Indigenizing Design

At Catapult Design, Laura was honored to lead partner engagement and project management as Design Manager alongside Indigenous entrepreneurs in the formation of the Indigenizing Design Framework, a place-based framework and inclusive design language.

The Indigenizing Design Framework offers Indigenous practitioners a structured approach to apply indigenizing to westernized disciplines such as human-centered design (HCD). Simultaneously, it provides non-Indigenous communities with a framework for respectful collaboration with Indigenous practitioners. The framework is designed for Indigenous practitioners as well as non-Indigenous designers and organizations who wish to work with these communities in a meaningful, respectful way.

Cross-Functional Skills

  • Focus Groups

  • Intercultural Collaboration

  • Mapping: Identities, Journeys, Present and Future Knowledge

  • Partner Management

  • Project Management

Thematic Area

  • Design – Language 

Recognition

Project Overview

Through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Catapult Design partnered with Indigenous Community Collaborative, Brian Skeet Design LLC, and CahokiaPHX to elevate Indigenous design by starting to re-write the HCD narrative. Out of this collective effort came the Indigenizing Design Framework, which includes three key components that support the teaching and learning of the process of Indigenizing:

  • Indigenizing Markers: Values that define Indigenizing and indicators that identify if Indigenizing has happened in a space

  • Ecosystem of Indigenizing: Visualization of the markers and their relationships within a particular context

  • Indigenizing Curriculum: Lesson plans and activities to learn how to apply the markers in practice

Read more about the framework here.

Project Outcomes

Since its completion, the project has been funded by the Bhatia Foundation to test the framework with Indigenous students from Codefy's workforce development program through a series of workshops, mentorship, and a design challenge with Indigenous Community Collaborative and Brian Skeet Design LLC. Additionally, Catapult Design secured a second grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for the next phase.

Other Selected Work

  • Redesigning Early Childhood Education

    Learn more

  • Prioritizing User Needs to Accelerate Contraceptive Innovation

    Learn more