Recently, I’ve given a few talks about trauma-informed research and design. Here are examples of questions I received afterward that might be useful for you. If you are new to this topic, you can learn what trauma-informed design is here.
Q. How do you talk about trauma-informed design practices with those who may not know about it?
A. Most people in tech have not heard about it! I ask them if they have ever heard of trauma-informed research or design before. The answer is usually no. I then talk about how trauma has long-term effects on cognition, emotion, and more. I explain that we need to be aware of and plan for this as digital designers. I then send them resources to learn more.
It's kind of like accessibility though, to be honest. Lots of people may say they care about it, but how many actually do the work to practice it...well, that's another thing. We are all pulled in many directions.
Q. Are there certain skills to develop to become a more trauma-informed designer?
A. Understanding trauma, its impacts, and trauma-informed care principles is the first step. But if that’s all there was, nonprofit and healthcare organizations would have much better websites. Having trauma-informed clinicians doesn't mean your tech or design practice is trauma-informed.
Being a trauma-informed designer stems from a combination of trauma-informed AND design skills. It’s both. Learning design principles is essential as learning about trauma-informed care principles. Both are based on many years of research.
Strong skills in mobile design and accessible design are very helpful too. They overlap with what is needed to be a trauma-informed designer.
Working with different populations helps us step out of our bubbles. If possible, volunteer your time or services where you will meet people unlike you. Open up and read about others’ perspectives. Important books such as Design for Real Life and Design Justice are eye-opening.
The racial equity training I've done through The Racial Equity Insitute has also been valuable. It's helped me understand systemic racism, build empathy, and see others' perspectives. We suck at this as humans. We are extremely self-focused. Anything that pushes against that is helpful. It allows us to get the empathy and motivation to do trauma-informed design work.
Finally, being curious is critical – you need to be continuously learning. I don't know any great designers who aren't curious.
Q.What is the biggest thing you’ve learned since incorporating trauma-informed principles into your work?
A. That we in tech inadvertently exacerbate trauma all over the place. Once you see it, you can't NOT see it anymore. For example, we do it with online forms by forcing people to work with websites that don't work on mobile. We do it by asking sensitive questions in research without authentic consent.
We have a lot of work to do. Want to join us and be a more trauma-informed designer? Be part of the monthly trauma-informed design online discussion.
You can access more resources to be a trauma-informed designer here.
Contact me if you have questions or want to discuss!