What is a compassionate design practice?
Designers spend a lot of time being ‘not sure yet’ about things they consider to be very important. A group of us have arrived together at an important hunch, which we are now chasing. Here is our current thinking. See if some of these speculations resonate, and let us know what you think too.
> An endeavor to move designers from systems thinking to systems sensing, and to cultivate compassion: a capacity to hold human paradoxes with care and without judgement.
This definition is derived from the work of the Society for Organizational Learning, the Centre for Systems Awareness at MIT, and the work of Peter Senge. And here we apply that definition of compassion to design.
> An embrace of the reflexivity inherent in contemporary design practice, and the development of a corresponding designerly skill.
Compassion is a necessary component of design. It extends further than traditional design skills and is a way by which to embrace and engage in the subjectivity intrinsic to a design process.
> An embodied aesthetic anchoring designers in reflection and awareness as they confront complex, contradictory, interconnected and interdependent systems. (climate change, human migration, substance abuse…)
We believe that a practice of compassion helps better equip designers to approach and engage with problems that are classically defined as “wicked” and involve an evolving diversity of stakeholders, needs and challenges.
> An attitude cultivating vulnerability, sensitivity and interconnectivity when we engage in collaborative design processes.
Compassionate design brings with it an acknowledgement of the power and privilege inherent within the field and its application.
Our current design problematic:
How might we as designers cultivate a practice of compassion to improve the caliber and quality of our work? What are the ways by which we can integrate a compassionate design practice into our endeavors and build futures as collectively resonant as they are socially resilient?
We believe that a compassionate design practice is a necessary component of contemporary design action. We’d love to hear your thoughts: compassionatedesignpractice@gmail.com
