Design is about putting form to ideas.
The line above is one of my most favourite definitions of design. It’s simple, short, and encapsulates why and how we design, while still leaving mystery for you to imagine what it means.
Another of my favourties comes from Liz Sanders and Pieter Jan Stappers, who visually represents design as the means of connecting our experiences (memories) with our dreams.
Design practice is about connecting these ideas together with inquiry (research), an sense of context and relationships (systems thinking), an understanding of how humans react to and respond to things (psychology), and a means to assess what our creations do once they are put into the world (evaluation).
This is design.
It’s both natural and intutive, as well as something we do all the time. We see situations we dislike, we recognize opportunities to do something different to improve the situation, and we get to envisioning how that might happen and what it will take to do it.
In the health sector, this can mean a lot of things. Health leaders — like many of you readers — have told me that you approach design with a sense of excitement and caution (if not downright fear). Design is the discipline of innovation, and that brings with it risk, opportunity, uncertainty, complexity, and attention. Most of these are challenging to deal with.
Fear not, the introduction you’ve been asking for is coming. Beginning July 2nd, 2026 and continuing every second week for six sessions over the summer months, Cense (the parent of The Design Loft) is presenting: Design for Health in the Age of Complexity.
Upcoming Events
The agenda is as follows (all events are at 1200 Eastern Time):
Thursday, July 2: Understanding Design in Two Questions: An introduction to Designing for Health
July 16: Creativity and the Practice of Design in Health Systems
July 30: Complexity and Health
August 13: Connecting Health to Impact By Design: Evaluation
August 27: Designing for Health Behaviour and Change
September 10: Creating Better Services in the Health Context: Service Design
To register, go to the Eventbrite event page linked below or here.
Paid members of The Design Loft will receive additional materials.
This multi-part series is building up to the launch of the expanded and in-depth Design for Health curriculum that we’ll be delivering through The Design Loft in the autumn, yet is also meant to stand alone. This is a practical, bite-sized introduction to design for health that you can learn about over lunch (or whenever it lands in your time zone).
Lessons will be recorded and the link shared with those who register for the event, so if you can’t make it, you can still gain access to the content.
I hope to see you there. Visit the registration page above for more details or click the link here. More updates will also be shared here on The Design Loft as part of your Design School for Health.