The Life-centred Design Guide resources for further learning
A list of resources for further learning about life-centred design.
About the guide
Life-centred design aligns responsible businesses and designers with global goals to design physical and digital products and services that re-nourish
the planet and foster fair and diverse ways of being.
Life-centred design is still emerging, however, so awareness of it is low, those who practise it are few, how it is practised varies, and hybridisation of physical and digital product design strategies is nascent.
The Life-centred Design Guide introduces a collection of today’s life-centred design approaches and speculates a ‘Future Snapshot’ of what the framework might become if the variations merged.
Accompanied by the Life-centred Design Resource Hub
at futurescouting.com.au/lcd-resources, the Guide includes learning exercises, tools, strategies, and introductions to 11 key supporting practices:
Circular design, Inclusive design, Pluriversal design, Systems thinking, Distributed design, Sustainable web design, Behavioural design, Interspecies design, Biomimicry, Foresight, Human-centred design
Life-centred design gives designers the skills and mindsets to respond to today’s wicked problems in tangible, practical, and measurable ways.
Resource links
Below is a list of resources for further learning about life-centred approaches and practices, including:
- Life-centred Design Approaches
- Life-centred Design Contributors
- Supporting Design Practices
- Indigenous Practices
- Articles
Design Approaches
Learn more about different design approaches that expand-human centred design to include more consideration for the planet.
Agricycle
- Home: https://agricycleglobal.com/
- Model: https://agricycleglobal.com/model/
- A project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXzMTV6x-VI
Bruce Mau, Principles for Massive Change
- Book: https://brucemaustudio.com/mc24/
- Principles summary: https://uxdesign.cc/bruce-maus-24-principles-for-life-centred-design-d026f35f5666
Circulab
- Home: https://circulab.com/
- Circular Toolkit: https://circulab.academy/circular-economy-tools/circular-design-toolkit/
- Circular Academy: https://circulab.academy/
Design Council
- Home: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/
- Guide: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/resources/guide/beyond-net-zero-systemic-design-approach
Disrupt Design
- Home: https://www.disruptdesign.co/
- Free tools: https://online.unschools.co/collections?category=free-content
- Unschool: https://online.unschools.co/
Don Norman
- Home: https://www.nngroup.com
- 21st Century Design Course: https://www.interaction-design.org/master-classes/21st-century-design-with-don-norman
- The Design Of Everyday Things: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-design-of-everyday-things-don-norman/book/9780465050659.html
Eco Design Circle Sustainability Guide
- Home: https://www.ecodesignlearningfactory.com/
- Sustainability Guide: https://sustainabilityguide.eu/
Fairphone
Fillipa K fashion
- Sustainability Mission—https://www.filippa-k.com/en/sustainability/circularity
First Things First Manifesto
- First Things First Manifesto: https://www.firstthingsfirst2020.org/
- Original 1964 version: http://www.designishistory.com/1960/first-things-first/
- Climate Designers: https://www.climatedesigners.org/
Future of Design Education
Impossible
- Planet Centric Design Toolkit: https://www.impossible.com/pcd-toolkit
- Planet Centric Design Starter Canvas: http://impossible.earth/pages/intro/
- Bond Touch Project: https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_lWvtHAM=/
Karwai Ng and Will Anderson
- Home: https://twitter.com/willwai1
- Iceberg Framework: https://medium.com/@willwai/the-iceberg-canvas-9f90d50de656
- Conscious design manifesto: https://medium.com/@willwai/conscious-design-manifesto-and-principles-a-will-wai-perspective-203b47cdb629
Monika Sznel
- Environment-centred design—https://uxdesign.cc/the-time-for-environment-centered-design-has-come-770123c8cc61
- The case for non-human personas—https://uxdesign.cc/your-next-persona-will-be-non-human-tools-for-environment-centered-designers-c7ff96dc2b17
- Environment-centred canvas—https://uxdesign.cc/tools-for-environment-centered-designers-actant-mapping-canvas-a495df19750e
Sentient Future Lab
- Principles: https://medium.com/@sentientcollective/10-principles-of-life-centered-design-948ac1da7a56
- Example: https://www.sentientfuturelab.com/case-study-salus
The Circular Design Guide
- Home: https://www.circulardesignguide.com/
- Tools: https://www.circulardesignguide.com/resources
- Methods: https://www.circulardesignguide.com/methods
- Get started: https://www.circulardesignguide.com/get-started
NID Handbook
- Handbook: http://www.natureinspireddesign.nl/handbook.html
- Archive: http://natureinspireddesign.nl/news.html
Nike Circularity Guide
- Home: https://www.nikecirculardesign.com/
- Circularity guide/workbook: https://www.nikecirculardesign.com/guides/CircularityGuide.pdf
- Circular material use—https://www.nike.com/sustainability/materials
- Sustainable approaches—https://www.nike.com/sustainability/
Vincent
- Home: https://planetcentricdesign.com/
- Guide: https://planetcentricdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Planet_Centric_Planet_web_v3.pdf
- Toolkit: https://planetcentricdesign.com/method-tools/#planet-centric-design-toolkit
Wholegrain Digital
- Home: https://www.wholegraindigital.com/
- Book: https://abookapart.com/products/sustainable-web-design/
- Web Design Manifesto: https://www.sustainablewebmanifesto.com/
- Website Carbon Calculator: https://www.websitecarbon.com/
Life-centred Design Contributors
- Katharina Clasen and the Life Centred Design.net resource hub—https://lifecentereddesign.net/
- Jeroen Spoelstra and Unbeaten Studio: https://www.unbeatenstudio.com/
- Martin Tomitsch and Design, Think, Make, Break, Repeat—http://designthinkmakebreakrepeat.com/
- Monika Sznel and Environmental—https://medium.com/user-experience-design-1/the-time-for-environment-centered-design-has-come-770123c8cc61
- Estela Duhart Benavides and Biomimicry—https://www.mica.edu/annual-events-series/2021-commencement-exhibition-3/student/estela-duhart--benavides/
Design Practices
Learn more about the eleven key design practices combined in life-centred design
Circular design
- The Circular Design Guide
- Free online course — https://circulab.academy/courses/activate-circular-economy/
Inclusive design
- What Is Inclusive Design? A Beginner’s Guide — https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/beginners-guide-inclusive-design/
- Microsoft’s inclusive design — https://www.microsoft.com/design/inclusive/
- A great article with many resources—https://uxdesign.cc/a-beginners-guide-to-inclusive-ux-design-b8dcc94f5068
Pluriversal design
- Watch these videos
- Pivot 2020
- Pluriversal Design & Participatory Learning
- Design course for impact and inclusion — https://ciid.dk/education/digital-
Systems thinking
- See a structured example of systems mapping with this Systems Leverage Map by Design Institute for Health — https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_lmrZRJ4=/
- How to explain systems change to your mum & dad — https://www.systemsinnovation.network/posts/how-to-explain-systems-change-to-your-mum
Distributed design
- Distribute design resources
- A video from Kate Raworth — https://doughnuteconomics.org/tools-and-stories/138
Sustainable web design
- The key resource for easy-to-understand sustainable digital — https://sustainablewebdesign.org
- Sustainable digital tool list — https://sustainabledigitaldesign.com/blog/our-favourite-digital-sustainable-tools
- Branch is an online magazine written by and for people who dream of a sustainable and just internet for all — https://branch.climateaction.tech/
Behavioural design
- Free BD courses from the Australian Government — https://betalearning.pmc.gov.au/mod/page/view.php
- An inexpensive course — https://www.udemy.com/course/the-behavioral-design-process/
- A great reference for behaviour change patterns—https://bc-patterns.com/
Interspecies design
- Animal-Computer Interaction: what it is, what it involves and why it matters — Clara Mancini — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMOJSpXfRoI
- Hook and Microsoft’s Interspecies Design Toolkit — https://www.interspeciesdesign.co.uk/
Biomimicry
- Biomimicry 3.8—https://biomimicry.net/
- A free introductory course- https://biomimicry.net/courses/introduction-to-biomimicry/
Designing futures
- A good article about the basics of futures thinking
- Using speculative design to explore future advanced technology — Future Scouting
- An excellent guide to forecasting with business — How To Future
- About design fiction—https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_UT78JOauM
- A design fiction exhibition—https://www.designboom.com/design/anne-zhou-off-the-shelf-design-objects-shanghai-fruit-shop-06-26-2022/
- Excellent Futures & Foresight short videos by Alex Fergnani—https://www.youtube.com/c/AlexFergnani/videos
Human-centred design
- Introduction to HCD—https://www.designkit.org/human-centered-design
- Interaction Foundation’s open-source, free-to-access compendium of design knowledge — https://www.interaction-design.org/literature
- The Design Council’s Double Diamond framework — https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/what-framework-innovation-design-councils-evolved-double-diamond
Indigenous Practices
More from Damien…
Explore Damien’s two design innovation labs:
- Life-centred Design Lab — expanding human-centred design to include nature and invisible communities
- Future Scouting — Designing life-centred, values-driven future tech products with speculative design
Get practical with tools and courses:
- Life-centred Design Books and Toolkits
- Life-centred Design Courses
- Life-centred Design Innovation Cards
Follow Damien on Medium for more fringe design thinking and experiments.
