Design Thinking 101

Mike Monteiro is a designer and the author of Ruined By Design, You're My Favorite Client, The Collected Angers, and the newly-revised Design is a Job. Listen to learn about: >> Mike’s book, Design is a Job >> Ethics in design >> Designing society so that ethical behavior becomes the norm Our Guest Mike Monteiro is the co-founder and design director of Mule Design. He mostly writes these days. His latest book is the second edition of Design Is a Job. Show Highlights [00:39] How Mike got into design during graduate school. [03:54] His first job in desktop publishing and printing taught him to measure work in 30-minute increments. [06:04] Moving into writing books. [07:32] Mike’s book, Design is a Job, was written to help designers with the ins and outs of being a professional designer. [10:57] Why Mike felt it was time to revise the book. [13:23] The “revised” edition changed so much, it’s basically a different book. [14:33] Mike talks about some of the new ideas in the revised edition. [15:12] Designers moving from contractors to employees. [18:02] The importance of ethical behavior and ethical decisions. [18:15] Mike’s butcher metaphor. [24:35] What companies and society can do to create an environment that encourages ethical behavior. [26:52] The first steps on the path to a more ethical world. [30:58] Finding his place in the semi post-pandemic world. [34:13] Knowing when it’s time to get off the stage. [35:48] Speaking only if you can improve the silence. [37:05] Getting older and realizing the value of listening. [38:34] How do we redesign power so that it can inoculate itself against power’s darker aspects [42:14] The messiness of the world today, and how should designers work within that world to make it a better place? [45:07] There is always a cost to the ethical choice. Links Mike on Twitter Mike on Medium Mule Design Mule Design on Twitter Ruined By Design Creative Mornings Podcast, F*ck You, Pay Me with Mike Monteiro Creative Mornings HQ: Let's Make Mistakes Intercom: Mule Design’s Mike Monteiro on responsibility in experience design Invision: Mike Monteiro: Design is Political Creative Bloq: Why designers need to stick to their guns Webstock ‘13: Mike Monteiro - How Designers Destroyed the World Interview with Mike by Clearleft Books By Mike Monteiro Design is a Job You’re My Favorite Client Ruined By Design: How Designers Destroyed the World, and What We Can Do to Fix It The Collected Angers Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Designing Culture at Work + Social Innovation + Necessary Disquiet with Lauren Currie — DT101 E29 Design for Good + Gut Checks + Seeing Power with George Aye — DT101 E50 Cognitive Bias + Ethics + Dreaming the Future of Design with David Dylan Thomas — DT101 E112

Hazel White is a designer and a visualizer. She creates simple visuals to help communicate complex ideas. We talk about how design and visualization combine to facilitate thinking, fuel solving, and create transformative change. Listen to learn about: >> How visualizations can help us communicate ideas >> Examples of what you can use visualizations for >> Hazel’s visualization projects and their impact >> Advice for those wanting to try creating their own visualizations >> Some tools and resources for those who want to create visualizations Our Guest Hazel White is a designer and educator who specializes in creating visuals that simplify complex information. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she collaborated with healthcare experts to rapidly distill complex information into simple and memorable visuals for frontline staff in hospitals and care homes. Currently, she is working on visuals of palliative care guidelines for health and care staff, visually recording a sports governing body’s transformation program, and developing internal documentation for a prominent cultural organization. Previously, Hazel was Founding Director of Open Change - a company which supported organizations to navigate change using Design Thinking. Clients included government, healthcare and national cultural organizations in the UK and Europe. Hazel spent two decades teaching design in Universities in the UK and South Korea.She is an Associate of the UK Design Council. Show Highlights [00:53] Dawan thanks Hazel for the incredible visualization she created for podcast conversation (download it here). [01:46] Hazel’s path from design thinking to visualization. [02:13] Discovering that drawing helped her remember things, such as lectures, better. [03:33] Visualizations are helpful for everyone’s memory recall. [04:49] Hazel gives one example from the healthcare industry of the powerful impact using visualizations has had on those she’s worked with. [08:15] How the pandemic increased the need for getting important information out quickly while also ensuring people understood it. [09:12] Hazel’s work on a series of COVID-19 related visualizations for hospital staff. [12:51] The value of using visualizations in a work environment. [13:40] Working on the Scottish Government’s Framework for Care for Adults in Care Homes [16:22] Visualizations can be used to capture ideas and themes during live workshops and meetings. [17:22] Using visualizations to map out how things interrelate and to see things changing over time. [18:01] Visualizations can help make complex information more accessible. [19:03] Visuals are something that people will remember. [21:04] How working with visualizations has changed how Hazel thinks and works. [23:50] Creating your own visuals, and when to hire a professional. [26:04] Advice for people who want to give creating visualizations a try, but who aren’t “good” at drawing. [27:50] The importance of feedback and collaboration during the creation process. [29:49] The positive feedback Hazel has gotten about her work. [32:37] Dawan gives listeners a visualization challenge. [33:29] Hazel offers tools and resources listeners can use while doing their challenge. [34:51] Drawing visualizations on Magic Whiteboard. [37:35] Thinking about visualizations and accessibility. Links Hazel on Twitter Hazel on LinkedIn Hazel White Design Ole Qvist-Sørensen: Draw More, together Magic Whiteboard Scriberia Eva-Lotta Lamm,  Sketchnoting: Communicate with Visual Notes Book Recommendations Visual Collaboration: A Powerful Toolkit for Improving Meetings, Projects, and Processes, by Loa Baastrup and Ole Qvist-Sørensen Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like A Designer’s Journey into Designing for Health and Healthcare with Lorna Ross — DT101 E45 Designing for Healthcare vs Sick Care + The Emergency Design Collective — DT101 E52 Civic Design + Innovation Ops + System Design with Ryann Hoffman — DT101 E62

David Dylan Thomas, author and host of the Cognitive Bias podcast, discusses cognitive bias, ethics, and inclusive design. Topics include participatory design, struggles with ethics in businesses, and the future of design. The conversation explores shifting power dynamics in design, aligning values with work, and reevaluating business models for ethical decision-making.

This episode of the Design Thinking 101 podcast is 5.5 Things Every Designer Should Know About: Appreciative Inquiry. Joan McArthur-Blair and Jeanie Cockell are co-presidents of Cockell McArthur-Blair Consulting.  Listen to learn about: >> Appreciative inquiry’s ability to generate hope and help people be creative >> Using generative questions to unlock people’s imaginations and focus on the positive >> How appreciative inquiry can help teams in trouble work through conflict >> Ways we can all start to use appreciative inquiry Our Guests Joan McArthur-Blair and Jeanie Cockell are Co-Presidents of Cockell McArthur-Blair Consulting. They profoundly believe that education is the most powerful force for social and economic good in the world. Together they have more than 50 years of experience in higher education and have taken that experience to build a consulting practice. They specialize in collaboratively designing strategies to surface the wisdom of individuals, groups and organizations in order for them to build positive futures and to respond effectively to change. They have co-authored many articles on resilience, leadership, appreciative inquiry and published two books, Appreciative Inquiry in Higher Education: A Transformative Force and Building Resilience with Appreciative Inquiry: A Leadership Journey through Hope, Despair, and Forgiveness. Show Highlights [02:42] An introduction to appreciative inquiry. [04:30] The power of appreciative inquiry. [05:36] Building bridges from the strengths we have to the better futures we want. [06:08] The emotional strength appreciative inquiry can help us nurture. [06:51] Asking good questions and focusing on strengths. [08:22] How appreciative inquiry helps us better examine our complex world. [09:48] The origin of appreciative inquiry. [10:43] You get more of what you focus on. [13:18] Problems are yearnings. [14:10] Design is a critical component of appreciative inquiry. [14:29] The simultaneity effect. [15:44] Putting design into action. [17:14] “Don’t create anything without me.” [18:53] Using appreciative inquiry to help groups and teams work through conflict. [19:08] Creating the appreciative climate. [19:23] One of Jeanie’s and Joan’s favorite exercises. [20:11] Creating the agreement by which the team will work together. [21:42] Generative questions unlock imagination and possibility. [25:01] Using questions to help organizations find their strengths and chart their own path. [26:40] The power of a compelling vision. [29:50] Making sure everyone can see themselves and their place inside the vision. [32:34] Taking a look at the “do it phase,” the “destiny” of appreciative inquiry. [34:24] An organization’s strategy doesn’t sit on a shelf, it lives and changes all the time. [35:54] Codifying the plan. [37:28] Carrying appreciative inquiry out into the larger world. [38:42] Appreciative inquiry creates hope. [39:58] How Joan and Jeanie define hope. [42:14] Joan talks about why she became involved in appreciative inquiry. [44:05] Jeanie and Joan offer advice and ways everyone can start using appreciative inquiry in their work and their lives. Links Joan on Twitter Jeanie Cockell on Twitter Joan on LinkedIn Jeanie on LinkedIn Joan on The University of British Columbia, Vancouver Campus Jeanie on The Taos Institute Joan on The Taos Institute Jeanie on The Appreciative Inquiry Commons Joan on The Appreciative Inquiry Commons Cockell McArthur-Blair Consulting The Taos Institute: Dialogue with Joan McArthur-Blair and Jeanie Cockell UBC Education Alumni: Joan McArthur-Blair A Brief Introduction to Appreciative Inquiry by Dr. Jeanie Cockell Appreciative Resilience Facilitator Training – register for April 2023 course Book Recommendations Building Resilience with Appreciative Inquiry: A Leadership Journey Through Hope, Despair, and Forgiveness, by Joan McArthur-Blair and Jeanie Cockell Appreciative Inquiry in Higher Education: A Transformative Force, by Jeanie Cockell and Joan McArthur-Blair Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like 5.5 Things Every Designer Should Know About: The Opioid Overdose Epidemic (Part 1) with Stacy Stanford — DT101 E102 5.5 Things Every Designer Should Know About Hacking Bureaucracy with Marina Nitze — DT101 E106 5.5 Things Every Designer Should Know About Positive Childhood Experiences with Robert Sege — DT101 E110

This episode of the Design Thinking 101 podcast is 5.5 Things Every Designer Should Know About: Positive Childhood Experiences. Dr. Robert Sege, MD PhD is a pediatrician at the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center, and a professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, where he directs the Center for Community Engaged Medicine. Dr. Sege is nationally known for his research on effective health systems approaches that directly address the social determinants of health. He is a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Social Policy in Washington, and serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Children's Trust and Prevent Child Abuse America. He has served on the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, and on its committee on injury violence and poisoning prevention. Listen to learn about: >> Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) >> Designing for children >> Helping kids navigate childhood in a positive way >> The importance of creating safe environments for children >> Ways we can give kids positive experiences that allow them to thrive Our Guest Robert Sege, MD, PhD is a Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, where he directs the Center for Community-Engaged Medicine and is a core faculty member of the Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute. He has served on national committees for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), been lead author on several important AAP policies, and has received national awards for his work, including the prestigious 2019 Ray E. Helfer award from the Alliance of Children’s Trusts and the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has led teams that developed new models for pediatric primary care and a new framework for working with children and families (HOPE). His extensive speaking and publication list include contributions to the prevention and treatment of child maltreatment and youth violence. He is a graduate of Yale College, received his PhD in Biology from MIT and his MD from Harvard Medical School, and did his pediatric residency at Boston Children’s Hospital.  Bob lives in the Boston area, where he and his wife Karen have raised three young adult children. Show Highlights [03:35] Bob starts the conversation talking about how all of the things we experience as children – good and bad – have a lasting impact on who we are as adults. [05:47] Parents: trust yourselves and your ability to raise your children. [06:33] Dawan and Bob talk about the often-contradictory advice that exists for parents. [07:34] Positive modeling for kids. [09:07] Children need safe, stable, nurturing relationships. [10:03] Defining family. [10:19] Designing housing and the spaces where families and communities gather. [14:15] Children need to have safe and equitable environments to live, learn, and play in. [14:29] Looking at the physical environment kids need. [15:23] Children also need a safe emotional environment. [16:49] Bob offers ideas for modern school design. [17:32] The need for arts programs in school. [18:01] HOPE’s website logo was designed by Boston Public High School students. [19:18] Children need to be actively engaged. [20:49] Dawan mentions how many services are designed more for parents than for the child. [21:21] Giving kids a sense of ownership in the family and in the world. [22:13] Designing and building community and finding ways children can be involved. [24:09] Children need opportunities for emotional growth. [24:31] Emotional growth on the playground. [26:06] Children need time in nature. [27:52] PCEs help us humanize one another and help us look past our biases about someone. [31:13] Dawan comments that it’s just as important to know the good stories as it is the bad stories if we really want to understand. [31:52] Bob talks about parent cafés and other places where parents can meet to talk about parenting. [33:37] Where to learn more about HOPE and the work Bob is doing. Links Robert on Twitter Robert at Tufts Medical Center Robert at the Center for the Study of Social Policy Effective Discipline to Raise Healthy Children Evidence-Based Health Care for Children: What Are We Missing? Positive Childhood Experiences offset ACEs: Q & A with Dr. Robert Sege about HOPE HOPE: Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences HOPE on LinkedIn HOPE on Twitter Register for HOPE Summit 2023 Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like 5.5 Things Every Designer Should Know About: The Opioid Overdose Epidemic (Part 1) with Stacy Stanford — DT101 E102 A Designer's Journey into Designing for Health and Healthcare with Lorna Ross — DT101 E45 Healthcare Design Teams + Wellness + ScienceXDesign with Chris McCarthy — DT101 E24

Michael Ackerman is currently the director of the Master in Healthcare Innovation Program and Professor of Clinical Nursing and the director of the Center for Healthcare Innovation and Leadership at the Ohio State University College of Nursing. He also maintains a clinical practice as an acute care nurse practitioner at St. Joseph's Neighborhood Hospital in Rochester, New York. Today, we talk about nursing, healthcare innovation, and opportunities for designers in the healthcare industry. Listen to learn about: >> The role of nurses in nursing/healthcare innovation >> The unique challenges of innovation in healthcare >> Improving the healthcare innovation cycle >> OSU’s Center for Healthcare Innovation and Leadership Our Guest Michael Ackerman is currently the Director of the Master in Healthcare Innovation Program and Professor of Clinical Nursing, and the Director of the Center for Healthcare Innovation and Leadership at the Ohio State University College of Nursing. He also maintains a clinical practice as an acute care nurse practitioner at St Joseph’s Neighborhood in Rochester, NY.  He is also the Owner of Ackerman Consultants. Dr. Ackerman has held just about every position a nurse could hold in academia and clinical practice from candy striper to senior director. His entire career has been dedicated to critical care with numerous publications as well as invitations to speak nationally and internationally. His research and writing has focused on a variety of clinical topics including sepsis, airway management, hemodynamics, innovation and leadership. His innovation work has led to many disruptions in clinical practice and health system change. He has been recognized for his various contributions with various fellowships including; Fellow in Critical Care Medicine, Fellow in the National Academy of Practice, and Fellow in American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. Dr. Ackerman completed his BSN from Niagara University, his MSN and DNS from The State University of New York at Buffalo, a post-masters certificate as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner from the University of Rochester and is currently enrolled in a Design Thinking certificate program at Rochester Institute of Technology. Show Highlights [01:18] Michael talks about his love of nursing, and starting his career in the ICU. [01:46] Finding his way into the healthcare innovation space. [03:27] What people, and especially designers, should understand about bedside nursing. [04:33] The three “P’s” of nursing and design. [07:22] Co-creating with nurses via the Center for Healthcare. [09:52] Nurses are moving into the innovation space. [11:59] Michael’s wishlist of things designers should do when working in the healthcare innovation space. [12:37] The healthcare industry is risk-averse. [14:46] A look at the different viewpoints of healthcare executives. [16:41] Michael talks about one project – a new feeding tube device. [19:07] The healthcare innovation cycle is often slow. [20:20} How the COVID-19 pandemic sped up the innovation cycle. [22:18] How designers and healthcare leadership can help improve the healthcare innovation cycle. [23:27] Democratizing innovation and inviting healthcare staff to the table. [26:00] Ohio State’s innovation studios for healthcare and nursing. [27:42] Working with the architecture school on creating healthier work environments. [28:48] OSU’s Masters in Healthcare Innovation program. [30:12] OSU’s Center for Healthcare Innovation and Leadership. [32:42] The importance of creativity, and logic-brain versus creative-brain. [34:21] Designers need to help people find ways to turn off their logic-brain to allow their creative-brain to turn on. [35:43] Giving people permission to experiment and create. [38:37] The patient harm threshold for rapid healthcare innovation. [39:49] The need for innovation leadership roles in hospitals and healthcare. [43:01] All leaders would benefit from being familiar with design thinking and being able to lead teams using a design mindset and methods. [44:51] A culture of innovation and creativity starts at the top. [47:22] Hospitals and healthcare are complex adaptive systems. [49:59] Michael’s and Dawan’s advice for innovators. Links Michael on LinkedIn Michael on Twitter Ackerman Consulting Michael on ResearchGate The Handoff: Nurse Burnout with Michael Ackerman Google Scholar list of articles where Michael is an author/co-author The #HCBIZ Show: The Novation Dynamic: 3 Pillars for Healthcare Innovation Success with Michael Ackerman SONSEIL Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like  Healthcare Design Teams + Wellness + ScienceXDesign with Chris McCarthy — DT101 E24 Nursing + Service Design + Healthcare Innovation with Brittany Merkle — DT101 E38 Seeing, Reframing, and Pursuing Problems with Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg — DT101 E86

This is a Design Thinking 101 episode in the Ask Like a Designer series. Ask Like a Designer helps people explore thinking and solving like a designer. You’ll learn about design thinking, service design, learning design, leading and building high-performing teams, and ways to achieve better outcomes. This episode is based on this article: ALD013 // Designing a Learning System for the Good Life. Read the article and others like it on Fluid Hive’s Ask Like a Designer. What did you think of this episode? Please send your questions, suggestions, and guest ideas to Dawan and the Fluid Hive team. Cheers ~ Dawan Design Thinking 101 Podcast Host President, Fluid Hive Show Highlights [00:47] What is learning? [00:55] The hope-mode learning system. [01:40] Good life learning. [01:40] Fluid Hive’s Good Life Learning System. [02:47] What problems are you able to solve? [03:05] What new problems do you want to be able to solve? [03:24] What will learning to solve these problems do for your life? [03:45] What will solving these problems do for your life? [04:12] What must you experience to learn to solve these problems? [04:38] What challenges can you expect along the way? [05:07] How will you judge how the learning journey is contributing to your life? [05:36] How will you evaluate your learning? [06:13] How will you practice what you’ve learned? [06:34] How will you judge how solving problems based on your learning is contributing to your life? [07:14] The benefits of having a learning system for life. [07:34] Fluid Hive’s free thinking tool will help you design your own learning system to create your best life. The Design Thinking 101 Podcast’s Ask Like a Designer series Ask Like a Designer — DT101 E61Design, and One Question to Rule Them All // ALD 002 — DT101 E63There Are No Problems Worth Solving — Only Questions Worth Asking // ALD 003 — DT101 E65 Your Good-Life OS: Designing a System for Living Well and Peak Performance // ALD 004 — DT101 E67 The Swiss-Army Lives of How-Might-We Questions // ALD 005 — DT 101 E69 Designing Facilitation: A System for Creating and Leading Exceptional Events // ALD 006 — DT101 E73 The Innovation Saboteur’s Handbook // ALD 007 – DT101 E77 Three Little Words for Better (Business) Relationships // ALD 008 — DT101 E79 The 30-Minute Solution Matrix: How to Think and Solve Under Pressure // ALD 009 — DT101 E87 Protect Your Solutions with Transformation Stories: Part 1 — Crafting Well // ALD 010 — DT101 E89 Protect Your Solutions with Transformation Stories: Part 2 — Telling Well // ALD 011 — DT101 E92 Want Better Outcomes? Find Better Problems. // ALD 012 — DT101 E99

Ruth Kikin-Gil is a design strategist, a digital product designer, and a practical dreamer who focuses on product innovation across devices, input methods, and platforms. At Microsoft, she leads the Responsible AI Practices for Microsoft's security organization. She helps drive responsible AI and Microsoft through serving on multiple AI and ethics in engineering and research workgroups. Ruth is a co-creator of the Guidelines for Human-AI Interaction, and is on the programming committee of Microsoft's Machine Learning and Data Sciences internal office. We talk about humans, artificial intelligence, and ethics.  Listen to learn about: >> How designing for human-AI interaction differs from typical UI/UX design>> Microsoft’s guidelines for human-AI interaction>> Ethical implications of AI>> The process of curating content for conferences>> Synthetic creativity>> The future of design and designers Our Guest Ruth is a design strategist, a digital product designer, and a practical dreamer that focuses on product innovation across devices, input methods and platforms. In Microsoft she leads the Responsible AI practices for Microsoft's Security org. She helps drive Responsible AI in Microsoft through serving on multiple Aether (AI and Ethics in Engineering and Research) work groups, is a co-creator of the Guidelines for Human-AI interaction and is on the programming committee of Microsoft’s Machine learning and Data sciences (MLADS) internal conference. In her Microsoft career, she designed future experiences for Office, for an innovation lab, and for a strategy team. In addition, she lectures at the Human Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) department in the University of Washington, Seattle. Before Microsoft she co-founded a digital product design agency in Tel-Aviv, was the corporate art director of a startup, worked for Nokia in Helsinki, freelanced in London, and earned her Interaction Design Master degree from IDII in Italy. She’s interested in the interplay between society and technology, and the ways in which people appropriate technology in unexpected ways. She explores how existing social interactions and behaviors can be supported or transformed by technology and influence the creation of new products and services.. Show Highlights [01:55] Ruth talks about her AI work at Microsoft.[03:03] How AI and design connect and interact with our lives.[04:10] Curiosity as a guiding force in Ruth’s career.[04:50] What it means to be a designer.[06:46] How Ruth started working on AI.[08:06] Finding and talking to others at Microsoft who were working with AI.[09:44] Thinking about how AI might influence design, and the ethical implications.[10:26] The AETHER team at Microsoft.[11:53] The work to craft guidelines for human-AI interaction.[12:40] Creating her own dream job.[15:01] The “Wild West” of the AI field, and the concept of responsible AI.[16:08] The question that started the work to create the 18 guidelines for human-AI interaction.[17:58] Ruth gives an example to show why the guidelines are important.[19:30] Guiding AI to make sure it is learning and changing in appropriate ways.[21:25] AI is about probability.[22:48] Designing for being wrong.[25:24] How people are using the guidelines in the design process.[26:01] Auditing existing experiences.[28:30] Ruth talks about being the Programming Director for the 2019 IXDA Conference and curating content.[31:23] Teaching design at the University of Washington.[32:09] The recent explosion in synthetic creativity.[34:50] The importance of good prompts when it comes to AI-generated art, and the rise of “prompt engineering.”[37:11] Thinking about the future and relevancy of design and designers as AI continues to evolve. Links Ruth on TwitterRuth on LinkedInRuth’s websiteRuth on MediumRuth on Women Talk DesignRuth on the Interaction Design Foundation website Humanizing Technology through DesignInterview with Ruth on all tech is humanHumanity-centered designAI ♥ DesignThe Design of Everyday AI ThingsGuidelines for Human-AI interactionHuman Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) – University of WashingtonMicrosoft Aether (AI and Ethics in Engineering and Research) Writings: The rise of the Demigod designer. God created the world with a word, by Ruth Kikin-Gil | UX Collective (uxdesign.cc)Humanity-Centered Design. How ethics will change the conversation… | by Ruth Kikin-Gil | Microsoft Design | Medium AI  Design. How AI can enhance the design process. | by Ruth Kikin-Gil | Medium Talks: Better together: Guidelines for designing Human-AI Interactions on VimeoHumanity-centered design: How can AI disrupt and augment the design process Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Innovation Culture + Future of Work + Designing Value with Marc Bolick — DT101 E93 UX + Navigating Rough Design Waters + Design Leadership with Dennis Lenard — DT101 E82 Design Ethics in Augmented and Virtual Reality + Building a Design Career Path with Aaron Faucher — DT101 E11

Marina Nitze is co-author of the book Hack Your Bureaucracy and works at Layer Aleph, a crisis response firm that specializes in restoring complex software systems to service. Marina was the Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under President Obama after serving as a Senior Advisor on technology in the Obama White House and as the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the U.S. Department of Education. Marina is also a fellow at New America's New Practice Lab, where she works on improving America's foster care system. Today, we discuss five and a half things every designer should know about hacking bureaucracy. Listen to learn about: >> How bureaucracies work>> Journey mapping>> Stakeholder mapping>> Interpersonal relationships and bureaucracies>> Bureaucracy hacking Our Guest Marina Nitze, co-author of the new book Hack Your Bureaucracy, is currently a partner at Layer Aleph, a crisis response firm that specializes in restoring complex software systems to service. Marina is also a fellow at New America's New Practice Lab, where she works on improving America's foster care system through the Resource Family Working Group and Child Welfare Playbook. Marina was most recently the Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs under President Obama, after serving as a Senior Advisor on technology in the Obama White House and as the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the U.S. Department of Education. She serves on the advisory boards of Foster America, Smartsheet, and Think of Us; created TaskTackler, the personal productivity app for Type-A personalities; and previously authored the book Business Efficiency for Dummies. She lives in Seattle, WA.  Show Highlights  [01:49] Marina gives a brief outline of her five and a half things about bureaucracy.[02:35] Bureaucracy is everywhere.[03:47] Starting to work within bureaucracies.[04:18] The Five Whys concept.[04:45] Marina uses the Paperwork Reduction Act as an example.[06:27] The importance of understanding root causes.[06:51] Know the source.[07:38] Journey and process mapping can help us hack bureaucracy.[08:38] Using journey maps with bureaucracies.[09:07] One of Marina’s favorite journey mapping tactics.[09:50] How Marina shortened a state’s foster application process by a month.[12:37] What happens when you see for yourself the journey your users make.[13:36] Considering the needs of employees when making bureaucratic changes.[14:20] Employees are also stakeholders.[16:32] The design challenges that stem from how employees identify themselves and the work they do.[18:32] Bureaucracies are made up of people.[19:23] Finding your allies in your organization.[21:22] Marina talks about an example from her time working for the VA.[23:28] Creating a stakeholder map to understand organizational relationships.[25:50] Finding the historian of your organization.[26:42] How bureaucracies make decisions, and using that to your advantage.[29:45] Making sure people have the knowledge they need to make informed decisions.[31:45] “Stabbing people in the chest” is a tactic from Hack Your Bureaucracy.[32:44] The importance of relationships when working inside bureaucracies.[34:34] Beware the obvious answer.[37:24] Hack Your Bureaucracy is meant to give people hope when it comes to working within bureaucracies.[39:13] Tackling big, complex problems, and having a North Star. Links Marina on Twitter Marina on LinkedIn Marina’s website Marina on New America Marina at the Federation of American Scientists The Impact Summit 2020 – Closing Keynote from Marina Unlocking Bureaucracy Through Smart Hacks With Marina Nitze Hack Your Bureaucracy: Get Things Done No Matter What Your Role on Any Team, by Marina Nitze and Nick Sinai Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Teaching Yourself Design Thinking + Innovating in Government with Amy J. Wilson — DT101 E19 Designer’s Role in Healthcare & Public Health + Studio Thinking with Jess Roberts — DT101 E21 Trauma-informed Design + Social Work + Design Teams with Rachael Dietkus — DT101 E81

Lisa Elzey Mercer is a designer, educator, and researcher. Her interests are in developing and executing design interventions focused on the topics of human trafficking, incarceration, race, and racism. She's an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design and Design for Responsible Innovation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. We talk about learning to see, and responding to, racialized design.  Listen to learn about: >> Ethics in design>> Impact over intent>> Racism Untaught>> The elements of racism>> Racialized design Our Guest Lisa Elzey Mercer (she/her/hers) is a designer, educator, and researcher. Her interests are in developing and executing design interventions that fuel and sustain responsible design for social impact. The developed frameworks and tools are intended to create a space for conversation and knowledge exchange where participants can collaborate in creating new ideas and solutions. This type of methodology is evidenced in her current projects focused on the topics of human trafficking, incarceration, race, and racism. She is an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design and Design for Responsible Innovation in the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Show Highlights [01:25] How Lisa’s aptitude for designing presentations led her from biomedical engineering into design.[03:38] Some surprises Lisa has encountered during her design journey.[04:03] Finding ways to navigate the often male-dominated design spaces.[04:40] Enjoying the freedom to explore new methods and pathways in graduate school.[05:48] Lisa answers the question, “What is it you do?”[06:03] Two exercises Lisa uses to get students thinking about ethics in design.[08:54] Helping corporations integrate ethics and collaboration with their customers into their thinking.[10:54] The evolution of the Racism Untaught framework and tools.[13:24] The activity every Racism Untaught workshop starts with.[14:49] Starting with context instead of empathy.[15:15] Lisa talks through an example of how the workshop uses prompts and examples to help participants learn about the elements of racism.[16:17] How the elements of racism become a shared language that allows workshop participants to have a real conversation about racism.[19:32] What is racialized design?[20:09] One example of racialized design in urban architecture from the 1920s–1960s.[20:53] Tearing down a highway system that divided a Black community in Detroit.[22:58] Once you understand racialized design and how it works, you will see it everywhere.[23:25] Racialized design is very much still happening now.[25:47] Lisa explains Racism Untaught framework’s “levels of oppression.”[29:31] Another example of racialized design from public restrooms.[30:08] One important reason the DT 101 podcast exists.[31:29] One of the reasons Lisa and Terresa started Racism Untaught.[32:49] How the University of Illinois is teaching students about diversity, equity, and inclusion.[34:59] Turning criticism into a generative force.[38:25] Lisa talks about the book she and Terresa Moses just finished writing.[43:29] Next steps for leaders who want to bring Racism Untaught to their organizations.[47:01] Lisa thanks other designers who are also doing work around racialized design. Links Lisa on LinkedInLisa on InstagramLisa on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign websiteLisa’s websiteRacism Untaught: An Interview with Terresa Moses and Lisa Mercer Racism UntaughtLesley-Ann NoelTerresa MosesCreative Reaction LabDesign Justice Network Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like Design Joy + Design Education + Design Justice with Jennifer Rittner — DT101 E84Critical and Emancipatory Design Thinking with Lesley-Ann Noel — DT101 E57 Design for Good + Gut Checks + Seeing Power with George Aye — DT101 E50