Start with Why: Why I Specialise in Impact Design
For me, the essence of design is designing for positive impact: in the products we make, in the systems that make them, and in the teams behind them.
Start with why. So why do I specialise in impact design?
Design is everywhere, and it means very different things to different people. Some see it as styling, some as engineering, some as marketing. Much has been said and written about design. For me, the essence of designing is designing for positive impact.
A world in motion
The world is in a pretty crazy place right now. AI is advancing rapidly and reshaping entire industries. At the same time, we have to ask ourselves how we, as humans, can learn to trust each other again, slow down and protect our future. We know we must care for the planet and for each other. Yet the systems we build (or, you could say, the systems we design) are missing something.
Is design political? Yes, definitely. But also no.
Design is a decision
Design is always a statement. And design is not democratic. It is one person’s or one team’s point of view, built on values that have been explored, diverged, converged and iterated, until finally a decision was made: a design decision.
A good design decision cares, and it reduces. It takes the burden of choosing away from the user. The joy of choosing may remain; that is what we call joyful design, or gamification. So you see: the designer makes a lot of decisions on behalf of others.
Designing the machine that builds the machine
For me, these decisions include materials that do not create waste or that can be fully recycled (cradle to cradle). But you also have to look at the machine that builds the machine. In other words: how does a company actually build its product? Not only how the product looks and works in the end, but the path that leads to it. And that path is changing rapidly right now, as AI enters almost every production and design decision we make.
Designing the machine that builds the machine requires an understanding of systems. How do people work and make things? What actually helps them? Not only what helps the profit margin. People matter more than anything else.
Using AI simply because it is capable, and thereby removing meaningful work from humans, would be bad design. Co-creating with AI, and exploring the new areas of impact and creativity that are now possible, is good design.
Solutions that keep the better in view
I am someone who can see many perspectives. But I also feel the most pressing ones, like the destruction and pollution of our planetary boundaries. That is what draws me to solutions that are genuinely positive: movements like the Fab Labs, Fab City, Precious Plastic, open source, commons communities and many more. Solutions that keep the better in view.
The team is the most powerful force
I believe we already have all the tools we need to build impactful things. The challenge is to come together in teams that have the resources to develop better solutions. The team is the most powerful force on our planet.
That is why I find great joy in working with teams that have a clear vision and mission and have sorted out their values. Values that see every individual as equal. Teams that care not only about what they do every day, but also about how their work affects others, and about what they leave behind once they are gone.
That is what brings me joy, and I look forward to working with organisations that share it.
In my other articles you can find out more about my recent work, my skills, and where I made a difference in real projects.
