Why I have a manifesto
At the end of last year I decided to finally write a book on designing for students. Before I started writing, I wanted to spend some time reflecting on my practice as a designer.
Books often reflect the lived experience of their author. My book is no different. I wanted to make sure that it reflected who I am and what I learnt working in higher education.
As a leader and manager in higher education you often operate in extremes. A lot of time is spent responding to other people’s reactions. There’s little time to think and you can suffer from decision fatigue. Also, much of the work you do is constrained by a lack of time and resource.
Universities are environments that demand huge levels of conformity. White heterosexual men still mostly control spaces of power. It’s difficult to fit in when you’re neurodivergent and queer.
The problem is that, you lose yourself along the way. You tell yourself that the compromises you make are justified to achieve change that’ll support others to succeed.
The reality is, this kind of environment is exhausting and ultimately self defeating. By the end of my tenure, I was a poor copy of myself. My physical and mental health had suffered.
My best work was when I could be myself. When I had a clear set of principles and knew the values behind them. To do this you need a constant reminder of what type of good you want to bring into the world.
Unlike many people I know who work in visual design, content design and service design, I’m not a trained designer. I learnt through doing. As a result, how I wanted to practice wasn’t really a question. However, as I’ve grown, so has my interest in different designers and their practises.
“My manifesto serves as a reminder of the good I want to bring into the world. It helps me stay focused and inspires me to take action towards creating a better future.”
To help me get started, I read You need a Manifesto by the Stanford D School. This helped me to explore and reflect on the things that were important to me, and articulate those as a set of principles that I can use to make decisions and act.
I’ve decided to share my principles openly. I want to encourage other designers who have also become disconnected from their practice to reflect on what’s important to them. So they can take the first step to finding themselves again.
- Do what makes you happy.
- Learn from others’ experiences.
- Work to improve people’s lives.
- Take responsibility for what you make and its effects.
- Say when things are not okay.
- Share what you learn.
- Give others a voice.
- Be fierce.
