I set up a new web domain today. It is despairshop.com It is partially satirical and partially practical. I am working on a few projects where the ideas behind DespairShop are relevant. There are two key issues: only one of which is addressed by the current webpage. I will explain both in this post. Despair […]
Author: Alastair Somerville
Human centering systemic design?
I am working on the design of a few workshops for the Design Council in the UK. They are all around the theme of Design For Planet and more particularly the Systemic Design Framework and Toolkit. There are a lot of diagrams, tools and icons in all this. How to create a coherent workshop sequence […]
Design For Planet Systemic Design Toolkit workshops
I am working with the Design Council to develop facilitation materials based on their Systemic Design Framework, part of their mission to Design for Planet. The paper, which was published in 2021, outlines a systemic approach to design practice which they are now developing into tools aimed at designers. Workshop purpose What the workshops will […]
Simple emotion to create a space to listen
While running a walking workshop last week in Germany I was reminded that my user research questions are very basic. Given I do not speak German I was made more aware of this because of how much I generally needed to simplify my language for translation. I do not view scripted user research question sets […]
Resisting a fiction
In the United Kingdom, the rise of Thatcher is framed as a successful fightback against the victory of hard Left unions in taking over the country. That victory is defined in the Winter Of Discontent of 1978 (when many industries and services stopped due to strike action) just before Thatcher won the 1979 General Election. […]
Prototyping
Making a new workshop activity This is a simple photoessay of 4 days of prototyping a workshop activity. Wednesday I have been trying to think of a design fiction workshop activity that shows explicitly the links between ween pasts and futures and enables discussions of responsibility and sustainability. After playing with a few ideas, the […]
Rooting design fictions in responsibility and sustainability
I have a new workshop to deliver in July for a conference. The topic has not been defined yet so I am experimenting with possibilities. This post is about one idea I’ve developed to physical prototype level. With workshops, I need to see and use the planned activity to understand its worth. Practically, I need […]
Why coach?
Why coach? For 2023, I’m starting to coach people in workshop design and facilitation skills. This post is about the idea of coaching and the choice to be a coach. Becoming a facilitator The diagram at the top of this post has four roles on it – teacher, facilitator, tutor and coach. I mostly work […]
Structures for clarity and confidence in workshops
Designing and delivering your own workshop can be daunting. The mixture of design questions (like What is being taught? How can people learn? How do we share?) and facilitation questions (like How do we invite and welcome people? How do we create trust and safety?) can be a complicated mess. This post is about a […]
Writing a (photo) book
I design and facilitate a lot of different workshops. The last few years of hybrid and fully virtual workshops has meant I have adjusted a lot of ways I work. One thing I have added is physical versions of the content, like cards sent to participants. This was to try and avoid the horror of […]