Design | Research | Case Study
Fall 2021
Using Radical Belonging and Identity to understand my own Design Process
Exploring Gender Identity within the Transgender Community through the lens of Radical Belonging to understand how those in the community can dream bigger and how it has shaped and cultivated my own design practice in the process.
Exploring Radical Belonging within the Trans Community
My year-long capstone independent study project for the 4th year of my program is where I am designing a speculative space or environment that is meant to embody the frameworks of Radical Belonging through the lens of Transgender, Gender Diverse, and Gender Non-conforming individuals. Using this framework, I want to explore a space where this community feels welcomed and accepted by re-establishing new norms and boundaries within our culture.
The people I am designing for
This project has had 3 iterations with major pivots between each one
Each iteration built upon my understanding of my own approach to the design process, and how it broke away from the standard practice I had been taught.
Combining Queer Theory and Narrative
Through this first iteration, I explored an assortment of concepts and what it meant to create Queer spaces and the connection between education and empathy.
The pivot
In this first approach, I was too solution form-focused on the concept of a narrative without having an actual answer to the problem I was exploring. I had not realized it at the time, but I did not yet have the tools or understanding of exactly the kind of work I wanted to do and tried to fit it into a narrative structure that I was familiar with. The scope of it was also too broad of space to realistically solve for.
Iteration 1
The initial space was where I was combining Queer Theory and narrative to develop a narrative experience that uses shared experiences to educate while also evoking empathy for the Queer Experience.
Designing for Trans people in the Workplace
Iteration 2
Constraining the scope to specifically the Transgender and Gender Diverse community, I focused on a more practical problem space of trying to understand and develop a system that companies could implement where Transgender and Gender Diverse individuals could know if the company was inclusive and safe.
Persona development was in this phase, focusing on Gender Diverse individuals who were experiencing identity and expression issues within their current or future workplaces.
The pivot
This second iteration was structured through the standard design process and was focused on a potential business opportunity that could benefit the Trans* community, but I didn’t have quite the same passion for the idea as I had the previous iteration.
This is where I moved into the next and current iteration of this project.
Moving from a Business Orientated to Community-driven Space
Iteration 3
Here I was introduced to concepts of Radical Belonging and Imagination as well as re-introducing the idea of using a narrative solution and creating a speculative space. When first applying this to the problem space of the Trans* community in the workplace was proven to be a difficult process, I stepped back from the constraint of the work environment.
Radical Belonging by Dr. Lindo Bacon
This was my introduction to Radical Belonging.
This is a space that needed to be approached with community, empathy, and collaboration, through the frame of Radical Belonging and Imagination. These were the tools and ideas I was missing in the beginning originally and are how I have been cultivating my own approach at designing using these frameworks.
Through the act of a Co-Creation Workshop, I was able to use community to discuss not only validating and affirming moments of identity, but also explore Radical Belonging and what it may look like in a collaborative and safe space.
Co-Creating through Community and Collaboration
The workshop was split into three activities, the first being a discussion on validating moments in participants' identities, the second a vision board, done individually, on what gender euphoria and belonging looked like to each participant, and finally a joint discussion/vision board on how these ideas and experiences could look like through the frame of Radical Belonging.
Takeaways
Discussion
Vision Board
Discussion/Vision Board
Validation often came from people using correct names and pronouns or correcting themselves if they made a mistake and being in spaces where people didn’t know them from before
One board was focused on music and fashion, other was focused also on fashion, as well as other forms of expression. My own board was mostly focused on media and visual representation.
A lot of the ideas discussed were around the usage of pronouns being normalized and being able to talk and discuss these ideas more openly and freely. Being able to see visual representation and being in groups of people who are like you and understand you.
Radical Belonging begins with Community and Queer Spaces
The biggest hurdle that comes with this area of thinking is just how far we can push the boundary. From the last discussion, a lot of the ideas that came up aren’t necessarily “radical” ideas, but when a community such as this has spent so much time just trying to be seen and finding exposure and representation, simple things like just seeing your community reflected in your everyday life truly do seem like a radical environment.
One participant said in the session that this was the first time they had ever had the experience to discuss their gender identity with other people in their community.
That admittance, and their own comments on the joy they felt being in that space, is the “radical belonging” that we are at in the current stage. Having spaces available for those who need them.
There is an opportunity into understanding how the development and access to these kinds of spaces could be simplified, in order for those to share the complexities of their experiences and identities.
Interestingly, this brings my work partially back to the original iteration of my work in the exploration of Queer Spaces, except now, I have the tools and understanding I need to be better equipped to tackle this problem space.
Analyzing the content and speculating on the space
I plan to review the results of the workshop with an industry professional, someone I have learned the frameworks of Radical Belonging from. I want to take the opportunity to discuss with them how these “radical” queer spaces could look in a speculative environment.
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