Conscious design manifesto and principles, a Will-Wai perspective

Hello again. Kar and I have put together a little manifesto that underpins our approach and thinking for adopting ‘conscious design’.

Conscious design comprises both a design awareness of the potential long-term and unintended consequences of what we design and a continuous experimentation of our design process to build more sustainable products and services. It’s a first step towards building circular economies and transition design.

In addition to the manifesto, we’ve written a few conscious design principles.

1. Be conscious and prepared

2. Look beyond the surface

3. Feel uncomfortable

4. Forget best-in-class

5. Remember that design tools rust too

6. Experiment with the process

7. Challenge perspectives, do it in pairs

Conscious design manifesto

Be accountable

Designers shape the world — and are responsible for the world they shape.

We enable, empower and re-imagine what’s possible.

But we also endanger, damage and destroy.

Our view of the world is too often limited to the polished surface of products and services we design.

We move fast and break things — without considering what happens when those things break.

The consequences of what we design are far reaching.

We must understand and take responsibility for those consequences.

Be conscious of what lies beneath

Icebergs pierce the waterline, revealing only a part of their structure and make up.

What is seen above the waterline is entirely reliant upon what lies beneath, invisible to the eye.

Understanding what lies below the waterline gives us a better understanding of the magnitude, impact and ultimate consequence of the object.

As designers, we are well used to thinking beyond the surface of an experience.

We say we think “end-to-end”. “Front-to-back”.

But all too often we end that thinking within the organisation we’re working with — we don’t think beyond it.

Design for consequences in a connected world

In today’s digital age, the consequences of digital design choices are often well below the visible surface, far beyond the point of initial use.

But this is no excuse for indifference — design thinking has always emphasised the importance of externalities and the need to account for them.

We must treat utility, usability, sustainability and profitability as equals.

We must evolve from user-centred to conscious design.

Conscious design principles

Principle 1 — Be conscious and prepared

It’s a cliché that a butterfly’s wing can cause a cascade of catastrophic consequences.

It’s also true that the smallest of features, service propositions and habits created by products/services can have huge ramifications. Too often our business models and design process don’t account for unintended consequences and what could possibly go wrong.

To be responsible designers in today’s world, we must consciously war-game the possible effects of our decisions — what happens when we succeed? What happens when we scale? What happens when we scale beyond any reasonable expectation? How do we extend consciousness to our consumers?

We need to draw up the accounts for our design choices and take responsibility for them.

Principle 2 — Look beyond the surface

A relative of systems thinking, Iceberg thinking goes beyond the polished surface of user / customer experience to unearth what lies beneath.

In our quest for human-centred design, we’ve turned a blind eye on the invisible, willingly or unwittingly. Take the choice-ridden lives of Uber drivers, where every decision no matter how big or small bears a huge impact on their lives (the Financial Times have done a brilliant interactive ‘game’ simulating the lives of Uber drivers), or the environmental tolls of a Netflix binge. The list goes on.

The very make-up of what lies beneath the tip of the iceberg maintains the equilibrium and keeps it afloat. When there is an imbalance and the equilibrium is broken, the iceberg flips. The same goes for society. The consequences for organisations who have neglected what lies below the iceberg have been severe.

We need to find ways to go deeper — beyond the visible eye. Only then can we design new ways of maintaining a new equilibrium and thrive in a evermore diverse and globalised world.

Principle 3 — Feel uncomfortable

Being uncomfortable necessitates change.

Being uncomfortable also helps us to quash some of our biases and preconceptions, which can limit our ability to understand and design for meaningful problems.

We must actively seek out discomfort and embrace its value as a driver of re-harnessing awareness and humility into how we design, thereby allowing us to enter richer and unexpected territories when ideating.

Discomfort unlocks the most visceral feeling you will get when you design. It’s time we reset our learners’ mindsets and not succumb to Post-It fatigue.

Principle 4 — Forget best-in-class

Believe in better, not “best”.

An obsession with “best-in-class” distorts priorities; it focuses on a present notion of what is good today — but not what’s sustainable for the future.

We ask everyone to challenge best-in-class, to look beyond the obvious benefits — to think beyond the “class” we’re being asked to consider. A civilisation may be rich and powerful, but if it is built on slavery, it is no civilisation worthy of the name.

With a more holistic reference for measuring design decisions, we go deeper and create new products that solve for bigger problems.

Principle 5 — Remember design tools rust too

When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

We challenge ourselves to remain obsessed with customer-centric thinking and conscious design — and not to become obsessed with a canvas or a method.

When tools become check boxes or reside in tool boxes to be applied en masse for anything we do, we predefine answers to problems and lose the rigour in our thinking.

To innovate, kill your rusty design tools and don’t be afraid to invent new ones.

Principle 6 — Experiment with the process

Iceberg thinking was conceived in an experiment, so experimentation has always and will continue to be a defining factor and a celebrated mechanism for how we design.

Make necessity bear innovation — use only what you have, take short cuts, expose thinking faster, seek out new input, thinking and methods from other disciplines.

Go public and get feedback beyond your four walls. Solicit feedback from people from different backgrounds, from different schools of thought — from history to science — which are essential for adding rigour to our thinking.

Document your experiments, both to understand and measure progress, or lack of.

Seek new ways to model and manage an ever more complex and connected world.

Principle 7 — Challenge perspectives, do it in pairs

Two is a pair and three is a crowd. It is not a new concept or realisation that working in pairs comes with benefits.

Pair design very much plays on the same precipice that developers, creatives and even marriages have and continue to thrive off.

Balance, check and balance, different perspectives, conflict and friction before chemistry and unification. A good partner stretches and elevates your thinking.

Find your pair or pairs, support as well as push each other and let the good times roll. (Just make sure you both support the same footy team! 😂)

What’s next…

We’ll continue to test these principles with clients, designers and businesses. After a year of travelling around the world sharing the Will-Wai experiment, we’d like this to be the year of application. You can see what we’ve been up to in a separate post here.

As always, we are constantly looking for and open to feedback. Leave a message or get in touch — Will & Kar, Karwai Ng & Will Anderson