Rhythm & Pace
What is Rhythm & Pace?
Slowing down to focus, connect and become one with nature & our community can potentially create better outcomes for your projects and the world. Creating fewer design sprints and taking time for more design walks enables us to give more attention to our rhythm and pace in our work.
Like a river finding its path through the landscape, our creative process flows most naturally when we allow ourselves to meander and explore. By removing the constant pressure to produce, we open ourselves to the subtle whispers of inspiration that often go unheard in the clamour of deadlines and expectations. We embed this in the way we design and create impact.
Rhythm
In the LCD landscape, Conversation, Cocreation and Regeneration each have their own space. These terms are also the lenses you go through a project as a whole, its elements and actions. See the constellation of these words as the iterative rhythm of each Life-Centered Design project. Like IDEO, which uses Desirable, Feasible, & Viable, we use Conversation, Cocreation and Regeneration. This is the intention of our design.
Pace
In recent years design has been about sprinting, agility, leanness and efficiency. We need to innovate fast for quick business results. The pace of Life-Centered Design is slower, and it asks us designers to be more mindful of the various ecosystems involved in our work and projects.
Learn more about Rhythm and Pace
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Our SLOW framework helps you find the right pace. It goes like this:
Start Differently : To change things up when beginning a project, try doing the opposite of what you usually do. For instance, instead of starting with a scrum or brainstorming session, try going outside and beginning with a design walk or a storytelling exercise.
Learn to be uncomfortable: Just like the familiar "comfort zone" image, venturing outside your safe space may not be pleasant initially, but it can bring surprising results. It requires courage and motivation to embrace discomfort.
Observe the ecosystem: Merely seeing something does not equate to observing it. Observation requires a mental process that involves both visual perception and thinking.
Wait with decision-making: Postpone decision-making to allow insights and ideas to flourish. The best ideas don't happen in a 2-hour design sprint. At best, you can plant the seed of a good idea. After that, you need your subconscious and conversations to do their job.
In a previous blog, we explain why we should slow down design,
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By allowing yourself to discover new ways to Practice being okay with not synthesizing and being in the unknown. Aimlessly wandering around in the "forest" allows for discovering the undiscovered. You start to see, hear, smell and feel the previously invisible. These might hold the answers to sustainable and regenerative questions. As we immerse ourselves in the natural world, our senses awaken to the intricate dance of life around us – the gentle rustle of leaves, the play of light through branches, the earthy scent of soil after rain. These sensory experiences become the seeds of innovation, germinating in the fertile ground of our unhurried minds.
Creating the right rhythm and pace in design yields profound benefits. It fosters a sense of groundedness and authenticity in our creations as they become rooted in the natural world's rhythms. Our designs resonate with a deeper harmony, speaking to the innate human connection to nature. Moreover, this method often leads to more sustainable and resilient solutions as we learn to work with rather than against natural processes.
In practice, embracing this rhythm might mean scheduling regular "forest bathing" sessions between project phases or incorporating natural elements into your workspace. It could also involve leading your team on nature walks to stimulate discussion and ideation or using natural cycles as a framework for project timelines. By aligning our creative process with the unhurried yet constant flow of nature, we produce more thoughtful and impactful designs and nurture our own well-being and that of our planet.
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Rhythm and pace are important to be curious about due to the impact it makes in our environments.
Life-Centered Design Guide to Slow Down
Today, speed often equates to power. Faster and more efficient are considered better. As designers, we are pushed by ideas such as “How quickly can we launch this idea, product, or service?” or “How can we create more in less time?” We focus on keeping the wheel spinning but forget what is important. When moving from the city to the Pyrenees, our internal speed clocks had a reality check; they were put in slow motion. Initially, the change felt uncomfortable, stressful, and anxiety-inducing. But over time, we realised that we were actually getting more done. We created a guide to share what we learned about slowing down.
