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A framework for life-centred design

This Life-centred Design framework is a future snapshot of what life-centred design might become, created by merging current variations to inspire learning and experimentation

A framework for life-centred design

The Life-centred Design ‘Future Snapshot’ is a speculative life-centred design framework created by merging current variations, for the purpose of inspiring learning and experimentation

Designing to consider the 3 Interdependent Actor Groups

All peoples

  • Target users
  • Non-users—Individuals, communities, and employees of organisations working within the product lifecycle
  • Invisible humans—individuals and communities not involved in the lifecycle but who are impacted by it
  • All human knowledge and ways of existing

All animals

Non-humans might include amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals of varying scales:

  • Animals of all sizes
  • Insects
  • Microbes
  • On land, sea, air, or underground
  • Domestic, livestock, captive, or wild
  • Whether ‘proven’ sentient or not

All planet

All planetary resources and ecosystems:

  • Vegetation (trees, forests,  swamps, etc.)
  • Water systems (oceans, lakes, rivers, freshwater)
  • Air
  • Soil
  • Climate
  • Landforms (mountains, hills, etc.)
  • Sunlight
  • Noise
  • Temperature

Aiming to uphold the 3 Design Pillars

Sustainable
and regenerative

  • Ensuring the social, economic, and resource sustainability of the product lifecycle by extending material value and reducing waste
  • Zooming out to share prosperity with the ecosystem of the product/service lifecycle and to regenerate the sources of energy it takes from, nurturing resilience for all

Inclusive
and pluriversal

  • Broadening consideration of human experiences beyond what has been stereotyped as normal within the Euro-Western world
  • Zooming out to know and champion diverse ways of existing beyond the dominant Euro-Western-centric capitalistic, colonial, white supremacist, patriarchal, hierarchical, heterosexual, and cis culture

Responsible
and Aligned

  • Align workplace values with life-centred purpose—from individual employee to business ownership—and embrace transparency and accountability to drive innovation
  • Convert product to service, distribute to localise, and utilise data to foster responsible stewardship of resources
  • Zoom out to align business goals with global goals and ally with the supply chain to nurture circular, regenerative, and just experience

Designing for the entire Product Ecosystem

Multi-level

  • Micro level— the individual user experience
  • Meso level— the service or business model
  • Macro level— the product’s lifecycle impact at a global or national level

Multi-practice

Switching between design practices to work at all levels and attend to all actors

Time-honouring

Honour alternate perspectives of the past and recognise possible futures to protect all past wisdom and future actors

Switching between Key Design Practices

  • Circular design
  • Inclusive design
  • Pluriversal design
  • Systems thinking
  • Distributed design
  • Sustainable web design
  • Behavioural design
  • Interspecies design
  • Biomimicry
  • Foresight
  • Human-centred design

Switching between Key Design Practices

11 Key Design Practices merge in life-centred design
  • Circular design
  • Inclusive design
  • Pluriversal design
  • Systems thinking
  • Distributed design
  • Sustainable web design
  • Behavioural design
  • Interspecies design
  • Biomimicry
  • Foresight
  • Human-centred design

Bringing it all together

To ensure 3 Interdependent Actors thrive…

Aim to uphold the 3 Design Pilars…

By designing for the entire Product Ecosystem…

Achieved by switching Design Practices.

The Life-centred Design Compass

Guided by the Compass

A ‘Double-Diamond’ diagram for life-centred design, capturing the scope of consideration and when to use the key practices.

Take the lead

Life-centred design aligns designers and businesses with global goals, and gives them the skills to respond to today’s wicked problems in practical and measurable ways.

#2 Amazon Best Seller in Engineering Design, Dec ’22

“The ideas really resonated with me as I’ve felt this growing unease with human centred design’s echo chamber”

“Super helpful tools for designers… I’ll be sharing them with the students.”

“An amazing book about the topic.”

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Lifecentred.design aims to be low carbon, inclusive, and regenerative

This site's hosting is green

Energy used by the web hosting servers is offset by 3 times as much renewable energy returned to the grid

52 trees planted

To regenerate trees used to make my books, I donate a percentage of sales from lifecentred.design and futurescouting.com.au to onetreeplanted.org

Page CO2 emissions
Shown for high-traffic pages only

Sustainable web strategies are used to reduce page load emissions. Current industry standard is 0.5g/page view—all lifecentred.design pages are 0.26 or under

Page accessibility rating
Shown for high-traffic pages only

Pages are designed for accessible use and rated out of 100

More about my commitments | Suggest an improvement

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Lifecentred.design aims to be low carbon, inclusive, and regenerative

This site's hosting is green

Energy used by the web hosting servers is offset by 3 times as much renewable energy returned to the grid

52 trees planted

To regenerate trees used to make my books, I donate a percentage of sales from lifecentred.design and futurescouting.com.au to onetreeplanted.org

Page CO2 emissions
Shown for high-traffic pages only

Sustainable web strategies are used to reduce page load emissions. Current industry standard is 0.5g/page view—all lifecentred.design pages are 0.26 or under

Page accessibility rating
Shown for high-traffic pages only

Pages are designed for accessible use and rated out of 100

More about my commitments | Suggest an improvement

This will close in 0 seconds

Lifecentred.design aims to be low carbon, inclusive, and regenerative

This site's hosting is green

Energy used by the web hosting servers is offset by 3 times as much renewable energy returned to the grid

52 trees planted

To regenerate trees used to make my books, I donate a percentage of sales from lifecentred.design and futurescouting.com.au to onetreeplanted.org

Page CO2 emissions
Shown for high-traffic pages only

Sustainable web strategies are used to reduce page load emissions. Current industry standard is 0.5g/page view—all lifecentred.design pages are 0.26 or under

Page accessibility rating
Shown for high-traffic pages only

Pages are designed for accessible use and rated out of 100

More about my commitments | Suggest an improvement

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