Creating a safe space to learn inclusive design
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
DesignOps
Culture
💡 Key takeaway #1
Context is still the most important facet of any meaningful discussion
"It depends" — words we (jokingly) live by as designers and consultants, right?
Turns out… yes.
The context of…
Geography
I was spurred into action as the whole world witnessed the Black Lives Matters movement at the height of the pandemic, and wanted to examine how racism exists in our (Southeast Asian) countries too, especially as a Chinese person living in a society like Singapore.
I felt that it was very important to get the context, even if we don't live in the direct USA society.
The message
I went back to my original plan for this series, and came across my objectives:
We must constantly be reflecting and learning about:
Systemic racism
Majoritarian privilege
Our own biases
Micro-aggressions
Intersectionality with other topics
Disabilities, sexism, classism etc.
How we unknowingly perpetuate them
As my research lead and I shaped the agenda for these sessions, we realized that it was going to be more fruitful for the team if we focused more broadly on inclusion, with racism being a facet of it.
I was initially uncomfortable about not focusing specifically on antiracism, but introspection and reflection allowed me to understand that it was a good idea to anchor it towards inclusive design, and how we can take direct action to incite change.
The medium
We had to organize the workshops and activities over Zoom rather than having a face-to-face conversation about heavy conversations like this, given that it was in the middle of the pandemic.
Surprisingly, or not, it was still something we grappled with just a few months into working from home.
I quickly realized that it was important to check in even more often than you would in person, and make sure that everybody on the team is following the conversation and having their voices heard.
💡 Key takeaway #2
Inclusivity extends to being mindful of everyone's starting points
"The safe space really makes it easier to share and learn."
It was heartening to see everyone with an appetite to learn and a willingness to unlearn what we already knew.
Still, there was a lot of deliberation on my part as a facilitator, as I also learned through the process that it couldn't be a 'one size fits all' approach.
Some people knew why inclusive design was integral; others were just at the beginning of their journeys.
There was also a disparity in the comfort level of speaking up.
This is especially interesting, considering the subject of inclusivity, and how that should extend to introverts and extroverts in a setting like this.
↑ Above: It was an actual real-life example of this comic to explain equity; to lift all of us up.
💡 Key takeaway #3
The value of diverse perspectives cannot be understated
My biggest pride was seeing the team bring more audiences and problem statements than I could think of myself. In fact, they went above and beyond to understand the problem statements, and did so by conducting guerilla and informal interviews with people to connect with them.
There were a myriad of topics explored, such as racism in the ways we design and ship products, ageism in our government services, and audiobooks for the hearing impaired, amongst others.
↑ Above: Snapshots of each team member's exploration of what inclusive design means to them, and examinations of real-live products and services
Through the collective of each of our diverse backgrounds, we managed to learn more than if we had stayed in our siloes.
The best learnings always come from unexpected moments, and I am appreciative of my team who pushed themselves to learn and share.
We came up with action ideas, and have taken to plan on rolling them out since:
Scale this beyond ASEAN
We're a small but mighty bunch!
Dive deeper into specifics
Accessibility, for example
Provide constant accountability
Across different project teams