Podcast: Decentralizing Power through Design with Sahibzada Mayed and Lauren Lin
Lauren and Mayed’s partnership began with conversations and exploration about what they could do to shift power dynamics and create more cohesive and engaging designs for all. The biggest hindrance, say Lauren and Mayed, is power hierarchies. Design leaders need to critically think about social identities, institutional positions, and other complexities and dimensions. How power shows up in our practices is always shifting and changing, and decentralizing power has to be an ongoing and emergent process.
And it all starts with ideas and conversations. Mayed and Lauren have found that speculative design is a powerful way to reflect on the “now” and dream about what the future could look like. All real-world shifts begin with ideas, relationships, and conversations. These elements are at the heart of design.
What you’ll learn from this episode of The Rosenfeld Review podcast:
- About Lauren and Mayed’s backgrounds
- How their partnership came about
- About their talk titled “Cultivating Design Ecologies of Care, Community, and Collaboration” that they will deliver at October’s DesignOps Summit
- About power hierarchies in design and what design leaders can do to help decentralize power
- About the role and potential of speculative design
See these speakers at the DesignOps Summit 2023
Sahibzada Mayed and Lauren Lin will be speakers at the upcoming DesignOps Summit on October 2-4, 2023. Their talk, “Cultivating Design Ecologies of Care, Community, and Collaboration,” will showcase the intersection of care-centeredness and design operations.
About Lauren Lin
Lauren has wanted to be a designer since she was in third grade. What kind of designer? An “everything” designer! From a young age, she embraced the idea that “you can design anything” from fashion to environments to moods and feelings. Today she employs ethical research practices and co-design to shift power and amplify youth voices, design toys, and bring play into her work at Ideo Play Lab.
About Sahibzada Mayed
Mayed has a social service and social impact background. Through a community-oriented storytelling approach, they co-lead strategy and research at Cause and Affect, a relational design consultancy in Canada.
Last Minute Pricing for the DesignOps Summit 2023 begins September 13
Have you registered for the DesignOps Summit yet?
With 18 star-studded sessions, 6 expert-led workshops, and a unique virtual networking opportunity for all…this is an event you won’t want to miss.
Perhaps you want to learn about AI and its impact on DesignOps, or maybe how to have a more Inclusive design practice, and stronger DEI initiatives. Or maybe you’re looking to learn about the latest trends and changes in tech or listen to stories on career advancement in UX.
Whatever you’re looking for, you’ll find it here.
If you register before September 13, you could save up to $200 on tickets.
Meet Billy Carlson, Design Educator, at Balsamiq
We are lucky to have so many wonderful sponsors of this year’s DesignOps Summit–and we thought you might like to get to know them better! We’ve asked Billy some questions that get to the heart of why they’re passionate about DesignOps, what it’s like to work at Balsamiq, and what makes their products and services special to DesignOps professionals.
Rosenfeld Media: Why are you sponsoring this year’s DesignOps Summit?
Billy Carlson: We know DesignOps can improve how teams work together so that they can create consistent, quality, design.
We’re committed to helping companies of all sizes do their best, most efficient design work by providing a wireframing tool that is fast, easy to use, and accessible to everyone. DesignOps teams often tell us how helpful Balsamiq is in improving their processes and collaboration.
As scholarship sponsors, we’re excited to make this conference accessible to more people who may not otherwise have access.
Rosenfeld Media: What excites you about design operations?
Billy Carlson: When scaling a product, the increased number of stakeholders and moving parts means clarification and collaboration are essential steps in the design process.
Our unwavering focus on low-fidelity wireframing makes it impossible to waste time fiddling with details and lets all stakeholders quickly align and build a cohesive product.
Rosenfeld Media: What types of value and benefits do you/your product bring to the practice and our community?
Billy Carlson: Balsamiq lets anyone create wireframes quickly and easily without complex tools or design knowledge. The drag-and-drop intuitive interface and pre-built UI components make it easy to share and iterate on your ideas—whether it’s a website or an app.
Balsamiq lets teams collaborate, share feedback, make changes, and ensure everyone is on the same page. Plus, with clear visuals, you’ll know you’re working towards a common goal.
Tens of thousands of customers in dozens of countries use Balsamiq to transform the way they create exceptional products. Learn more at www.balsamiq.com.
Rosenfeld Media: What else should our community know about you?
Billy Carlson: You know how to use Balsamiq before you even start. And for those looking to learn more, Balsamiq offers educational resources (Balsamiq Wireframing Academy), tutorials, documentation, and a supportive community.
We also wrote a book! It’s called Wireframing for Everyone, and is a quick read that will help anyone on a UX team streamline their workflow, improve stakeholder communication, and design more creatively. Order your copy today!
View Balsamiq’s sponsor page for their scheduled sponsor activity sessions and more.
Podcast: A Proactive Approach to Inclusive Design featuring Zariah Cameron
Tune into this week’s episode on The Rosenfeld Review podcast featuring Zariah Cameron, who will be speaking at the DesignOps Summit in October. Zariah Cameron is Co-Director of Community + Research and the founder of AEI – Advocate, Educate, Innovate Black Design.
Many companies and corporations have good intentions when it comes to inclusive design. But too often that’s where things both start and stop. Zariah helps companies operationalize their inclusive design principles and ideals by looking at design from all angles and instilling effective processes.
When exploring ideals of equity and inclusivity, many confuse inclusivity with accessibility. Accessibility is a fine place to start, but it’s just the beginning. Accessibility tends to be passive while inclusivity is active. Inclusive design proactively seeks out the marginalized, the underserved, and minority groups. It doesn’t make assumptions but seeks input, feedback, and follow-through.
For many companies, the most effective way to pursue inclusive design is to work with grassroots organizations. Partnering with such organizations provides corporations access to a diverse pool of participants. It’s a process of co-creation and involves a long-haul-relationship mentality.
Zariah mentions a variety of organizations that design teams could partner with to access diverse talent:
- Creative Reaction Lab
- Pause and Effect
- Aroko Cooperative – seeking equity, liberation, community healing, and ecocentricy
Be sure to join us in October for Zariah’s session: Streamlining an Inclusive Design Practice
