What is Design for Collective Spaces?

Sharing an old project and asking for help with its collaborative refresh!

To answer what Design for Collective Spaces is can be a difficult task for me — and I’m one of the people who created it! I’m not saying I don’t have thoughts about what it could be, it is an admittance that this project is at the beginning of it’s new life!

But before I go into what I mean by new life, I want to provide impatient readers (like myself) with my current working definition of Design for Collective Spaces and its 12 principles:

Design for Collective Spaces (DCS) is a design approach that helps people in creating projects that care. Care about our planet, its people, and the joy that comes with working collectively towards a more equitable future.

A graphic of all of the DCS’ principles. You can check out this PDF that goes in depth.

OK, since the definition is out of the way, let’s get back to what I mean when I say this project is getting a new life.

Originally, DCS is a project Tracy Chen, Eliza Lim, Corrina Tang and I thought up back in 2021. It is the culmination of our research into design ethics and the thesis project of our undergraduate career at Simon Fraser University in BC, Canada.

Under the guidance of design educator, Ron Wakkary, DCS became our own personal design manifesto. It is a piece that captures our reflections and dreams for an industry we had yet to experience too deeply.

For me, it was also a way to capture my own frustrations and disconnects between my own work in community and the work I did/was taught as a “professional” designer.

A small part of our research with the leading question that created DCS

Coming back to DCS in 2024 with more life experience, I see so much potential in this project, not just for designers but for professionals across many industries. Having completed my Masters for Design for Emergent Futures in Barcelona and spending time in the European social impact sphere, I am sad to see that this type of work is still deeply needed.

I always thought that maybe it was my inexperience or being inside of the “Canada bubble”, but day-to-day I’m seeing and experiencing the same things that frustrated me back when we created DCS.

Things like: poor representation from the Global Majority in leading design projects; constant paternalism and white savior complexes being pushed onto marginalized communities from “well-intentioned” designers; the continual designing to “change the world” through only targeting the most privileged… The list could go on, but I will save you my never ending rant. (But honestly, I cannot be the only person who is frustrated with these things — right?)

Tools for Collective Spaces is a collection of individual reflection worksheets and project reflection worksheets. You can download a copy here.

With this, I decided to channel my frustration into something positive, wanting to do my small part in the many that are pushing for change. Meaning I think it is time that I put in the work to develop this project further, but with this iteration, I don’t want it to be a project of four but a project of many!

Let’s explain what the “Collaborative Refresh” is

Inspired by my time in the Impact Cohort by the Distributed Design Platform, I want to revisit and refresh this project openly and collaboratively — crowdsourcing advice, thoughts, and feedback from others in this social impact space.

While this project is still fluid, I hope to engage with you and others in this space about the current DCS principles. By getting more voice and minds on this, we can build a deep and intentional design approach. Then with this collaboration, I hope to take the information we gather and turn it into articles that others can read and learn from.

SO the original plan was to publish a new article every week… But I have come back to edit this article July 20th 2024 realizing that that wasn’t sustainable or attainable to get the quality of articles I want to produce. Not enough time to get feedback and 100% not enough time to write how I do.

The project now is taking more of a monthly schedule, though dependent on the time commitments I have. For transparency sake, I’m keeping the below week schedule in this article.

The tentative week plan (timelines maybe extended when needed!) for what this will look like in practice for the for the next 4 months is:

• Tuesdays: Release a call for collaboration on a principle through my Linkedin, Instagram, Substack Newsletter, and Notion. People will be able to share their thoughts through commenting, filling out an attached google form, and/or collaborating on this Miro board.
• Wednesdays— Sundays: Review, reflect, and write based on what was shared and my own understanding of the topic.
• Saturdays: Post a sneak peak of people’s feedback and see if there are any last thoughts!
• Mondays: New article drops on my Medium and Substack! They will explore what the principle means, provide case studies, and tools for people to utilize. Everyone who contributed will get a shout-out and credit, so please provide your name when you give feedback!
• AND then the cycle continues, until I run out of principle to write about!

I’m not quite sure where we will be once we reach the 12th principle, or if there will be 12 principle by the end of it all. But I’m really excited to see what we will build together, be it a fleshed out design approach or a radical collective of folks connecting!

So, how do you support the Design for Collective Spaces?

First let’s start with collaboration — because that is what it is all about!

If you are already reading this, you’ve got step 1 down! The next simplest step would be to follow me on LinkedIn and comment on the posts there. It will be the easiest way to follow along and provide feedback, as each post will link to the other platforms I use!

Also, I would check out DCS’s notion page and this miro document, so you can find all the information in one place and collaborate!

Capture of the DCS’s homepage on Notion

For those who are interested in the breakdown of all platforms I’m using, please read below. As a context lover, I want to make sure you have enough info to engage in the ways that works best for you! If you already got what you need, feel free to skip to the next section of this article.

Breaking down the different platforms for collaboration

If you follow me on LinkedIn:

• From calls to collaboration, sneak peaks, and articles — it’ll all be posted here. This is also where I’ll share links to google forms and miro for hands-on feedback!
• Sharing, commenting, reposting, and liking these posts do A LOT on this platform. Sharing your thoughts here in the comments is a super low barrier way to support DCS.
• You can message me directly here to ask specific questions or arrange a time to have a video call.
• As LinkedIn’s feed can get chaotic, turning on the all notifications on my profile can be helpful so you don’t miss a post.

For notifications: You have to go to my profile then push this bell icon, then switch from most relevant to all.

If you follow me on Medium:

• You will only see the articles when they are finished. You will get a single notification each time I post.
• You won’t see all the the calls to collaborate and sneak peaks, but it is a great way to just enjoy and read.
• “Clapping” and commenting help get articles pushed into newsfeeds, and since Medium has a large reader base, this could really help us get more collaborators!

If you subscribe to me on Substack: (I have to be honest, this is a new platform for me, so I’m still discovering all it’s potential)

• The same articles that are posted on Medium will be posted here BUT I will also be sending out call for collaborations and sneak peaks here!
• This could be a great alternative to LinkedIn (as I know LinkedIn has it many drawbacks). You will get a notification sent to your email each time I post and you can comment your feedback there.
• It should be noted Substack has a paid subscription option, but none of my writing will be behind a paywall!

If you bookmark the DCS Notion:

• You will get NOT notifications. This is just like a website that you can follow along at your own pace.
• Everything you need will be here. Links, explanations, a schedule! But like a website, you cannot comment or interact much.

Gif of how the Miro Collaboration space

If you bookmark the DCS Miro:

• This is the BEST way to collaborate — there are specific questions you can answer, little activities, and share resources.
• There are quick answer sections for those short on time AND a longer session for those excited to collaborate.
• I will also be utilizing this space to document my own research along with others, so it can be a good way just to see what is going on.

Outside of collaborating, what are other ways to support Design for Collective Space?

While collaboration is a large goal of this project, I know not everyone can give up the time to. I’m appreciative of all types of support, as I’m currently the sole person driving this project forward. (though have been greatly encouraged by many!)

One way that could deeply help me, is to send along opportunities to secure funding while I do this work. Things like micro-grants, fellowships, partnerships, or educational sponsorships could all help relieve a little bit of stress while I pursue this. Having secure funding could also allow me to dedicate more time to push this project even further!

I’ll finish this collaborative refresh of DCS no matter what, but I’m currently doing this while not having a stable source of income. Which is deeply nerve-wrecking and a little scary, to be open and transparent. Knowing this, I have set up some crowdsourcing methods to help in the mean time. This is only to help me cover my expenses, and if other funding does come in, there may be a possibility to redistribute to deep collaborators.

If you really like this work and have the ability to support me more directly, you can either tip me on Ko-fi or sign-up for the paid subscription on my Substack (5€ a month). Neither of these methods will get you more “exclusive access” and I will never put this project behind a paywall, but it will aid me in doing this work with less stress and possibly help imagine how push this project further.

But ultimately, my goal is to get as many voices on this as possible!

If collaborating or donating isn’t accessible to you right now, no worries. Spreading the word about this project or sharing Design for Collective Futures with like minded individuals would help me a lot in moving this forward.

As the internet is: one reshare, comment, one like — all of these things are ways to support collaborative, open design initiatives like this. No matter how it looks, I deeply appreciate any help I get pursing this project.

I’m excited to start this 4 month journey of Design for Collective Spaces and cannot wait to see what we will create together. Please follow along if your excited to see as well!

Acknowledgements and thanks you’s (because yes, the first article already has collaborators)

First, big thank you to the original team behind Design for Collective Spaces! Tracy Chen is an extremely talented product designer and visual artist you who is currently working at Daybreak Studios. Eliza Lim is an detailed orientated and amazing design research at Samsung. Corrina Tang is a conscientious and utterly positive service designer for Code for Canada.

Zoey Li is so positive, inquisitive, and SUPPORTIVE when it comes to this project. I wouldn’t have been motivated to move it forward without her words of encouragement and her offer to host the miro board!

Thanks to everyone running and in the Impact Cohort by Distributed Design Platform! You gave me a lot of tools and confidence to start this project out.

Thanks to all the amazing people who wrote and created Design Justice Network — the group who for the first time showed me that there is space for what we do in design! They have developed principles (some shared with these) that you should definitely check out!

Finally, thank you to Carolina Almeida who edited this first article! Typos are my greatest and oldest enemy, so she helped fend them off this time around!