This is my manifesto. Both in terms of the way I live, as well as the way I work. It's a living and growing document and it stands for my personal principles and goals to follow, in no specific order.

BEGIN BY LISTENING

Always begin by listening. Listen to experiences and stories. Both human and nonhuman ones. Listen to the stories that are hidden within.

CONTINUE WITH FACE BASED OPTIMISM

The world is full of cooperation, collaboration, connection, and creation of global systems of communication and development. More people than ever before are able to experience the beauty and diversity of our world. This moment in history is the best moment in human history to be alive and living. 

EMBRACE THE CREATIVE SELF

Design where the culture of science and art meet. Let the work rest on a scientific foundation and embrace technological capacity, but remember to take inspiration from – and inspire – beauty. Master the synthesis of art + science = design.

DO WHAT YOU LOVE

Stay true to your own life and energy and do what brings you joy and pleasure. Follow your purpose and passion.

LIVE SUSTAINABLY AND PURPOSEFULLY

Aim to live sustainably by recycling and reusing, cooking with leftovers and eating vegetarian, travel with public transport, turning off unnecessary lights and unplugging devices, shop sustainably, and always staying as informed as possible. Be open to possibility and live with purpose and ideals.

STAND UP FOR EQUALITY

Take a stand for equality and inclusivity, and take part in conversations for human rights. Use design to sustain, heal, and empower communities, as well as to seek liberation from exploitative and oppressive systems. Design for equal opportunities, respect and to tear down filter-bubbles.

DESIGN TO MAKE A CHANGE

Data and the computational mechanics behind it can only be seen through design. Design to define problems and chart progress. Visualize what is typically hidden to make it more social, more democratic, and more open to innovation. We stop seeing things that remain static over time – things that stay the same become invisible. Re-think, re-imagine and re-design everything to make a good change. Design to break through the noice.

DESIGN THE INVISIBLE

Design is everywhere. Most of it is invisible, deeply integrated into complex systems, in every aspect of our daily lives. Design for the hidden systems behind cultural, economic, and environmental structures. Design the invisible to stay invisible. 

SCALE FOR CONCIOUS IMPACT

The global population is growing and everything matters: the energy we use, the food we produce, the things we make and sell, and the way we spend our time. Anything that is not designed for sustainability is impossible. Design consciously and consider how it would impact a hundred, thousand, million and billion people.

ENGAGE, DISCUSS AND QUESTION

Engage with the present social, cultural and political condition, and from that aim towards designing for better lives. Speak up against injustices and inequalities by questioning the given as given and challenge patriarchy and capitalism. Rethink binaries and hierarchies and question norms.

VALUE KNOWLEDGE

Be humble, and be a facilitator rather than an expert. Acknowledge that everyone is an expert based on their own lived experience, and we all have unique and brilliant contributions to make. Value multiple forms of knowledge, including the knowledge that comes from people as living, feeling bodies in the world.

EMBRACE AND STRIVE FOR DIVERSITY

Complex new challenges requires diverse experience. Work together with all kinds of experiences and knowledge to design beyond boundaries. Strive to; cultivate a deep expertise; exercise a constant curiosity about knowledge, culture, and world views; listen; be willing to lead and not afraid to follow; maintain an outlier perspective; and have courage to express your imagination.

WORK TO MAKE AN IMPACT

Find impactful work and aim to take on work that is meaningful. Engage in work that makes the world better. Advocate for better. Motivate better.

CARE FOR OTHERS

Always be respectful of others, and treat others as you would like to be treated. Care for those who need it, and give space to those need that. Don’t let other suffer, and aim to include everyone on fair terms.

THINK HOLISTICALLY

We are one human family, part of and dependent on one living system on one planet. Think holistically and consider the larger impacts of decisions and actions. Work towards non-exploitative solutions that reconnect us to the earth and to each other. Always consider the circular perspective and aim to create, add and bolster circularity. We depend on ecological systems to sustain us, and should aim to sustain the same systems.

THINK LIKE YOU’RE LOST

Scan the world for solutions, not problems. Look at the world as if you’re lost, where  every piece of information could mean the difference. Process information consciously, as a knowledge-hunter, where everything could be a solution. Turn problems upside down and view them as opportunities.

VIEW CHANGE AS A PROCESS

Design is a methodology that begins with analysis and works toward solutions. View change as emergent from an accountable, accessible, and collaborative process, rather than as a point at the end of a process. Design is a process. Design for constant design and re-design. Design for the iterative process and learn from the solutions you implement to inform the next generation of designs. There is always room for improvement. 

FAIL SUCCESSFULLY

Design is not about what you already know. Design is a learning method that allows rigorously exploration of failure. Failing is the heart of the design method. To fail is to design and succeed. Fail to learn and learn to fail by practicing, iterating. 

PRIORITIZE COMMUNITY

Center the voices of those who are directly impacted by the outcomes of design and prioritize impact on the community over individual intentions. Seek to give a voice to those who may not have one. 

DESIGN FOR PASSION

Design to move the passions in others and ourselves, to create feelings and communicate, to express yourself and to help others express themselves. Create with a purpose and for a purpose. Create beautiful things, both aesthetically beautiful and meaningfully beautiful. Design for with purpose and ideals you live with and for.

DESIGN FOR BEAUTY

the dimensions of design are powerful tools: color connects to emotions through a powerful unspoken language; contrast clarifies the relationship between figure and ground and establishes difference; proportion relates one thing to another; shape carries the many associations of forms; material tells a story about who we are, where we came from, and what we’re made of; texture adds dimension to interface between the body and the object; typography shapes our perception of textual content and inflects what we see and how we see it; time alters objects and how we experience them; image invites us into new universes through visual conventions; and content stands as the foundation of meaning behind visual forms.

ENGAGE AND SHARE

Share knowledge and tools across topics and areas, and engage with others to learn and take inspiration. Start conversations. Seek out to gain new knowledge from diverse sources.

DESIGN TO NOT DESIGN

Before seeking new design solutions, look for what is already working – honor and uplift traditional, indigenous, and local knowledge and practices. Be willing to make trouble when necessary in order to understand complexity. Design only when the design is necessary over other solutions and create less trouble than what it addresses.

LIVE AND THINK WITHIN THE SYSTEM OF THE DONUT

Consider the ecological ceilings and social foundations in everything. Every action has one or more reactions. Every input gives an output. Every output is an input. Consider the broader implications of actions. Aim to design the life you want to live and design sustainably today for the long haul.

SEEK NEW VIEWPOINTS

Acknowledge and understand how own biases and privileges influence ways of seeing, being and designing. Shift focus and viewpoints and seek to understand other viewpoints. Aim to enhance other and multiple viewpoints. Don’t become stagnant, move positions and alter the standpoint to gain a broader view.

START ANYWHERE AND TEACH ANYONE

Start anywhere, as long as you start. Know that you have the power to inspire and teach someone something. Embody your values, demonstrate integrity and respect, embrace the genius of the human spirit and aim to teach even one person something from your point of view. 

STAY WITH THE TROUBLE

Be inclusive and considerate of all by taking three steps back. Consider the context and take responsibility for ethical questions when designing. Always maintain a critical eye and stay with the trouble. Seek the contradictions, be open towards and about them, and work toward solving those problems.

CHANGE YOUR MIND

Stand up for yourself and your beliefs, feelings, ideas and opinions, but be prepared to change your mind.

NEVER STOP LEARNING

Never. Stop. Learning.

With inspiration from The Design Justice Network, AMC Network Principles, The SDG’s, UN’s The Lazy Person’s Guide to Saving the World, Data Feminism, Climate Designers, Staying with the Trouble through Design, Designing with the Body: Somaesthetic Interaction Design, Doughnut Economics, system thinking and Bruce Maus 24 principles for designing Massive Change in your life and work.