Design Thinking 101

Pinar Guvenc is a partner at the award-winning global design studio SOUR, where she leads design innovation strategy. Pinar is also a member of the faculty at Parsons School of Design, and she serves on the Board of Directors at Open Style Lab, a National Design Award-winning nonprofit organization initiated at MIT, with the purpose of making style accessible to people with disabilities. Today on the show, we talk about inclusive design, and making collaboration and co-creation meaningful. Listen to learn about:>> What it really means to collaborate >> Inclusive design and designing for inclusivity >> Teaching the next generation of designers Our GuestPinar Guvenc is a Partner at SOUR — an award-winning global design studio with the mission to address social and urban problems — where she leads design innovation strategy. Prior to SOUR, Pinar co-founded various ventures where she helped set up and grow them through incubation, achieving international recognition and funding from innovation centers and accelerators such as Plug and Play and Climate KIC. Pinar is a member of the faculty at Parsons School of Design, MS in Strategic Design and Management program, author and instructor of the "Inclusive Design" course at School of Visual Arts, and the author and facilitator of the workshop series "Strategic Collaborations" at Pratt Center for Community Development. She serves on the Board of Directors at Open Style Lab, a National Design Award-winning nonprofit organization initiated at MIT, with the purpose of making style accessible to people with disabilities.

Pinar is a frequent public speaker and host of the podcast "What's Wrong With": a series of discussions with progress makers and experts to diagnose problems in industries, ideate solutions, and raise awareness among the general public. Show Highlights[02:25] Pinar’s design career began in industrial engineering and finance. [02:57] Becoming an “accidental entrepreneur” and discovering design along the way. [04:10] Pinar’s frustration with the word “collaboration.” [05:43] Designing collaborations. [06:50] What is collaboration? [07:07] Start with the people, then move to process. [10:17] Processes help us stay focused when things are rushed. [11:02] Recognizing our biases and sharing power when collaborating. [11:37] Fully integrating design into an organization. [12:44] Storytelling is part of the design process. [14:51] Our work leadership style needs a fundamental change. [15:37] Adults need to create and learn, just like children. [16:16] A Miro Moment. [18:06] Knowing what you don’t know is an asset. [20:49] How SOUR works inclusivity into the design team and project. [22:12] Pinar gives a shout-out to David Dylan Thomas (DT101 Ep 112). [22:19] Thomas’ Red Team-Blue Team exercise. [22:41] SOUR’s Co-Creation Panel. [23:51] “Design spies!” and just doing the work of co-creation. [24:55] How Pinar brings inclusivity into her teaching. [25:07] Guest lecturers and keeping it real. [27:11] Inclusivity begins during the research stage. [27:52] Generative AI is great for showing us our prejudices and biases. [31:13] The importance of being better, active listeners. [32:28] As designers, we always need to be mindful of our responsibility for what we’re putting out in the world. LinksPinar on LinkedIn Pinar on The New School Parsons SOUR Open Style Lab What’s Wrong With podcast A SOUR Perspective on design Bringing Design Closer: Understanding Architecture's role in designing inclusive spaces Book RecommendationsDesign for Cognitive Bias, by David Dylan Thomas

Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like

Cognitive Bias + Ethics + Dreaming the Future of Design with David Dylan Thomas — DT101 E112

Designing Your Team + Teams in Design Education + Coaching Design Teams with Mary Sherwin and David Sherwin — DT101 E49

Designing Facilitation: A System for Creating and Leading Exceptional Events // ALD 006 — DT101 E73

Justin is an internationally-renowned design leader, author and speaker from Chicago. You'll often find him at AIGA's speaking events, he’s been interviewed in Forbes magazine and Medium's "Forge" publication, and he writes articles for Aquent, CEO World Magazine, and A List Apart. He speaks internationally on culture and design, and today on the show, we talk about values, aligned design, nurturing teams, and design leadership.

Listen to learn about:>> Discovering and leveraging our core values >> Why humility is the most important trait for a designer>> Building and nurturing teams >> Justin’s latest book, In Fulfillment: The Designer’s Journey

Our Guest Justin is an internationally renowned design leader, author, and speaker from Chicago. You'll find him often engaging with the AIGA's speaking events, interviewed in Forbes magazine and Medium's "Forge" publication, and penning articles for Aquent, CEO World Magazine, and A List Apart. He speaks internationally on culture and design, including keynotes at the UXPA International conference, Midwest UX, and St. Louis Design Week. Justin is also the writer of the celebrated book "Creative Culture," a former VP of Design at bswift (a CVS Health company), and the founder of design leadership consultancy Anomali.

Show Highlights[02:11] Justin’s design “Eureka!” moment in high school. [03:12] The Art Institute of Chicago and teaching himself how to code. [05:24] The most important part of being a designer. [05:50] From Me to We. [07:10] Justin talks about the writing of his latest book, In Fulfillment. [08:02] Transitioning from hands-on fulfillment toward mentorship and leadership. [09:46] Identifying the core set of values that lead us to feeling fulfilled. [10:29] Humility and design. [11:39] How Justin helps people find their core set of values. [12:03] Using the Make Meaningful Work platform. [12:55] What drives us to do what we want to be doing? [14:04] Knowing our core values helps create a healthier work environment. [14:55] Our core values are portable, no matter where we may work throughout our career and in any field. [15:50] Why humility is the most important trait for a designer. [17:25] Our energy pool is a finite resource. [19:06] How an organization’s website implicitly shines a light on what they value. [23:11] The best teams are diverse, inclusive teams. [23:52] Dawan talks about empathy theater and taking the next steps beyond empathy. [26:15] A Miro Moment. [27:44] Justin talks about nurturing teams. [28:15] Allowing for time to pause and connect within the workspace. [29:06] Dawan talks about the benefits of not being 100% occupied 100% of the time. [30:43] Supporting “real life” in our work environments. [33:26] We need to adjust how we work and our expectations about the “right” way to work. [34:57] Justin offers thoughts on how to make the hiring and onboarding process better. [40:05] How to design and nurture a better work culture. [42:22] Justine talks about some of the work being done by his company, Anomali by Design.[46:43] Justin offers some last words of advice for all of us about taking time to pause with intent.

LinksJustin on Twitter Justin on LinkedIn Justin on Medium Justin on Instagram Anomali By Design Anomali on Twitter Practical Design Leadership podcast The Essential Fusion of Culture & Design with Justin Dauer Make Meaningful Work

Book Recommendations

In Fulfillment: The Designer’s Journey, by Justin Dauer Cultivating a Creative Culture, by Justin Dauer

Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like

Employee Experience by Design: How to Create an Effective EX for Competitive Advantage with Belinda Gannaway — DT101 E75

Scott Shigeoka is an internationally-recognized curiosity expert, speaker, and the author of SEEK: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World. He is known for translating research into strategies that promote wellbeing and connected relationships around the globe, including at the University of California Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center and through his groundbreaking courses at the University of Texas at Austin. Today on the show, we’ll talk about Scott’s book and the power of curiosity. Listen to learn about

>> Why curiosity matters >> Shallow vs. deep curiosity >> Scott’s book, SEEK >> Ways to cultivate and practice using your curiosity >> The power of “I don’t know” and “Tell me more” Our Guest

Scott Shigeoka is an internationally-recognized curiosity expert, speaker, and the author of SEEK: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World. He is known for translating research into strategies that promote positive well-being and connected relationships around the globe, including at the UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and through his groundbreaking courses at the University of Texas at Austin. Scott implements his curiosity practices in the public sector, Fortune 500 companies, Hollywood, media organizations, education institutions, and small businesses. Show Highlights

[01:59] How Scott’s love of stories and storytelling brought him to where he is today. [02:50] Majoring in journalism and psychology, and working in Iceland. [04:20] Designing and storytelling at IDEO and in Hollywood. [05:00] Scott’s response to the 2016 election and the polarization of America was a 13-month road trip around the country. [07:29] What is curiosity? [08:20] Shallow vs. deep curiosity. [11:22] How Scott approached talking with people at Trump political rallies. [13:44] The big lesson Scott learned during the road trip. [15:42] Curiosity is listening. [18:01] People want to feel that their stories, their lives, matter. [18:52] Scott talks about predatory curiosity. [21:36] What readers will find in Scott’s book, SEEK. [22:16] Curiosity can help us bridge our differences. [23:15] SEEK offers practical exercises and advice on how to exercise your curiosity. [25:07] The world needs more curiosity. [25:40] The four core “muscles” of deep curiosity. [31:20] Working with the three cardinal directions of curiosity. [34:40] A Miro Moment. [36:45] Scott offers up one way we can all practice more curiosity. [40:33] Challenge your assumptions. [43:42] Practice intellectual humility. Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t know the answer. [44:36] Effective leaders practice curiosity. [45:29] Use “Tell me more...” [48:15] Creating boundaries when it comes to practicing curiosity. [52:08] Embracing discomfort. [53:00] Curiosity is about understanding.[55:12] Where to find out more about Scott and his work. Links

Scott on Twitter Scott on LinkedIn Scott on Instagram Seek the Book Perspectives in Design Scott Shigeoka Rural Assembly: Drawing Resilience: Scott Shigeoka Hachette Interview with Scott Audium: Scott Shigeoka – Bridging Divides Book Recommendations

Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World, by Scott Shigeoka The Karma of Success: Spiritual Strategies to Free Your Inner Genius, by Liz Tran

Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like

Humble Design Leadership + Design Agency and Experience Design Evolution with Aleksandra Melnikova — DT101 E33 Three Little Words for Better (Business) Relationships // ALD 008 — Ep79 User Research + Asking Better Questions with Michele Ronsen — DT101 E88

Shipra Kayan is a product evangelist at Miro, a designer, and a facilitator. She has built inclusive, engaged, and effective distributed teams at companies like Upwork and Miro. Armed with two decades of experience teaching design teams to collaborate across time zones, cultures, and knowledge silos, Shipra is a leading advocate for adopting visual collaboration within distributed teams. We talk about facilitation, Miro, and remote teams.

Listen to learn about:

>> How to help remote teams be successful >> The importance of facilitation >> The many ways Miro can help teams, remote or in-person, to collaborate and achieve better outcomes

Our Guest

Shipra Kayan is an entrepreneur and designer dedicated to transforming the way we work together as a global community. Based on her core belief that every human is inherently valuable and capable, Shipra’s vision is to create a world where two people of any cultural or geographic origin can come together to collaborate and build.

Show Highlights

[02:04] Starting out as a designer in Silicon Valley and discovering Miro.[05:27] Being one of Miro’s first customers.[05:40] Proving the belief that design can only be done in person wrong.[06:26] Miro is a collaborative canvas.[06:49] Figuring out what remote teams needed to succeed.[08:33] How Shipra plans meetings and workshops using Miro.[09:24] Tips from Shipra to help participants stay focused on the work.[13:14] Asking participants: how might we fail?[15:00] Getting teams to be playful and take risks.[16:25] One game Shipra likes to use to get a team’s creative juices flowing.[18:26] The challenge of virtual environments compared to physical ones.[19:50] Ways Shipra is bringing more physicality to the virtual environment.[23:25] Dawan and Shipra discuss how they are always finding new ways to use Miro.[28:34] A Miro Moment.[30:09] Shipra has seen a movement within the design community of designers wanting to improve their facilitation skills.[32:36] Dawan would like to see tools like Miro in greater use throughout higher education.[34:19] Miro is just as useful for face-to-face work as well.[37:19] Dawan and Shipra talk about designing an event from the outcome you want at the end.[40:28] Shipra’s advice to other designers.

Links

Shipra on LinkedInShipra on TwitterShipra on Medium Shipra’s Appreciation Circle in Miro What I've learned from facilitating over 100 remote collaborative workshops Drawing Session in Miro Bridging the Talent Gap Between Silicon Valley and East Africa Through UX3 strategies any leader can use to spot and move past groupthink Interview with Shipra on Rosenfeld MediaDesign Hires Interviews Shipra Kayan

Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like

Teams, Sprints, Prototyping, and Better Meetings with Douglas Ferguson — DT101 E59Collaboration + Facilitation + Workshops with Austin Govella — DT101 E83Designing Facilitation: A System for Creating and Leading Exceptional Events // ALD 006 — DT101 E73

Sheryl Cababa drives a human-centered design practice focusing on systems thinking and evidence-based design, working on everything from robotic surgery experience design to reimagining K-12 education through service design. In her work with consultancies such as Substantial, Frog, and Adaptive Path, she has worked with a diverse base of clients including the Gates Foundation, Microsoft, IHME, and IKEA. Sheryl is an international speaker and workshop facilitator. When not in the office, she can be found at the University of Washington, helping educate the next generation of human centered design and engineering students.

Listen to learn about:

>> Equity-centered design >> Systems thinking and designing in complex systems >> Co-creation and working with lived experts >> Sheryl’s book, Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers

Our Guest

Sheryl Cababa is the Chief Design Officer at the Insights Design + Development Studio, Substantial, and a multi-disciplinary design strategist with more than two decades of experience. She is focused on reinventing the approaches of learning and collaboration in today’s educational environment to help equity-centered research affirm and advance relationships between institutions, educators, and students.

Sheryl has worked extensively in human-centered design within the social impact space. She specializes in developing tools and methods for designers to expand their mindsets beyond user-centered design, anticipate unintended consequences, and engage in systems thinking.

Her recent work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation includes leading student voice research to inform the K-12 Balance The Equation Grand Challenge. Sheryl works with their teams to provide equity-centered technical assistance to their grantees, designing the Use Case Guide for demand-side thinking programs, and conducting extensive design research with both U.S. Programs and Global Health teams. Her book, Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers, was released in early 2023.

Show Highlights

[02:36] Sheryl’s degrees are in political science and journalism, not design. [02:46] Getting into design by creating infographics and websites. [03:20] Turning an intern job at the Seattle Times into a job at Microsoft. [03:54] Sheryl’s official entry into design was as a product designer. [04:56] Becoming a design consultant while living in the Netherlands. [05:33] Shifting more into design strategy over design execution. [06:03] Why Sheryl started integrating systems thinking methods into her work. [07:19] Sheryl’s current work in equity-centered design. [08:52] What is equity-centered design? [09:58] Design is an act of power. [10:51] Equity-centered design is about designing with, not for. [12:03] The problem with personas. [14:28] Going beyond personas. [17:50] “When I was in college...” and the biases we tend to start from. [18:54] Co-creation, and letting people speak for themselves during the design process. [20:43] Thinking about legacy systems and designing in complex systems. [23:12] There aren’t really any “broken” systems. [24:10] You can’t sit down and just design a system. [24:38] When we “design” for a system, we are intervening in order to shift outcomes in a different direction. [26:25] Thinking about potential harm and harm reduction during the design process. [27:18] There is no silver bullet solution. [30:34] Re-examining solutions to see if they are still working as time goes on. [31:23] Looking at generative AI from a systems perspective. [34:24] A Miro Moment. [36:39] Sheryl’s book, Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers gives designers tools and frameworks to better understand systems. [37:49] Encouraging designers to think intentionally about how things interconnect. [38:15] Viewing the system as a whole ecosystem that surrounds your design. [41:28] Sheryl talks about one of her favorite frameworks from the book. [45:28] Sheryl introduces the concept of “lived experts.” [46:25] Shifting mindsets leads to different outcomes. [49:35] Dawan’s post-interview thoughts about systems.

Links

Sheryl on LinkedIn Sheryl on Twitter Sheryl on Medium Sheryl on UW Human Centered Design & Engineering Sheryl on Women Talk Design This is Design School: Ep 33 – Sheryl Cababa on Unintended Consequences The Product Design Podcast: Sheryl Cababa – Systems Thinking for Designers Content Strategy I...