Come to our 10th birthday party!

See how design & social science methods play out in practice

We like to blend disciplines, frameworks, and theories to help us challenge dominant ways of thinking and acting, center perspectives that are excluded, and find possibility at the edge of our systems and in the spaces between people and institutions. Disciplines like design, applied anthropology, social psychology, philosophy, history, cybernetics, community development, and more. Frameworks like the behavior change wheel, two loop systems change, and more. Theories like ecological systems, heterotopia, and more. At the same time, we’ve learned that the transformative potential of our blended approach lies not in a set of frameworks, methods or tools, but in an explicit set of humanistic values. Come see how our interdisciplinary approaches and values comingle.

Bear witness to stories from the edges & margins

People are the heart and soul of what we do. Come encounter some of the many humans whose experiences, desires, positive deviancy, and ingenuity expose both the cracks in our systems and the emergent possibilities. Over the past decade, we’ve deepened our story gathering practice, shifting away from story as data towards story as relationship. Spending time with people in the places and spaces they already are, learning about their context, using visual methods to project forward, writing speculative fiction, and returning stories are just some of the ways we seek to bear witness to ‘what is’ and co-imagine what could be.’

Interact with six living examples of systems change

We move from ideas on paper to ideas in practice through experience prototyping. That’s where we bring to life a concept, at a small-scale, to test everything from new roles, interactions, spaces, processes, backend systems, and metrics. Over the past decade, we’ve co-designed and helped to prototype 30+ new models of practice. A lot of what we’ve made hasn’t stuck — and that’s OK. Failing fast and early is part of the ethos of prototyping. But, a handful of models & practices are growing. Like Curiko, a platform enabling people with and without disabilities to have more moments of connection. Like Auricle, local listening infrastructure for cities to understand citizen wellbeing in real-time. Come get a taste of all six models.

Engage with the conditions & levers for social transformation

What germinates ideas? Our hardest won lessons in the last ten years have been about cultivating the conditions for ideas to grow into prototypes and spread. We’ve found that much of the innovation & scale discourse reinforces status quo logics. When we started ten years ago, we assumed that we would do research, engage in co-design, prototype new ideas, and scale up what worked. Instead, we’ve found that the who, when, where, and why is just as critical as what and how we prototype. Building robust partnerships and creative teams, aligning around shared moral purpose, situating prototypes in community, flexible funding, and fostering collective ownership are just some of what we’ve learned it takes for ideas to move from paper to practice. Come get a sense of the micro-climates required for ideas to grow.

Explore our resource library

Wheels, triangles, canvases, dice, card decks, storyboards, games, and more. These are a few of our favorite things. As a social design shop, we love making concepts concrete through frameworks, visualizations, maps, and interactive prompts. Stop by our library to browse resources, take home tools and posters for your context, and play our popular game, Convivial Connections.

Shape our future directions

How might we build on all of the rich learning of the last decade? Where are the future opportunities for transformation? We’re eager to open-up conversation space and hear what curiosities and reflections the exhibit sparked. Let’s explore what seeds could be germinated next, and how we might work together! Come add your thoughts to the forest mural.