main content for this post is this 6 minute video I recorded in Sidmouth a couple of weeks ago.

I was running a walking workshop last week in Germany. I noticed that my opening user research questions are very basic. I do not speak German so I was aware of this because of I needed to simplify my language for translation. I do not view scripted user research question…