A dive into equity in design research
I’ve recently completed the equityXdesign course and thought it would be a good idea to document the things that stood out for me, so that I can refer back to them during projects – it may also be useful for you to get a flavour of the course and spark your thinking around equity too.
What is equity compared to equality?
Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome. (https://www.marinhhs.org/sites/default/files/boards/general/equality_v._equity_04_05_2021.pdf)
There are 9 modules, 5 principles and multiple case studies in this course all of which have made me think about my design research approach and identify my own biases in order to deliver more effective and equitable projects and outcomes.
Things that stood out:
Hero or host?
The concept that there is a lot of ‘hero leadership’ within organisations, whereby people (typically those higher up) come in with solutions to problems and impose them on others. Host leadership encourages others to solve their own problems in ways that work for them.
In design research, it can be beneficial if you aren’t familiar with the topic, context or field – positioning others as experts by experience. My job is often to gather the voice, ideas and solutions of experts by experience and communicate this to potential ‘heroes’ to make change.
Action: I need to check that I’m not imposing my ideas, instead encouraging others to explore and create what works for them.
Action: It may be beneficial during project planning with clients to talk about host leadership and this approach to design research so that equity is brought into the conversation early.
When empathy becomes meta-empathy.
Given the ‘host’ approach, supporting experts by experience to hold the most power in the design process, we need to tweak our approach to listening. Meta-empathy means ‘not only listening to understand, but also making sure we understand how we are listening’.
We need to be aware that our identities, our closeness to the problem, our approach, our backgrounds… all influence what people share with us and how we interpret what we hear.
Action: Remind myself that empathy and listening isn’t a one-way process, we’re not here just to take information from people – mutually beneficial relationships are needed to gain meaningful insights. A recent project with the Gypsy and Traveller community demonstrates this beautifully. But I must admit, projects with smaller budgets and tight timelines often means meaningful relationships are not built.
Action: Victoria Betton and I are developing a meta-empathy exercise that can be carried out in framing workshops, before engagement sessions and/or before analysing or synthesising what we’ve heard, to check our biases and to remind ourselves of our position and approach to ensure equity is present. My action is to test this out in practice and develop it for others to use.
The importance of a culturally attuned approach.
The course provides some striking examples of where ‘hero’s’ have entered a context they’re not familiar with but come with a ‘rescue’ approach, solving people’s problems from their own, often privileged, perspectives. This final key point highlights the need to tailor our design research approaches to different audiences, use peer to peer methods where possible and give power to those closest to the problem.
Action: It’s going to be key to include time for relationship building and developing culturally attuned approaches into bids. Particularly in projects where we are far removed from the problem, or we are working with communities with different backgrounds and daily lives from us.
Action: Continue to include experts by experience as co-researchers or co-designers, and support, train and pay them appropriately. Or partner with an organisation or charity within the context. It’s the best way to get true insight and create real change from the ground up.
I’m going to end this with a quote from the course, which reminds me of my days at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design: ‘In order to design for equity, we must design at the margins. If we can create solutions for those who are farthest from power, who are most proximate to the problem, we can learn to not just solve the problem for everyone but create a better reality for all.’
The Equity Charter
Victoria Betton, Ayesha Rahim and Hassan Chaudhury have put together an equity charter and open letter. If you support equity in digital health, please sign the open letter here.