Infrastructuring Scotland’s SD communities
#SDSgather
What can you do to lift others?
@Lorrismyth, @MikePress, and @Barbara_m6 left us with this question at last week’s Service Design Scotland distanced gathering. I completely failed to do the whole cascade response thing. But it did leave me thinking. How could I lift others beyond my close networks? What, beyond my walls and passions, had helped me keep up my spirits through these strange times? I will continue reflecting on how I can lift others, but I thought I could start by being grateful for the work they are doing to lift us up.
For the past couple of moths, these distanced gatherings have been the one thing to look forward. Every week, Lorry, Mike, and Barbara have shown up to keep us energised and engaged. They consistently bring an optimist and constructive outlook and invite us to celebrate and help each other.
For a Zoom call, they have developed a very dynamic and social format. You get to engage in conversation with people (in Scotland and beyond) and a sense of community begins to build up as faces become more and more familiar.
@Barbara_m6 runs random-coffee-trials, where you arrange a video-conference with someone you may not know. The first 30 seconds are awkward. But service design is a great ice-breaker, and everyone is doing really interesting stuff. Moreover, if you let it flow, they can also become intimate. You can really get a glance of the other person and connect at a time we are all thirsty for human interaction.
They also manage our vivid slack community filled with generous people, useful resources, and interesting questions and reflections.
We are Snook are also continuously sharing insights and resources (i.e. SD procurement guide; digital inclusivity principles); and now we have access to the mentorship of senior and lead-level designers thanks to @Mega_Mentor— created by @_alecanella, @kirsty_joan, @mathewtrivett, and @mintycrumbs.
Something is happening in Scotland. The value of these initiatives goes far beyond bringing us a wave of optimism every Thursday. They are nurturing an extensive network of people with a passion for service design; and building the platforms and resources for us to learn, connect, build relationships, and collaborate. The rippling effects of these networks and connections are hard to capture but can be far-reaching.
This is where I would get all theoretical and want to discuss complexity theory and conditioned emergence, and how this infrastructuring of networks can transform our professional identities and the ways we strengthen and share our practice.
But for now just to say,
to the catalysts: thank you
to anyone interested in SD: do not miss out
