A few weeks ago I wrote about the importance of approaching research and design with a trauma-informed mindset. This work takes continual practice. It is not a step which you can add to the design thinking process or slot into the double diamond. As with accessibility and inclusive design, we need to be thinking about it throughout the research and design lifecycle. We need to bring this lens to each new project and think about how we can apply trauma-informed principles in that specific context.
As part of the workshop I ran at UX Scotland, the group came up with a whole range of ideas for how we could bring trauma-informed thinking into our work. This list is not exhaustive but can be used as a jumping-off point to think about the sorts of things you could try in your work. People discussed this in their own roles and organisations which spanned private and public sectors, small and large organisations. They used a range of lenses to inform their ideation, thinking about:
*Quick sidebar from me: I wanted people to think about this because it took me a while (too long) to realise the training and experience I had as a Rape Crisis helpline volunteer was incredibly relevant to approaching research in a human-centred and trauma-informed way. I was bringing some of the skills I learned in that environment into my work for a while before I made the connection in my brain. I had compartmentalised these two parts of my life. Heldiney Pereira also gave an impactful talk at the conference about how his experience volunteering at Samaritans has had a profound impact on his work as a Product Designer and in leading a team.
Before we jump into the ideas, a quick refresher on trauma-informed principles. In my last blog, I talked about how the SAMHSA framework (and others like it) can help us bring a trauma-informed approach to our work. The principles are interrelated and build upon each other. They should be considered holistically — you can’t pick and choose, they’re all crucial.
In the workshop, we used the SAMSHA framework to help structure our ideation. Each group had a different principle and came up with ideas for how they could apply it in practice. I want to say a huge thank you to the workshop group who came up with so many great ideas. I’ve also mixed in some things I’ve tried in my own work, and examples from other practitioners. Where I have shared an idea that wasn’t generated as part of the workshop, I have cited it at the end so you can go and find out more from the people who originated it.
These are the six SAMHSA principles:
Because the principles are interrelated and holistic, lots of ideas span multiple principles. For example,
having a collaborative conversation with participants where you empower them to make choices about how the research session is run, can foster a greater sense of safety, and improve trust between participant and researcher
One idea, (at least) four principles.
For this reason, I’ve decided not to just list the ideas under each principle, which would lead to a lot of repetition. When I was analysing the thoughts, common themes began to emerge across principles. I will use these themes to structure the list of ideas.
From here on out — this is going to be a big, long list post. I don’t expect you to read through it all linearly! Please use it as a reference point to spark ideas for your projects. Some of the themes had so many ideas, that I’ve had to further divide them into sub-themes.
Jump to a particular section to read ideas related to a specific theme:
Some of the ideas below could be implemented in your next research or design session. Others will take more effort. We might be constrained by our current working practices and organisational pressures. To give us a better chance to be able to embed these ideas, I’d like to dig deeper into the constraints we face. If we understand our constraints better, we can be better prepared to work within or around them.
My next post will look at some of the barriers to implementing trauma-informed approaches and discuss how we can start to shift them out of the way.
Establish boundaries and consent through open, honest communication:
Create shared understanding around the language being used, defaulting to the language of the person you are researching or designing with:
‘Close the loop’ i.e. share your insights with the people who gave their time to come to research:
Be transparent about the future of the product or service:
Use good listening skills:
Implement policies that allow you (and your team) to push back if doing primary research is likely to trigger trauma
Plan what you would do if somebody is triggered during a research or design encounter:
Create processes for internal peer support and debriefing:
Have policies on compensation, and ensure that compensation is not contingent on completing the session:
Bring in processes to identify gaps in your research and identify which voices you haven’t heard from:
Have robust policies and processes around data and privacy:
Bring inclusive, participatory evidence-based processes into your work:
Mindsets around pace and time
The majority of these ideas came from the UX Scotland workshop group. I have edited some for clarity and flow, but have not changed the meaning.
Any ideas marked with * came from a presentation in a community session with the Trauma-informed design community group led by Carol F. Scott. You can find more on this by Carol and co-authors here: Trauma-Informed Social Media: Towards Solutions for Reducing and Healing Online Harm.
Some other great resources for applying trauma-informed and inclusive principles in practice:
Do you have other ideas for applying trauma-informed principles or examples of where you have applied them in your work? Or links to resources? Please share them in the comments or over on LinkedIn.