Give nature and vulnerable humans a voice in design and decision-making and innovate for their needs as well as humans'
Course details
$349
AUD $199
No added taxes
Pay in full or in 4 interest-free payments
About the course
What are non-human personas?
Product designers and marketing people often create ‘user personas’—fictional character documents, based on interviews and contextual enquiry with real customers, that summarise different types of customers with similar needs.
Just like personas for human target users, non-human personas enable designers and decision-makers to keep the needs of more-than-human life in mind as they make design and business decisions.
But personas are not just a decision-making tool.
As a process, creating non-human personas connects designers and decision-makers with the more-than-human world by establishing empathy for more-than-human needs. And as the tool that is produced, the non-human persona helps perpetuate that empathy through innovation and decision-making projects.
What's included
At your own pace, you’ll learn how to:
- Create a non-human persona
- Create a multi-media persona (audio, video, etc.)
- Innovate regeneratively with non-human personas
By finishing the course, you’ll be able to:
- Represent the needs of all life in decision-making
- Connect design and business with nature and community
- Discover new business opportunities
- Help mitigate climate change and social injustice
What you will learn
What’s included:
- 9 Modules + 6 Instructional Videos
- Toolkit and Resources
- Certificate on Submitted Completion
- 12 Month Access
What you’ll need:
- An online whiteboard like Miro or Mural
- Approx. 5-6 hours to complete the course
Non-human Innovation Tools
The Lab’s kit of unique design tools for creating and innovating with non-human/non-user personas, to help you bring more life into your design and decision-making.
Instructional Videos
Step-by-step instructional videos for each tool with full examples of the tools at different stages of use.
Multi-media Tool Guide
Links to free online tools to create audio personas—sound samples, editing audio, creating voice-overs, etc.
Who the course is for
About the course project
Through instructional video lessons watched at your own pace, you will create a non-human persona to use to innovate a subject of your choice—whether it’s a design project, a website, a product, or even a human-made space like a park or city.
A non-human persona for trees
A non-human persona for Nature
An audio non-human persona for rivers
“By breaking the persona-creation process down into simple steps, the course is really generous in its provision of tools, templates and canvasses”
—Colin Jowell, Principal at Good Behaviour
“The approach brilliantly adopts language that marketers and service designers already use”
—Colin Jowell, Principal at Good Behaviour
Course Outline
| Module | Description |
|---|---|
| Welcome 2 Lessons |
A warm welcome and introduction to the course. |
| About Non-human Personas 3 Lessons |
An introduction to non-human and non-user personas and their Indigenous history. |
| Prepare for your journey 2 Lessons (2 Activities) |
An introduction to the course’s non-human persona method and activities to set up your tools for your course project. |
| Immerse in their world 2 Lessons (2 Activities) |
How to research evidence-based information about non-humans and non-users and connect through empathy. |
| Create a Multi-media Non-human Persona 1 Lesson (1 Activity) |
Using your research to create an engaging multi-media persona for greater engagement and influence. |
| Innovate with Non-human Personas 4 Lessons (2 Activities) |
An introduction to innovating with non-human and non-user personas using regenerative strategies. |
| Introduce Non-human Personas to others 5 Lessons (2 Activities) |
An introduction to Non-human Persona Principles and strategies to introducing them to teams, clients, and students. |
| Summary and reflection 1 Lesson |
Reflecting on your journey and learnings, and what’s next. |
Meet your teacher, Damien Lutz
Founder of the Life-centred Design Lab
Author of The Life-Centred Design Guide, The Non-human Persona Guide, and Future Scouting
After over a decade in UX/UI Design & Research, Damien began scouting the fringes of design to develop ways to fully realise design as a superpower for good. He has taught life-centred design in Portugal, Italy, and Australia, and has produced three design guides, along with two online hubs, various toolkits, courses, and workshops to empower designers and decision-makers to be more sustainable, regenerative, inclusive, and future-skilled.
Join Damien to learn new ways to design a thriving existence for all life.
Bring more empathy for life into your projects
At your own pace, learn how to:
- Create a non-human persona
- Create a multi-media persona
- Innovate regenratively with non-human personas
After the course, you’ll be able to:
- Represent the needs of all life in decision-making
- Connect design and business with nature and community
- Discover new business opportunities
- Help mitigate climate change and social injustice
Course includes:
- 9 modules/6 instruction videos
- Toolkit and resources
- Certificate
- 12 month access
$349
AUD $199
No added taxes
Pay in full or in 4 interest-free payments
