design

From Systems Change to Transformation

There is an entire field of practice loosely referred to as “systems change” that guides how to effect substantive social, environmental, and political changes in our world. The methods and tools are varied, and the means of evaluating system change are numerous. Still, the general thrust of these approaches is designed to unlock social innovation, […]

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Design, Systems and The Settings That Influence Us

Space shapes systems, so systems change requires we understand space. In this post, I’m going to use two contexts to illustrate why and how settings affect so much of our lives and why any systems change must account for them if we are to be successful. Take two examples: education, and healthcare. In an educational

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Monitoring as Motivator: Harnessing the Progress Principle

If you’re stuck in the daily grind of human services delivery, leveraging evaluation data can help you see and chart your progress. Among the most difficult things healthcare and human services professionals deal with is progress. Whether you’re an ER nurse, a front-line social worker, or a palliative care doctor, seeing progress is something that

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Are We Producing Ourselves Into Oblivion?

It’s super easy to create digital content now, but that means we’re drowning in low-quality stuff. Everyone’s glued to their devices, scanning boring, formulaic articles. There’s way too much generic content out there, leaving us feeling overwhelmed and disconnected. We need originality to think and engage meaningfully, or we’ll just keep swiping.

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Our Maps and Our Territory: Rethinking Human Centred Design

Our dependence on digital navigation tools like satnav maps may disconnect us from the broader landscape. Human-centered design, though important, falls short in addressing complex systemic issues. Embracing a shift towards design for living systems may offer better solutions. Relying solely on digital technology may lead to a loss of context and agency, demanding a redesign of design itself.

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Evidence in 2024: The Many Black Boxes of AI

Artificial intelligence’s widespread use and data generation pose challenges for evidence, as creators may not fully understand its processes. Trust issues arise due to AI’s opaque nature and embedded biases, impacting decision-making. The reliability, reproducibility, and validity of AI-generated evidence are compromised. To mitigate these issues, transparent, reliable, and valid AI models must be developed, but widespread adoption and verification remain uncertain.

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The Neurodiversity of Work and Perils of Planning

When we recognize the diversity in our nervous systems, the problems with most organizational planning models become more evident, and we can start designing them for humans, not ideas. If you work with more than one other person — and how many of us don’t? — you encounter diversity. When we design systems to improve

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