The Art of Responsible Service Design / KA McKercher / Ep. #220
JAN 30, 202563 MIN
The Art of Responsible Service Design / KA McKercher / Ep. #220
JAN 30, 202563 MIN
Description
<p>I crossed a line...</p>
<p>Recently, while working on redesigning our online community platform, my excitement got the better of me. I dove headfirst into prototyping a few things in the backend system.</p>
<p>"How hard could it be, right?" (Keep this line in mind throughout the rest of the email.)</p>
<p>Sure, I know a thing or two about programming, and if everything else fails, there's always AI to help out, right?</p>
<p>Well, the honest conclusion a few days later, when we brought in a true expert developer, was that I had no clue what I was doing.</p>
<p>Before the developer could implement the updates properly, we had to undo all the changes I had made. So we lost time, not once, but twice.</p>
<p>The silly thing is, this seems to be a habit I can't shake.</p>
<p>And I see it a lot around me as well: saying yes to challenges that are better left to experts.</p>
<p>Of course, there are many situations where being confident and experimental gets things done. </p>
<p>Instead of waiting and debating, we build a prototype and iterate from there. </p>
<p>Frankly, this approach is encouraged and celebrated in our design process.</p>
<p>But... there's a major pitfall.</p>
<p>In the story above, the cost of my "how hard can it be?" approach was lost time. </p>
<p>That's unfortunate but not something that will cause any major, long-term damage.</p>
<p>Now, imagine working in a context where the stakes are much higher. </p>
<p>Where you're intervening in people's lives. Where your solutions impact the well-being of communities. Where your approach has the potential to reduce—or increase—systemic inequalities.</p>
<p>KA McKercher, our guest in this episode, argues that in those scenarios, we can't just rush in and take on every project that comes our way. </p>
<p>Because when we do, and we go in with a beginner's mindset, chances are high that we might end up causing actual harm to the people who need help the most.</p>
<p>In those situations, losing time on a project is the least of your worries. There are clearly much bigger stakes at play.</p>
<p>So the tough question becomes: How do we know which challenges are a good fit for our skillset and which ones should we say no to? </p>
<p>Especially when we want to do good and contribute to a positive outcome in those high-stakes challenges.</p>
<p>Having the self-awareness to know you limits and limitations is a sign of maturity and professionalism.</p>
<p>If you care about growing your self-awareness, this is a conversation you don't want to miss.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>--- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- </p>
<p>00:00 Welcome to Episode 220</p>
<p>04:00 Good intentions are not enough</p>
<p>06:30 Why this matters</p>
<p>09:00 Lived experience aligning to design</p>
<p>12:30 What's good enough?</p>
<p>14:30 What is co-facilitation</p>
<p>16:30 Emotional curiosity</p>
<p>20:30 Being conscious of the water</p>
<p>27:00 What to do</p>
<p>30:30 Is it a yes or no?</p>
<p>35:00 Intentions</p>
<p>38:30 What's within the scope </p>
<p>41:00 Material based practices</p>
<p>45:30 Impostor syndrome</p>
<p>48:30 Reviews on the article</p>
<p>50:00 Hoping the conversation evolves</p>
<p>52:00 When it's out of your scope</p>
<p>54:30 When to step away</p>
<p>58:00 Question to ponder</p>
<p><br></p>
<p> --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ka-mckercher" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/ka-mckercher</a></li>
<li><a href="https://catalog.pesi.com/item/ethical-curiosity-trans-nonbinary-clients-practicesto-dismantle-entitlement-know-107452" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Ethical Curiosity with Trans and Non-Binary Clients by Lucie Fielding (book)</a></li>
<li><a href="www.BeyondStickyNotes.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">www.BeyondStickyNotes.com</a></li>
</ul>
<p> --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- </p>
<p>Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=episode_description&utm_id=220&utm_content=v5" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://servicedesignshow.com/circle</a></p>
<p><br></p>
Sign In
Sign In![<p>I crossed a line...</p>
<p>Recently, while working on redesigning our online community platform, my excitement got the better of me. I dove headfirst into prototyping a few things in the backend system.</p>
<p>"How hard could it be, right?" (Keep this line in mind throughout the rest of the email.)</p>
<p>Sure, I know a thing or two about programming, and if everything else fails, there's always AI to help out, right?</p>
<p>Well, the honest conclusion a few days later, when we brought in a true expert developer, was that I had no clue what I was doing.</p>
<p>Before the developer could implement the updates properly, we had to undo all the changes I had made. So we lost time, not once, but twice.</p>
<p>The silly thing is, this seems to be a habit I can't shake.</p>
<p>And I see it a lot around me as well: saying yes to challenges that are better left to experts.</p>
<p>Of course, there are many situations where being confident and experimental gets things done. </p>
<p>Instead of waiting and debating, we build a prototype and iterate from there. </p>
<p>Frankly, this approach is encouraged and celebrated in our design process.</p>
<p>But... there's a major pitfall.</p>
<p>In the story above, the cost of my "how hard can it be?" approach was lost time. </p>
<p>That's unfortunate but not something that will cause any major, long-term damage.</p>
<p>Now, imagine working in a context where the stakes are much higher. </p>
<p>Where you're intervening in people's lives. Where your solutions impact the well-being of communities. Where your approach has the potential to reduce—or increase—systemic inequalities.</p>
<p>KA McKercher, our guest in this episode, argues that in those scenarios, we can't just rush in and take on every project that comes our way. </p>
<p>Because when we do, and we go in with a beginner's mindset, chances are high that we might end up causing actual harm to the people who need help the most.</p>
<p>In those situations, losing time on a project is the least of your worries. There are clearly much bigger stakes at play.</p>
<p>So the tough question becomes: How do we know which challenges are a good fit for our skillset and which ones should we say no to? </p>
<p>Especially when we want to do good and contribute to a positive outcome in those high-stakes challenges.</p>
<p>Having the self-awareness to know you limits and limitations is a sign of maturity and professionalism.</p>
<p>If you care about growing your self-awareness, this is a conversation you don't want to miss.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>--- [ 1. GUIDE ] --- </p>
<p>00:00 Welcome to Episode 220</p>
<p>04:00 Good intentions are not enough</p>
<p>06:30 Why this matters</p>
<p>09:00 Lived experience aligning to design</p>
<p>12:30 What's good enough?</p>
<p>14:30 What is co-facilitation</p>
<p>16:30 Emotional curiosity</p>
<p>20:30 Being conscious of the water</p>
<p>27:00 What to do</p>
<p>30:30 Is it a yes or no?</p>
<p>35:00 Intentions</p>
<p>38:30 What's within the scope </p>
<p>41:00 Material based practices</p>
<p>45:30 Impostor syndrome</p>
<p>48:30 Reviews on the article</p>
<p>50:00 Hoping the conversation evolves</p>
<p>52:00 When it's out of your scope</p>
<p>54:30 When to step away</p>
<p>58:00 Question to ponder</p>
<p><br></p>
<p> --- [ 2. LINKS ] --- </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ka-mckercher" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/ka-mckercher</a></li>
<li><a href="https://catalog.pesi.com/item/ethical-curiosity-trans-nonbinary-clients-practicesto-dismantle-entitlement-know-107452" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Ethical Curiosity with Trans and Non-Binary Clients by Lucie Fielding (book)</a></li>
<li><a href="www.BeyondStickyNotes.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">www.BeyondStickyNotes.com</a></li>
</ul>
<p> --- [ 3. CIRCLE ] --- </p>
<p>Join our private community for in-house service design professionals. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.servicedesignshow.com/circle/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=episode_description&utm_id=220&utm_content=v5" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://servicedesignshow.com/circle</a></p>
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