A structured vocabulary of concepts, values, practices and roles that define my expertise<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Foundational values & principles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Empathy-Based Design<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Design practice that begins with deep emotional understanding of lived experiences \u2014 especially marginalized or low-literate communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Creating conditions where everyone \u2014 regardless of literacy level, background or ability \u2014 can access, use and influence design outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Equity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Recognizing systemic disadvantages (e.g., literacy barriers) and designing to reduce, not reproduce them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dignity-Centred Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ensuring that people who struggle with reading\/writing are approached with respect, without stigma or deficit framing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Accessibility (Broad Spectrum)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Designing across cognitive, social, linguistic and cultural differences \u2014 not just physical or digital accessibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflexivity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Continually examining my own position, privilege, assumptions and biases as a designer-researcher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ethical Sensitivity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Awareness of power dynamics and ethical tensions in design encounters, especially with vulnerable groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Justice by Design<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Using design as an instrument to challenge inequality and activate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Care & Stewardship<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Design as ongoing support, accompaniment and responsibility \u2014 not a one-off intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Design research approaches<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Participatory Design<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Collaborative design where participants \u2014 including low-literate people \u2014 contribute as co-creators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Co-Creation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hands-on making sessions with communities to develop ideas, visuals or prototypes together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Co-Learning<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mutual knowledge exchange: you learn from the community; they learn from the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Situated Research<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Design research grounded in specific neighbourhoods (like Hillevliet), cultures and social realities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Community-Embedded Practice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Long-term involvement in communities instead of \u201cparachuting in\u201d for short projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Action Research<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Research through doing \u2014 testing interventions, learning from the results, adapting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experimental Prototyping<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rapid creation of unconventional artefacts (puzzles, games, wordless forms) to surface insights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Narrative Inquiry<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Using stories, diaries, lived experiences and interviews to understand social impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Practice-Based Research<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Generating knowledge through design practice rather than detached theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Transformative Research<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Aiming to shift systems, relationships and awareness \u2014 not just produce findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visual & multimodal communication <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Visual Language<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A structured set of images, symbols and metaphors used to communicate without text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visual Cues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Small, intuitive symbols or markers that support understanding of text-heavy content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Symbolic Representation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Replacing text with universally recognizable symbols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Iconography<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Developing consistent icons rooted in cultural and contextual meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wordless Recipes \/ Wordless Instructions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Step-by-step instructions using only images \u2014 a signature output in my research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Multimodal Literacy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Understanding and designing for literacy that goes beyond reading: visual, spatial, gestural, auditory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cognitive Offloading<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Using visuals to ease mental load, enabling understanding without linguistic effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visual Empathy Tools<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Design elements that allow literate people to experience what illiteracy feels like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Accessible Interface Design<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Designing forms, websites, services and interactions that can be understood visually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diagrammatic Storytelling<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Communicating processes or experiences through diagrams rather than paragraphs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social & civic contexts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Literacy-Based Exclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Systemic exclusion created by bureaucratic, digital or social systems that assume literacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Administrative Overload<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The cognitive and emotional burden caused by official forms, letters and digital portals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyday Literacy Practices<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The informal ways people navigate understanding without formal reading\/writing skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trust-Building<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Essential relational work when collaborating with communities who may distrust institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hidden Populations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Groups whose struggles (e.g., low literacy) are often invisible due to shame or stigma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stigma Reduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Designing in ways that normalize and humanize low literacy rather than pathologizing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Navigation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n How people with low literacy move through systems and institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Empowerment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Supporting people to make independent choices, complete tasks and advocate for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bureaucratic Barriers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Obstacles created by complex processes or language used by government or institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyday Agency<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The small acts of self-determination made possible through accessible design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Design artifacts & methods <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Serious Games<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Games designed to evoke empathy, simulate exclusion, or teach others about low literacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Experience Probes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Tools that let participants test and react to designed experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Empathy Simulations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Activities (like the puzzle-form experiment) that help literate people feel the friction of illiteracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflective Journeys<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Processes where participants reflect on their assumptions, biases or blind spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Living Atlas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My core methodology: a dynamic and evolving map of experiments, insights, voices and reflections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Embodied Making<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Using hands, materials and physical activities to elicit insights that talking alone cannot achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Story-Driven Artifacts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Physical or digital objects that tell the stories of lived experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prototyping for Dignity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Creating prototypes that do not shame or diminish participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Material Storytelling<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Letting materials (cards, icons, objects) carry meaning without relying on text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inclusive Co-Making Kits<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Material sets that allow non-literate participants to contribute equivalently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Roles & identities in my practice<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Designer\u2013Researcher<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Operating at the intersection of making and knowledge generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Innovator<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Creating new ways to address entrenched societal problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Visual Translator<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Transforming complex or text-heavy concepts into accessible visual forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Community Ally<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Standing alongside communities rather than above them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facilitator<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Guiding design sessions so all voices can participate equally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Systems Observer<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Identifying how institutions, norms and values shape exclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bridge Builder<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Connecting literate and non-literate people, tech and society, designers and communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Empathy Activator<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Creating conditions where others can feel what exclusion feels like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflective Practitioner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Using reflection as a key tool for growth and insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advocate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amplifying the voices of people often unheard in societal decision-making.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A structured vocabulary of concepts, values, practices and roles that define my expertise Foundational values & principles Empathy-Based Design Design practice that begins with deep emotional understanding of lived experiences \u2014 especially marginalized or low-literate communities. Inclusion Creating conditions where everyone \u2014 regardless of literacy level, background or ability \u2014 can access, use and influence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":120,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-574","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n