On Combining Systems Thinking with Human-Centered Design: What I’ve learned when designers integrate systems thinking into practice

Sheryl Cababa

For designers and design leaders working on complex systems and products, systems thinking is a necessary addition to their toolbox. As powerful as systems thinking is, sometimes it feels too abstract and not as human or empathic as it could be, especially for design practitioners.

As a practitioner in user-centred design and design strategy and research, I’ve faced this tension myself and have had to navigate what it means to move from a position of user advocacy to a position that centres not only on multiple stakeholders but maintains a focus on systemic forces. Michael C. Jackson, in “Toward a System of System Methodologies,” (1984) describes this type of stakeholder involvement as “the participative principle”: “If possible, all the stakeholders should participate in the various phases of the planning process… the stakeholders participate in designing an ‘idealized future’ for the system with which they are concerned.”

I’ve wrestled with the tension between human-centered design and systems thinking, particularly in how I’ve shaped what it means to engage in participatory design in my practice. As the author of Closing the Loop, Systems Thinking for Designers, I wanted to write the book I wish I had when I embarked on my systems thinking journey as a design practitioner.

In this discussion-style session, I will begin with the impetus for writing this book, what I’ve learned from designers after it’s been released, and the kinds of questions that designers have for me after reading my book. I’ll also discuss the intersection of systems thinking and equity-centered design that drives my practice and how my application of systems thinking has changed over time as I’ve learned from clients and other stakeholders.