Radical Participatory Design: Insights From NASA’s Service Design Lead
Have you ever been a part of a participatory design process or used of a participatory method only to find that it fell short of any real shift in power dynamics? Have you ever compared notes with another participatory designer only to find out their definition of participatory design is different than your own? Have you faced opposition from your organization in practicing design in a more participatory way?
Join us, add to the conversation, and see what Victor Udoewa, NASA’s Service Design Lead, has to say about such experiences, the different definitions of participatory design and how participatory design can actually be used to reinforce hierarchies. One way he has found to dismantle that system is to practice Radical Participatory Design (RPD).
You’ll learn:
- What participatory design is.
- How definitions of participatory design vary.
- What RPD is and how to start practicing it.
- How to assert your power as a designer.
This Master Class is for anyone involved or interested in participatory design and how to make the process more effective and efficient.
Speaker
Victor Udoewa is Chief Technology Officer, Chief Experience Officer, and Service Design Lead in the NASA Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (SBIR/STTR) Program. Before NASA, he was Director of Strategy at 18F, a civic consultancy for and inside the federal government. He started the education business unit, developed a line of educational products and services, directed strategy, managed the digital strategists’ practice, and served as a designer and strategist on partner projects.
Previously, as a Global Education Instructional Designer and Training Development Specialist at Google, he designed learning experiences for people in low-to-middle-income countries around the world. The education could range from experiences covering how to develop web applications and how to use the internet to improve teaching and learning, to experiences exploring how to use internet technologies in post-disaster emergency response situations as well as global digital literacy. As a part of that work, he also advised Google in global energy and access work. Prior to Google he served at USAID and DHS as a science & technology policy advisor and development engineer focusing on infrastructure, post-disaster reconstruction, climate neutrality and global health.
Building on his time teaching in secondary schools, he still teaches teachers as an educational specialist and adjunct professor of education focusing on science and math education through classes, workshops, and video series. He still conducts medical, engineering, or education research and is a certified health crisis and trauma counselor focusing (HIV/AIDS, miscarriage, etc.). Pre-COVID, he enjoyed singing in his male a cappella group and teaching salsa classes on the weekend. He still enjoys time with his wonderful family.
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Salaries for people who learn design are soaring, surpassing $200K in cities like San Francisco, with global job growth rates at 13%.
Many of your job competitors already possess design skills. When you enhance your design skills you can significantly elevate your personal brand and make you a more attractive candidate.
You learn skills that protect you from losing your job to AI.
You can ignite your passion through design and leverage it to make a meaningful impact.
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Your design skills can help increase sales, keep customers loyal, and turn them into powerful advocates of your company. That’s because design is all about helping people reach their goals and meet their needs.
Companies that invest in design outperform the S&P 500 Index by a whopping 228%.
Design goes way beyond creating attractive visuals and aesthetics. When you possess design skills you’re equipped to revolutionize businesses, make technology more user-friendly, and innovate customer experiences and systems.
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