Insights from our Life-Centered Design Survey
Over the past couple of years we have been exploring what life-centered design really means for us, for you, and for the future of how we create. To deepen that understanding we ran a community survey to listen closely to your experiences, hopes, and challenges. We wanted to hear from a broad range of people to know who is using life-centered design in their processes, what is working, and what is getting in the way.
What we found was encouraging. We heard from designers, strategists, systems thinkers, educators, and more, many of whom are already engaging with life-centered design in some way. Nearly 70 percent of respondents said they already consider ecosystems, biodiversity, or non-human users in their work, while another 20 percent expressed eagerness but uncertainty about how to begin. There is clear momentum toward rethinking traditional design.
We heard that you want your work to be meaningful and aligned with your values, not just for clients or companies, but for the earth and future generations. More than 85 percent of respondents said this sense of purpose drives their interest in life-centered design.
You also shared where you see potential, whether it is designing products and services that consider ecosystems, crafting stories that invite others in, or sparking change at a systems level. More than half of you see storytelling as one of the most promising ways to bring these ideas to life. But to move forward, you asked for clearer examples, grounded frameworks, and tools.
Some highlights from the data:
67 percent of respondents already integrate nature or non-human users into their process
58 percent identified leadership support as the biggest challenge to implementation
Top requested resources included real-world case studies, facilitation tools, and team engagement strategies
The biggest barriers include turning broad concepts into action and building internal support. Your reflections on embedding life-centered design into strategy, demonstrating its business value, and tailoring it to diverse contexts show the practical questions and considerations shaping this work. These insights help point the way for how we can support this shift by creating resources that help you engage others, show impact, and integrate life-centered thinking into everyday practice.
That is why we are growing our work into a service offering through the Life-Centered Design School. Drawing from the insights you shared and years of applied research and practice, we are developing consulting support to help organizations bring life-centered design into strategy, culture, and process. From mapping ecosystems and creating non-human personas to planning for long-term impact, we aim to help you build the skills and confidence to lead this work.
We are building shared capacity and we welcome your feedback as we go. This is an invitation to keep creating, learning, and asking together. We believe that design can be a powerful tool for regeneration and connection, and that this shift is best achieved through community.
