Upon receiving a brief it’s a designer's instinct to immediately start thinking of solutions. But if we want to create products that truly make a difference—socially, environmentally, economically—we have to pause. Because every product is part of a system. And if we want better products, we need to consider that system.

This isn’t a new idea, but it’s one that still hasn’t quite become embedded in the day-to-day culture of product development. We’re often under pressure to deliver quickly, to get something to market. But when we design in isolation, we risk creating solutions that ignore their broader context—solutions that may be elegant, functional, even award-winning, but ultimately unsustainable or misaligned with the real-world needs they were meant to serve.

No single designer can be an expert in the full ecosystem a product lives in. At Morrama, we’ve learned that embracing systems thinking doesn’t mean having all the answers—it means asking better questions. And finding the answers to those questions requires collaboration. That may mean working collaboratively within teams, or it may require seeking expertise in wider networks or communities.

In 2022 I helped set up the Design Declares community. A growing network of designers, design businesses and institutions that are committed to factoring the needs of our planet into their practice. Through Design Declares I’ve run and attended a series of events, and am particularly excited to be involved in the World Design Congress which is being hosted in the UK later this year. It’s through events like these, along with networks and communities on LinkedIn and Whatsapp, that I’ve had the opportunity to engage with creatives, educators and activists across sectors that have given me useful insights and advice on both my general approach to design and specific live briefs.

In one case an insight from a packaging engineer outside our typical circles saved us months of work creating a solution that fundamentally wouldn’t work in practice because of how certain machinery is set up. Another time it was an introduction that opened up a sales channel for one of our clients.

Building a network of people that will be happy to help you out, share their expertise or link you up with a supplier takes time. You have to be willing to give as much as you take. But the only way we are going to accelerate a transition to a more sustainable and circular future is by sharing our knowledge, our ideas and our experiences. And the trade off is 100% worth it. Sure you can ask ChatGPT for some advice, but nothing beats the experience driven conversations, introductions and understanding gained by speaking to people in the real world.

Real progress happens when we shed our ego, step outside our creative bubble and listen. That means moving away from the idea of the designer as a lone visionary and toward a model where we act more like facilitators—holding space for multiple perspectives and translating them into meaningful design outcomes for both people and planet.

To find out more about Design Declares, visit www.designdeclares.com or join us at our next event in Manchester on 23rd May.