D.E.A.R.R. Diaries (Discipline, Experience, Architecture, Reflection + Revolution)
Summary
Four female leads at Coforma reflect on their first year in civic design: a Product Design Lead, a Design Research Lead, a Content Design Lead and a DesignOps Lead. Using diaries, they'll journal about their prior experiences (10 years back), their first year at Coforma, and postulate on the 10 years ahead. Framed in their respective areas of practice, our four panelists will discuss design as discipline, as experience, as architecture and as vehicle for revolutionary change. We hope to uncover multi-potentialities within the civic design and technology space that could influence endless improvements within the private sector.
Key Insights
-
•
Entering Civic design with fresh eyes allows designers to both see systemic issues and bring prior experience to inform change.
-
•
Self-reflection questions like who you design for and who you serve reveal hidden power dynamics and potential saviorism.
-
•
Power in design is situational and fluid; one can have power in some contexts and not others, requiring continuous reflection.
-
•
Gatekeeping in design happens at individual, organizational, and practice levels, often through credentials, jargon, and hierarchy.
-
•
Centricity of connection and relationships with users and colleagues is more impactful than pure technical skill or methods.
-
•
The heroic designer narrative is limiting; Civic design requires collaborative, communal approaches without a single hero.
-
•
Design researchers can shift from improving service delivery to influencing policy and early-stage government innovation.
-
•
Long-term, relational engagement with communities is essential to address power imbalances and rebuild trust in Civic design.
-
•
Climate impact is a critical emerging concern for designers, with digital consumption contributing to significant emissions.
-
•
Design operations in government can reduce team friction, enabling focus on human-centered design and community impact rather than processes alone.
Notable Quotes
"I was obnoxiously proud in my 20s, humbled and service-driven in my 30s."
"Designers have long thought of themselves as heroes, but we had to unpack that conception."
"There’s a fine line between a service mindset and saviorism — am I helping communities or using them to feel superior?"
"Power is liquid — you might have it in one space and not in another."
"Gatekeeping happens through language as much as through who’s in the room."
"Centering connection and relationships rather than transactions is the true happy path in design."
"We don’t need another hero — we’re on a journey together, sometimes converging, sometimes diverging."
"Government might expand its self-perception from service provider to facilitator who partners with constituents."
"Design research should be involved in setting early policy vision, not just in delivering on it later."
"Clear is kind — clarity and kindness in content design create meaningful experiences for all."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"We’re moving toward a contextual enterprise, where everything is relevant and adaptive to the user’s situation."
Greg PetroffSoftware as Material—A Redux
June 6, 2023
"We don’t have to restrict ourselves to playing the canary in the coal mine. We can design the harm out of our products before they’ve even taken flight."
Brendan JarvisFraming Tomorrow by Questioning Today
June 8, 2022
"A service leadership approach means you’re here to help and orchestrate, not to command and control."
Prerna MakanawalaAchieving Balanced Design Consistency
June 9, 2021
"Language matters — calling people 'users' reflects and reinforces the reality of reduced agency."
Tricia WangFrom Users to Shapers of AI: The Future of Research
March 25, 2024
"With great power comes great responsibility; we shouldn’t abandon using motivation techniques, or others will use them poorly."
Cheryl PlatzEmbrace Your Fun Factor: Game Development Best Practices for Product Design
January 9, 2026
"The roles of who is designing continue to shift—community designing for community, designing with community, and community members becoming consultants."
Ariel KennanTheme Two Intro
November 17, 2022
"Values conversation is less threatening when framed as wanting to understand why we're doing this project or why we're here."
Tricia WangThe most popular design thinking strategy is BS
January 27, 2022
"We’re the voice of the employee—we’re arbiters of truth, defenders of experience, and sometimes validators against manipulation."
Kristin WisnewskiMeasuring What Matters
October 23, 2019
"Facilitating a shared understanding among everyone on product takes a lot of time."
Scott Jensen Sarah Delaney Carmen LiuShort Take #2: UX/Product Lessons from Your Industry Peers
December 6, 2022
