Cultivating resilience in the design profession through ten fundamental principles
In a complex world, designers face the dual challenge of bringing about change while maintaining personal well-being. The Resilient Designers Project presents ten principles for cultivating resilience as a designer. This project is based on extensive research and provides a rich resource for designers at all stages.
The resilient designer might be lost now, but knows every day is a step closer to finding their purpose.
Find purpose by embracing the journey
Build instincts to ‘go for it!’ and leave your comfort zone. Always striving for impact.
Decisively go beyond your comfort zone
It’s a courageous contribution to live authentically and be confident in our own journey.
Be authentic to your identity & purpose
Cultivate a practice of mindfulness to prepare oneself to address and even solve complex problems.
Fuel your appetite for change
Design ideas become stronger when we are brave enough to share our unpolished concepts.
Share unfinished
work
Balance your desire to excel with the ability to zoom out and see your progress from a different perspective.
Be reflexive to performance culture
Construct the right environment in order to get constructive feedback.
Form the right environments for feedback
Work toward progress and remember that perfection is an illusion.
Trust and drive
the process
Accept the messiness of co-creation and participatory design.
Embrace the messiness of pluralism
Generously contribute to the success of others and develop a community of like-minded peers seeking positive impact.
Shape community and collective resilience
Why the world needs resilient designers
When design propositions challenge the status quo, designers find themselves facing what feels like unfair criticism. Designers need a thick skin and the capacity to cope with uncertainty to overcome setbacks, but it’s easier said than done. We created these 10 principles to guide designers in their own practice of building resilience.
About the project
Co-directed by Rebecca Price and Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer, The Designer Resilience Project is a group of researchers and designers at the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands. As a community, we engage in conversations related to design theory, practice, and education to further advance the study of designer resilience.
