I believe that everyone deserves dignity.

Having dignity is empowering; it compels people to act, change, and even inspire others. Why? Because I believe this how humans were made to be. The designer’s challenge is to create products, services, experiences that create a culture of dignity through their use. Good design makes people feel like they count, and that their needs and fears are meaningful. It changes the way they see themselves—and the way they see others.

If all this sounds rather abstract and idealistic, it is. I wrestle with how to embed my designs with a sense of dignity all the time. One thing I do know: having a deep understanding of my customers and their needs is the only way to create systems that really promote a sense of dignity.

I am challenged by this (albeit strongly-worded) quote from Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed:

“The oppressor is solidary with the oppressed only when he stops regarding the oppressed as an abstract category and sees them as persons who have been unjustly dealt with, deprived of their voice, cheated in the sale of their labor– when he stops making pious, sentimental, and individualistic gestures and risks an act of love… To affirm that men and women are persons and as persons should be free, and yet do nothing tangible to make this affirmation a reality, is a farce”.

How can our stove create a culture of dignity for all the people it touches? In my next post, I’ll talk a little more about this.