Racism and Inequity are products of design. They can be redesigned.

Learn how to build your capacity as an equityXdesigner.

 

Do any of these sound familiar?

"I believe that equity is important, but I don't know what to actually *do* about it."

"I don't have the words or ways to tell people when I feel -- in my gut -- that we should or shouldn't do certain things."

"I need to train my team to be able to do equity work, but I don't know how to do this in a way that is practical and also not problematic."

"My organization says equity is important, but we just keep missing the mark."

 

It’s time to defeat the struggles that have resulted in endless conversations, feelings of guilt and overwhelm, and/or no method by which to make real progress.



 

Build your capacity as an equity designer.

Learn how to diagnose problems, listen and understand better, develop equitable relationships and communities, and create dramatically more effective solutions to equity problems.

equityXdesign will equip you with:

  • A helpful vocabulary to help describe what's happening when you have a gut feeling re: equity issues, and guidance for how to have conversations with others about it
  • A clear & concise framework that helps you take your values and put them into action
  • Immediately applicable, concrete steps about what to do differently in your job now
  • Guidance on where to start and what to actually do: combat analysis paralysis, excessive theory without action, and feelings of overwhelm/powerlessness
  • Self-reflection and opportunities for growth that will have a fast, positive, and perceptible impact on you and the things you do
  • equityXdesign skills that can stand-alone to help you with problem articulation, equitable "customer feedback", and/or effective solution-creation
  • Guidance on both Adaptive and Technical Problems that will push you to consider -- concretely -- your feelings, thoughts, and behaviors - in order that you can make better decisions about where to spend your time and energy


#ProTip: we offer all four of our classes in a discounted bundle ($274 off the regular price)! Learn more by clicking "four plus four bundle" at the bottom of this page.

 

Word on the Street:


"I feel more empowered to say what I really think to members of the firm that I did not feel comfortable sharing with before. I think the ideas around power and the 10+1 were very transformative in particular."

///

"I am noticing more the role of identity and power in my projects, my interactions and my everyday life. I have also engaged in more conversations with project team members and clients about issues of race and inclusivity. On my projects, I'm noticing there are small ways to change how we approach our work that elevate all team members expertise."

///

"Process = product. I've never been through a process like this before, and I love the outcomes we are already getting, even though we haven't put pen to paper to draft a solution."

 

Things are different here (really).


(Here's the Tough part)

1. We keep the camp-fire hand-holding to a minimum.

Most of us have been asked to sit in a circle and reflect upon bad racist experiences we've had, with nowhere to go from there...which oftentimes left us feeling frustrated and powerless.

At eXd, we focus on growth and action, and the conversation/reflection we'll ask you to do will serve those things.

2. This isn't a hit and run.

We want to see this work out for you, in the long-term. We've been burned by post-it-note filled brainstorm sessions that are super-fun in the moment but ultimately leave us high, dry, and solutionless.

3. We ask you to get up off the bench.

We've created courses that will take you through a full design cycle and help you actually solve an equity problem, create something equitably, and/or train your team. The work you put in is equal to what you'll get out of this, and the courses will require you to be an active participant in the process.


(Here's the Love part)

1. This will be highly-guided.

We know equity-work and design-work can get ambiguous and overwhelming, so we've created worksheets, activities, rubrics, etc. to go along with the course content, and we make a special effort to walk you through your very first equityXdesign cycle <3. Needless to say you can retake the course multiple times for multiple problems you are or will be working on!

2. We build your capacity as a designer and a teacher.

This full design cycle also includes notes for how to facilitate this to other people, so that your capacity as an equity designer is replicated and multiplied -- and that's pretty cool (and equitable!).

3. We are both in-the-know AND on the up-and-up

(and you will be too).

Equitable design is the next generation of design. Throughout the course, we'll share how we're improving on traditional design and why we've changed/eliminated/added certain pieces. We'll transparently narrate the difference, so you can understand how we've equitably created and iterated this equityXdesign process (meta right?).

 
What you'll actually learn (and do!).

four plus four bundle

  • All the things! (This is the best deal with a $274 discount on the courses!)

Intro to equityXdesign

  • Get a quick rundown of the individual fields of Equity and of Design, and see what it looks like when the best of each is combined in equityXdesign
  • Learn how you are in fact a designer already, and how we're going to build your capacity further as an equityXdesigner!!!
  • Learn about eXd's core beliefs and design principles
  • Gain clarity with case studies
  • Get your hands dirty (in the good way) with crash courses
  • Learn more about what it means and looks like to do a full eXd design cycle

The problem with problems

  • Learn about the common pitfalls with problems, the consequences of poorly defining and treating problems, and why a new approach is [so] important
  • Get a little more comfortable breaking up with your solutions and falling in love with your problems
  • Get your mind [pleasantly] blown by learning to examine yourself in relation to your problem
  • Learn how to consider the context the problem lives within, the history that underlies it, and the people it affects
  • Learn how to use all of the above to dig in order to get to the root cause(s) of a problem
  • And finally, practice using an equity-lens in order to properly define and articulate a problem

Meta-Empathy

  • Learn about meta-empathy and how it's different from the way we've been traditionally trained to do "customer interviews" -- and why it's so important for us to practice a new way
  • Get your mind [pleasantly] blown by learning to consider yourself in relation to the problems you're trying to solve and the people you're trying to serve, and your power in relation to both of those things
  • Learn how to make your relationships with the people you're trying to serve more equitable -- über important, as relationships are the. most. powerful. vehicles. for. equity. *slow-clap*
  • Identify the boundaries and margins of the problem you are working on
  • Reflect on how you listen and practice deep listening
  • And finally, learn how to conduct meta-empathy interviews and then conduct at least 3 interviews

Getting to solutions

  • Learn how to ideate
  • Play to create the best beginnings of solutions
  • Learn about prototyping, why it's important, and how to do it effectively
 

Organization and Institutional Subscriptions.

If you belong to an organization or institution and need several subscriptions of our online courses for multiple members of your team, please email us at sayhello@equitymeetsdesign to discuss group rates, coaching options, and any other specific needs you might have for equity design capacity building and training.

 

Psssst. Yes, you. Remember what we said above about the ~discounted bundle~? It's like, right there...down below, slightly to the left. So close to you. Click on "the equityXdesign complete bundle" to learn more!