Principle 9

Embrace the messiness of pluralism

Accept the messiness of co-creation and participatory design.

The more we open up our design process to new stakeholders and perspectives, the harder it becomes to reconcile their differences into a ‘solution’ that benefits the majority. In workshops, experienced designers emphasize the need for resilience when dealing with conflicting viewpoints and tensions. Managing these conflicts is a crucial aspect of design practice, requiring patience, respect, and skill.

A resilient designer understands that achieving perfect stakeholder alignment is more of an aspiration than a practical reality. While it’s important to work towards a shared vision, it’s also essential to understand the underlying reasons and agendas of stakeholders with different viewpoints. This approach moves away from controlling stakeholders and instead embraces the complexity and diversity of genuine co-creation and participatory design.

It’s important to acknowledge that we can’t please everyone equally, and tensions can actually lead to interesting outcomes.

Join us on 27 October at Dutch Design Week for ‘The Resilient Designers Event’, a gathering that aims to equip designers tackling sustainability challenges with the tools to strengthen their resilience and increase their impact.

As designers, we often encounter resistance and personal overload when tackling complex challenges. This event will present valuable insights and practical tools, curated from extensive research by Dr Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer and Dr Rebecca Price, to help designers thrive in their craft and build a cohesive design community.

Industry professionals and academics will share their stories, from the challenges they faced to the strategies they used to overcome them.

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