more presence, less panic
jordan soliday and johnnie moore co-created unhurried design as a life-centered approach to design thinking that prioritizes relationships and reflection, going the right pace at the right time, to yield resilient solutions with less material waste.
principles
practice, practice
design theory has its use, but we’re actually more interested in the practice: the experimenting, playing, and exploring that creates connections and lets something useful emerge. so we share stories, practice being half-a-shade braver, play with doubt and uncertainty and take the risk of sharing more of our feelings.
context matters
we want design to contribute to a sustainable future. we embrace nature: we design in nature, noticing its patterns and rhythms. allowing its color and vitality to enhance our experience. taking into account context also includes designing alongside our local communities.
the body is intelligent
we move: we do work that involves our bodies, helps us notice our feelings and sensations as we do. in a society that prizes head-heaviness, we recognize that our bodies house most of our intelligence and are our greatest storytelling tool.
leveling the playing field
too often, design feels like its an expert skill for the select few, who then take on a role of designing for, rather than with, others. we believe everyone is creative and can be involved in the process of design, with an emphasis on those belonging to traditionally subordinated groups.
more than a process
we want to see humans design with greater calmness and presence, and find more meaning and relationship in their work. we invite people to tend their interior condition when designing, which has an outsized effect on what’s created. unhurried design is not a fixed process. it can be iterated upon and reimagined by its practitioners.
avoiding the rush
design often feels driven by anxiety. often people and organizations rush the design process. a conventional approach to design incentivizes speed and efficiency as the pathway to success but these can end up leading to messier, less effective products and processes. we end up circling back to fix what was missed or ignored due to the pressures and demands of an urgent culture and race to be first, which burns people out along the way.
practices
pause
what if you create the conditions to spur conscious and unconscious creativity—and notice and observe? by slowing down and empathizing, you can see what else is possible. continually hold up the question: what is really going on here?
position
upon exploring stories you believe about yourself, others, products, and systems you interact with, your beliefs can shift. what needs letting go of? what wants to happen? a refined understanding of the challenge emerges as you unearth a truer context to design from and alongside.
play
from a grounded context, you can imagine and prototype a colorful array of possibilities to solve for emergent realities. as a child does, play to learn. test your low-resolution prototype(s) with a breadth of life-centered stakeholders, treating them as co-designers and not merely users.
how you can practice
design coaching.
we draw upon 40+ years of experience in working with people and teams to help you design products, processes, and services in a non-anxious way. we can offer coaching 2-to-1, or you can choose to work with either of us 1-on-1. once we help you define your challenge or opportunity, we will guide you through a non-linear approach to unhurried design, referencing its practices—pause, position, play—and principles.
deliverables:
7 design coaching sessions
field work involving stakeholders—people and nature
apprehension of unhurried design practices and principles
creation of a non-human persona
creation of a low-resolution prototype + testing plan
more creative confidence, resilience, tolerance for ambiguity, and grounded presence
investment
if you are paying:
1450 usd (payment plans available)
this experience is not refundable.
if your corporation is paying:
3000 usd (payment plans available)
this experience is not refundable.
what people are saying
as someone who has the propensity to operate at one speed—fast—this was successful in helping me realize the long-term benefit of slowing down to allow a shift in perspective.
jacqueline brito
principal & founder
there definitely was an unhurried, non-anxious presence brought to every interaction. it’s immediately noticeable and puts people at ease.
nidhi gupta
senior director
over many years of working on complex problems, i have found it sometimes necessary to slow down in order to go fast. unhurried design is a productive approach to difficult situations.
mark maher
general director
meet j+j
co-creators of unhurried design
jordan soliday noticed a need for an unhurried approach to design during the pandemic. while facilitating a team that was panicked beneath the pressure of unrealistic timelines, he began to ask, what might be possible without all the rush? jordan is a lecturer with mit xpro. he is currently traveling and working between europe and the states, hiking new trails and deepening his mystic practice.
johnnie moore is the author of the book unhurried and co-founder of creative facilitation. he’s a visiting tutor on the oxford strategic leadership programme at the saïd business school and an occasional contributor to fast company magazine. he lives in cambridge, england, and finds himself coming more alive whenever he swims a few more laps in the morning than what he feels like doing.