Assignment | Learning to See the World Through a Design Lens

Sondra Long

The traits of a designer: what is your curriculum?

My curriculum right now is learning how to be present differently. I have worked with people and conducted interviews for many years, but this class is helping me recognize how much I can still miss. Experience gives me something to draw from. It can also lead me to assume I understand someone before I have fully heard them.

I noticed this during my interview with Esan. His appearance and posture made me think he was tired. I had to pause and separate what I could actually see from what I thought it meant. His shoulders were lowered, but he had not told me he was tired. That moment helped me understand how much humility listening requires. Even in a close relationship, there is room to ask, learn, and be surprised.

Alan Morinis’s discussion of a personal spiritual curriculum helped me connect this experience to the qualities I bring into my relationships. His account of Mussar emphasizes examining and developing those qualities through practice.¹ For me, that means practicing patience, paying closer attention, and being willing to reconsider an assumption. These are things I need to work on in everyday conversations, especially when I feel certain I already know what is happening. Professor Goldberg’s lectures also helped me see that creating something for others can become part of our own formation. We learn about ourselves as we move through the work.²

I am also learning to give a question time before moving toward an answer. The Field Guide’s “How Might We” method encourages us to frame questions that leave room for different possibilities.³ This connects directly to my church listening project. A listening circle may be helpful, but I need to hear from people about what would make it possible for them to participate honestly. Some may feel comfortable in a group. Others may need a private conversation or a way to write down their thoughts.

Brainstorming gives other people room to contribute ideas I might not have considered. Storyboarding helps us make an idea visible so we can talk about it, notice what is missing, and make changes.⁴ I want to practice these methods with a willingness to let other people’s experiences shape what develops.

What I am coming to understand is that my curriculum includes paying attention to my own responses. Can I listen without rushing? Can I remain open when someone challenges my understanding? Can I try something manageable, reflect on what happens, and allow that learning to guide the next step? Sometimes the work will ask me to change an idea. Sometimes it will ask me to change how I show up.

References

1. Morinis, Alan. Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar. Assigned Chapters 1–5 excerpt, including the introductory discussion of a personal curriculum.

2. Goldberg, Neil. Design Thinking for Social Change. Online course lectures, particularly “Step 6: Reflect,” and October 17, 2026 class discussion.

3. IDEO.org. (2015). The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design. “How Might We” (p. 85), “Brainstorm” (p. 94), and “Storyboard” (p. 113).

4. ibid.

What do you love most about your community of care? What is lurking in its shadows?

What I love most about City of Refuge is the relationships. Some of these relationships have been part of my life for decades. There are people here whom I love deeply, and the care we share matters to me. That connection is part of why I want to keep working on how we listen and respond to one another.

What I see in the shadows is the space between the care we intend to offer and what someone actually experiences. In our earlier cohort inquiry, we encountered young people who did not feel safe enough to tell us what they really thought. I have also seen people leave without our fully understanding what happened. Those experiences stay with me. I wonder what people are carrying that we have not heard and whether they know where they can bring a concern.

Professor Goldberg’s emphasis on context helped me think more carefully about this.¹ Someone attending online may experience the church differently from someone sitting in the room. A person who speaks easily in a group may not recognize how difficult that setting is for someone else. Some people may need a private conversation. Others may want time to write down what they are thinking. We need to ask what creates room for honesty.

I also have to examine my own part in this. As I said in class, if I am part of the problem, perhaps I need to change.² That can be uncomfortable, especially when I believe I am acting out of care. Morinis’s discussion of self-examination and service reminds me to pay attention to how my habits affect other people.³ I need to be willing to hear that something I intended as helpful did not feel helpful to the person receiving it.

My developing project explores ways for congregants to share compliments, concerns, suggestions, and experiences, with thoughtful follow-through. Neil suggested beginning with a small prototype and asking participants how it worked.⁴ A listening session could help us explore one part of that process. People could respond to a prompt or share something already on their minds. Afterward, we could ask what helped them speak honestly, what made it difficult, and what they needed from us next.

The Field Guide’s “How Might We” and “Storyboard” methods give us ways to keep exploring possibilities while making an idea concrete enough to discuss and improve.⁵ I want us to learn whether people feel heard and what we can realistically sustain.

The love in this community is something I value deeply. I want that love to be experienced through our willingness to listen, receive difficult feedback, and respond with care. That is what keeps me committed to this work.

References

1. Goldberg, Neil. Design Thinking for Social Change. Online course lectures on inquiry, framing, and testing; October 17, 2026 class discussion, including my project explanation and his feedback.

2. ibid.

3. Morinis, Alan. Everyday Holiness: The Jewish Spiritual Path of Mussar. Assigned Chapters 1–5 excerpt, particularly the discussions of inner cultivation and service to others.

4. Goldberg, Neil. Design Thinking for Social Change.

5. IDEO.org. (2015). The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design. “How Might We” (p. 85) and “Storyboard” (p. 113).

Design in a Spiritual World: A Curriculum

1. Barton, Julia. “The Broadcast Clock.” 99% Invisible, Episode 88, 2013. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-broadcast-clock/ (How hidden structure, like liturgy, shapes experience.)
2. Gleick, James. The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood. Pantheon, 2011. (How humans store and transmit knowledge.)
3. Mumford, Lewis. The Culture of Cities. Harcourt, Brace, 1938. (The city as a vessel of culture.)
4. Jacobs, Jane. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Random House, 1961. (Neighborliness born of daily encounter.)
5. Apfelbaum, Sue, and Juliette Cezzar. Designing the Editorial Experience. Rockport, 2014. (How design shapes the way stories reach people.)

What do you love most about your community of care?

Epworth United Methodist Church lets everyone find their own way in. My wife Brit sings in the choir, our son is in the youth group, and our daughter goes to Godly Play. Under our previous minister, I was mostly a sermon enjoyer, listening and absorbing. Our new minister focuses on how the church shows up in the community, and that has reshaped my involvement. I now help lead Godly Play sessions and serve on the trustee committee. Moving from listening to participating has deepened my connection and been truly rewarding.

What is lurking in the shadows?

I worry about how a religious community, especially one in Berkeley, will sustain itself amid broader cultural and socioeconomic change. Fewer people affiliate with churches, housing costs push young families away, and the work of caring for a congregation falls on fewer shoulders. As a trustee, I see this concretely. But I also see it as a design question: how can Epworth be built for the community as it exists now, rather than as it was a generation ago?

The Traits of a Designer: What is my curriculum?

My curriculum as a designer comes from my life experiences, relationships, and willingness to learn from others. Throughout my life, I have faced challenges that have taught me resilience, empathy, and the importance of being open to different perspectives. These experiences have shaped how I approach problems and interact with people. I have learned that everyone has a story, and we cannot fully understand someone's needs without taking the time to listen.

Through our readings on human-centered design, I am learning that being a designer is not about having all the answers or immediately finding a solution. Instead, it requires curiosity, collaboration, and a willingness to ask questions. It also means recognizing that our assumptions may not reflect the experiences of others. We must be willing to step outside our comfort zones and learn directly from the people affected by the challenges we are trying to address.

In my current role as Christian Education Director at Kōloa Union Church, I look for educational resources and activities for Sunday school, youth, and adults. This role challenges me to consider how people of different ages learn and grow in their faith. It also reminds me that educational opportunities should reflect the needs and interests of the people they serve.

I believe my curriculum as a designer is an ongoing process of learning, reflecting, and growing. My life experiences have taught me compassion, while human-centered design is teaching me to turn that compassion into action through listening, collaboration, and meaningful solutions.

What do you like most about your community of care? What is lurking in the shadows?

What I love most about my community of care at Kōloa Union Church is the sense of connection, belonging, and shared faith. Our church provides a place where people can come together, support one another, and grow spiritually. As the Christian Education Director, I appreciate the opportunity to find educational resources and activities for Sunday school, youth, and adults. I value helping people of different ages explore their faith and build meaningful connections with one another.

However, I recognize that there are challenges lurking in the shadows. One of our ongoing concerns is how to bring more families, especially those with younger children and youth, into our church community. We want our church to grow, but we must consider what might be preventing families from participating. Are we meeting their needs? Do they feel welcomed and included? Are we offering educational opportunities that connect with their lives and interests?

Another challenge is that we may be relying on familiar traditions and approaches without fully understanding how our community is changing. What has worked in the past may not necessarily connect with younger generations today.

Through our work with human-centered design, Elizabeth and I are learning that we need to do more groundwork within our community before deciding on solutions. This means listening to families, learning about their experiences, and understanding their needs rather than making assumptions.

I believe these challenges present opportunities for growth. By approaching them with curiosity, compassion, and openness, we can discover new ways to strengthen our church and create a welcoming community for future generations.

Traits of a designer:  A person who has a vision which turns into creativity that leads to a possible solution.  A designer knows how to gather  staff experts and goes out and talk to the community that the problem is effecting. By meeting the community in their setting  helps them open up easier. A good designer always have questions prepared  a note take and video if audience approvals Stay  away from yes and no questions they unable to get the full picture. Once  all data is collected and we know who we are trying to reqch we lay out designs. A good designer knows that failure is going to happen so here is where we iterate iterate iterate. Now we must look at budget staff needed and their availability and experts  vital. With all the elements put together the design is put in place and be altered where needed. Now looking at my community i have lived in the same area for nine years my community is mixed which i feel is good, We speak we inter act and over all we look out for each other and respect each other which is beautiful. What is lurking overall our society is lacking compassion in every area you can think of. Racism hatred is promoted in our country from school shootings to church shootings where does it stop hungry people homeless people to our immigration laws where is God in all of this for a country  celebrating 250 years we  have a long way to go so total destruction looms if we do not change our ways thats what is lurking.

     In order to be a Human Centered Designer it is important, according to The Field Guide for Human Centered Design, to keep peoples lives and their desires at the core of the design. They must exhibit patience, wild creativity, confidence and a ceaseless push to innovate. The seven mindsets laid out in the book are key to the creation of a successful Human Centered Design:

1).  Empathy

2).  Optimism

3).  Iteration

4).  Creative Confidence

5).  Making

6).  Embracing Ambiguity

7).  Learning from Failure

     We must adopt the concepts of Human Centered Design if we want to meet the challenge of increasing church attendance while also creating a welcoming, multi-generational community where younger families, children and youth build meaningful   

relationships, grow in faith and feel a sense of belonging.

     Koloa Union Church has truely made me feel welcomed, valued and connected. The communities emphasis on love and inclusion is something that I never experienced in a church setting before. 

     Lurking in the shadows of our community of care is the “common” problem of a dwindling congregation. The vast number of churches on the Island of Kauai combined with an emphasis on Sunday sports and a distrust of religion has left us with fewer and fewer young families and youth. 

     I have not lost hope however!  By adopting the belief that there is a solution to all concerns(problems?) and following the seven mind sets listed above, it is my firm belief that we can bring more young families and youth into our community of care. For, after all, who doesn’t want to feel welcomed, valued and connected?!?

As a designer, I strive to be compassionate and observant. I communicate clearly and confidently, adapting to each interaction. I am a detail-oriented problem solver.

The Downs Memorial United Methodist Church Curriculum

Objective: Communal Healing

Content: Black Church, Reconstruction, Slavery, Racial Justice

Methods: Dance and Theatre Arts

Materials: Music, Poetry, Spoken Word, Scripture

What I love most about my community of care is that some of the church members are starting to open to new ideas. This matters because the church has an antiracism stance that needs to be uplifted at this time in our country’s history. A few people are concerned about identity, and this stance limits Downs’ outreach into the community.

Another thing I love about my community of care is how long-term members (25+ years) care for one another. The love they show for each other harks back to the old neighborhood days, a bygone era for many of us. Their love shows me that the church has long been central to the lives of many of our elders. We cannot close our doors just because of that.

Unpaid bills from the COVID shutdown are lurking in the shadows.