The age of responsible design, revisited.

In 2018, I wrote that we were entering the age of responsible design. My argument was that in a transparent, interconnected global marketplace, competing on price, product performance and brand legacy was no longer enough to stay relevant. The organizations leading the next wave were becoming purpose driven, balancing profit with people and planet, what many call the triple bottom line.

Eight years on, I believe the argument has only grown stronger. What has changed is the speed, and the tools.

A fourth lens

Many of us grew up with the well-known innovation model that places market-winning solutions in the sweet spot between desirable, viable and feasible. It remains a useful model. But I have always felt it was missing something.

In our work, we add a fourth lens: responsible. It asks whether the effort is responsible to the environment and to society, and it sharpens the other three. Responsible to the business is viability. Responsible to people is desirability. Responsible technology is feasibility. Together, the four lenses give leaders a more complete view of whether their efforts truly serve responsible outcomes.

Why "responsible"

I still prefer the word responsible over sustainable. Sustainable is most often heard as an environmental word, and it has been worn thin by greenwashing. Responsible asks something broader and more personal of an organization: what do we owe the people, communities and systems our work touches?

The vocabulary keeps evolving, from sustainable to circular and now regenerative, the idea that an organization can leave conditions better than it found them. Whatever the name, the principle is the same. Business is heading there, and design should be right alongside, helping to discover and deliver the opportunities.

Where design earns its place

Design cannot deliver an organization's purpose on its own. But design is uniquely placed to help, because it understands systems, materials, manufacturing, customer journeys and human values at the same time.

In 2018 I pointed to large consumer goods companies publicly committing to halve their environmental impact and to improve the lives of millions. Commitments like these only become real when they reach the products, packaging, services and experiences people meet every day. That is design's work: moving from designing packages to designing experiences, and from individual products to responsible systems.

The same is true of digital products. Being responsible simply means making sure digital experiences enhance and improve our lives, rather than competing for more of our time at the expense of our wellbeing.

Responsibility in the age of AI

When I wrote the original piece, AI was not part of the conversation. Today it may be the most important test of all. AI can generate thousands of products, messages and experiences in the time it once took to brief one. The question is no longer only whether we can create something, but whether we should, for whom, and toward what outcome.

That makes the responsible lens a leadership question, not a creative one. Someone has to own it. I believe design leaders, working as true partners to the business, are well placed to do so.

In closing

I said in 2018 that the age of responsible design was here to stay, even if the name might not stick. I still believe it. I will continue to advocate for design leadership that helps organizations become purpose driven, by design, and that leaves people, planet and business better off.