Principles at Work: Applying “Design Justice” in Professionalized Workplaces

Abstract

The principles of design justice emerged over several years from close study of and with organized, community-based responses. However, design that impacts people's day-to-day economic reality is often practiced not in community organizations, but in corporate enterprises such as auto insurance companies. How might we apply design justice principles with integrity in corporate contexts where 'the' 'community' is more absent or abstract? We as a group of 12 designers and design researchers who met through the Design Justice Network decided to explore this question and build a community of practice. On September 13th, 2020, we facilitated a scenario-based workshop for other DJN members on how to apply design justice at work. 64 participants formed breakout groups in which they reflected on fictitious scenarios about struggling with power and equity and then proposed ideas, strategies, and tools for the job based on their work experience. We found a majority of responses at the macro level, such as stakeholders mapping and identifying gatekeepers. Only a minority of responses focused on individual interventions such as checklists, and almost all of these were proposed in the context of influencing peers. We are still exploring how we might reorient the current focus on "doing ethics" less in terms of who in a company "owns" the conversation (e.g., designated specialists or committees), and more in terms of how designers and design researchers working along the production line can build power and gain control over processes and decisions, collectively. Our work ahead includes packaging up our workshop for peers to facilitate with their own coworkers and networks, and to build our community of practice with more scenarios and responses that help advance design justice.

Topics & Concepts