MOD Opening Summit

Join us for our official kick-off event at the iconic City Gallery for breakfast and some thought-provoking discussions tackling everything from HCD for the body, resilience in the face of adversity, racism in advertising, designing to change minds, and confessions from a human-centered design-a-holic

Join us Monday morning for a cup of coffee and some good conversations. You’ll get to hear from some amazing humans like James Hermin (Previously Unavailable and StoryTech), Anna Dean (Double Denim), Bart De Vries (Limber), and Elizabeth McNaughton (Hummingly), Phoebe Smith (Wrestler), and Gina Garvey of Wonderwork.

Around the world in human-centered ways. 

Gina Garvey (WonderWork)

Gina Garvey, Human-Centred Designer and founder of WonderWork will whet your appetite for the delicious week ahead. She’ll share her vision for the public sector, help you avoid the dreaded ‘design diarrhoea’, share lessons learned from IDEO Munich, NAB Australia, and share personal reflections on being someone who lives with Unacceptable and Disappointing Design Syndrome (UADDS) on a daily basis. When she’s not asking ‘who designed this and may I ideate with them immediately?’ she writes poems and plays and is on standby as a horrid writer for Cards Against Humanity.

Take a load off

Bart de Vries (Limber)

Right now, it is easy to understand if life has you feeling overloaded. We live life at the limits of our capacity when times are good, so what happens when a pandemic, with the extra responsibility, uncertainty, and complexity disrupts our lives? Bart de Vries, Physiotherapist and founder of Limber, sets the scene for MOD by focussing us on the human body. Bart explores how the things we design can give us capacity when we need it most, sharing valuable insights from working with professional athletes, people in persistent pain and his journey with Limber. How can design take a load off?

Dismantling Racism in Advertising

Phoebe Smith (Wrestler)

Advertising shapes culture, and with that comes a responsibility to equally represent the people within it—beyond a diversity tick-box exercise. How might we as storytellers shed our own comfort, share the burden carried by people of colour, and use our influence to boldly rewrite unjust racial narratives? Using a values-based approach with practical tools, this talk explores how we can move on from the white version of colour.

Design to Change Minds

James Hurman (StoryTech/Previously Unavailable)  

Innovators are much better at creating a world-changing product than they are at convincing the world to let them change it. The role of design in innovation is often to shift people from their default of 'don't care' to 'care'. James Hurman, founder of leading NZ innovation company Previously Unavailable, will discuss how his work continues to bridge that gap.

The Year of the Pivot and Beyond

Anna Dean (Double Denim)

Anna Dean asks what it looks like to “drop out 2020 style” in the face of so much change. Co-founder of award-winning creative agency Double Denim and The Ace Lady Network, Anna (recently described as a “force in Wellington”) is well known for being the creator of unforgettable events and measurable creative campaigns with heart. Today she’ll reflect on her own experiences of how to bounce and share some crucial sources of inspiration that have helped her on her own journey towards ‘giving up and winning’.

Dealing to disruption by design – insights to get you through

Elizabeth McNaughton (Hummingly)

2020 has brought a global threat and a wave of disruption to all aspects of our lives. At times like this you may find yourself asking a whole bunch of questions for example, How do I look after myself and find energy to care for others? How do I manage all these expectations – my own and others? What matters most to me and how do I protect it? Will this experience make or break me? How do we design for this new context? To help you with these type of questions Elizabeth McNaughton from Hummingly will share the gift of insight gained from interviewing 100 crisis leaders around the world and the experiences of thousands of people affected by disasters and disruption. This keynote is designed to help you do well and be well through times of disruption, stimulate self-reflection and is delivered with a dose of practical insights and tools.