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Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities
A practical, illustrated guide to using the tools of design to create feelings of inclusion, collaboration, and respect in groups of any type or size—a classroom, a work team, an international organization—from Stanford University's d.school.
“This is a beautiful book. Wise has applied the gift and imagination and lenses of the d.school to one of our most precious questions: how to create belonging.”—Priya Parker, author of the Art of Gathering and host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart
Belonging brings out the best in everyone. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, community organizer, or leader of any sort, your group is unlikely to thrive if the individuals don’t feel welcomed, included, and valued for who they are.
The good news is that you can use design to create feelings of inclusion in your organization: rituals that bring people together, spaces that promote calm, roles that create a sense of responsibility, systems that make people feel respected, and more. You can’t force feelings, but in Design for Belonging, author and educator Susie Wise explains how to use simple levers of design to set the stage for belonging to emerge. For example, add moveable furniture to a meeting space to customize for your group size; switch up the role of group leader regularly to increase visibility for everyone; or create a special ritual for people joining or leaving your organization to welcome fresh perspectives and honor work well done.
Inspiration and stories from leaders and scholars are paired with frameworks, tools, and tips, providing an opportunity to try on different approaches. By the end of the book, you’ll be able to spot where a greater sense of belonging is needed and actively shape your world to cultivate it—whether it’s a party, a high-stakes meeting, or a new national organization.
“This is a beautiful book. Wise has applied the gift and imagination and lenses of the d.school to one of our most precious questions: how to create belonging.”—Priya Parker, author of the Art of Gathering and host of the New York Times podcast Together Apart
Belonging brings out the best in everyone. Whether you’re a parent, teacher, community organizer, or leader of any sort, your group is unlikely to thrive if the individuals don’t feel welcomed, included, and valued for who they are.
The good news is that you can use design to create feelings of inclusion in your organization: rituals that bring people together, spaces that promote calm, roles that create a sense of responsibility, systems that make people feel respected, and more. You can’t force feelings, but in Design for Belonging, author and educator Susie Wise explains how to use simple levers of design to set the stage for belonging to emerge. For example, add moveable furniture to a meeting space to customize for your group size; switch up the role of group leader regularly to increase visibility for everyone; or create a special ritual for people joining or leaving your organization to welcome fresh perspectives and honor work well done.
Inspiration and stories from leaders and scholars are paired with frameworks, tools, and tips, providing an opportunity to try on different approaches. By the end of the book, you’ll be able to spot where a greater sense of belonging is needed and actively shape your world to cultivate it—whether it’s a party, a high-stakes meeting, or a new national organization.
160 pages, Paperback
Published April 19, 2022
159 people are currently reading
1177 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
June 13, 2022
Generally a useful and interesting book. It's unclear to me what makes this specifically a design book, as the principles, exercises, and perspectives in this book seem applicable to any organization or community group. While there was some jargon, most of this was very accessible and did a good job of laying out a path toward emphasizing how to make everyone feel belonging and why it is so important. There was more space devoted to mini-biographies of people discussed in the text than I thought was necessary, but by personalizing those figures maybe it makes for a more belonging space?
January 12, 2023
This typically isn't my type of book (I read it for a leadership book club), but it provided me with language to name things I already do in my teaching as well as ideas for possible next steps.
Four things I appreciated:
1. The introduction to design as a way of thinking about teaching and leadership. Intentionality is important, and thinking about teaching as a way to design classroom culture or specific kinds of learning experiences seems fruitful (as a teacher and a teacher of teachers).
2. The "moments of belonging" Wise identifies (p. 32). This is where I really began to consider more fully how I try to cultivate belonging in my classrooms. I also started reflecting on things more specific to my professional situation like department culture and department meetings. I was particularly struck by Wise's inclusion of and comments on code-switching, dissent, and repair. "Without dissent, mistrust, disgust, and despair can arise." I need to sit with that for awhile.
3. Wise's "lever of designs" (p. 84). These have more to do with where you can take action to increase feelings of belonging. Again, I was happy to discover that I was already thinking about many of these. That said, there were a number of them that weren't on my radar...and now they are. Not all of the levers are pertinent to my work, but Wise also mentions that this list isn't comprehensive and that I can (and should) identify my own.
4. The interdisciplinary scholars whose work she's citing: Wise opens the book with a mural of their likenesses and then systematically introduces and quotes each person throughout the book. She's clearly thinking about design in an inclusive, anti-racist way. (I immediately noted bell hooks, Brene Brown, and Laverne Cox, and then was introduced to a variety of thinkers who were previously unfamiliar to me).
A quick, potent introduction to design thinking.
Four things I appreciated:
1. The introduction to design as a way of thinking about teaching and leadership. Intentionality is important, and thinking about teaching as a way to design classroom culture or specific kinds of learning experiences seems fruitful (as a teacher and a teacher of teachers).
2. The "moments of belonging" Wise identifies (p. 32). This is where I really began to consider more fully how I try to cultivate belonging in my classrooms. I also started reflecting on things more specific to my professional situation like department culture and department meetings. I was particularly struck by Wise's inclusion of and comments on code-switching, dissent, and repair. "Without dissent, mistrust, disgust, and despair can arise." I need to sit with that for awhile.
3. Wise's "lever of designs" (p. 84). These have more to do with where you can take action to increase feelings of belonging. Again, I was happy to discover that I was already thinking about many of these. That said, there were a number of them that weren't on my radar...and now they are. Not all of the levers are pertinent to my work, but Wise also mentions that this list isn't comprehensive and that I can (and should) identify my own.
4. The interdisciplinary scholars whose work she's citing: Wise opens the book with a mural of their likenesses and then systematically introduces and quotes each person throughout the book. She's clearly thinking about design in an inclusive, anti-racist way. (I immediately noted bell hooks, Brene Brown, and Laverne Cox, and then was introduced to a variety of thinkers who were previously unfamiliar to me).
A quick, potent introduction to design thinking.
December 30, 2022
This slim little book talks about the concept of belonging and how to use design to bring it to our workplaces and communitites. It defines belonging, contrasts it with othering, and talks about the layers that make it up. It also includes the different moments where belonging occurs (participating, dissenting, repairing) and the levers of design you can use to bring belonging to a paritcular group (space, rituals, communication, clothing, food, events, roles). There are also short profiles of people who are doing the work in this space, as well as exercises to try.
August 15, 2022
A beautifully presented, thoughtfully designed book that inspires the reader to challenge themselves and their community to create a better world.
August 23, 2023
Hmm…I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book, to be honest. It was the title that drew me to this book - Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities. And of all the ways to start a book on designing for inclusion and collaboration, I'm not sure that starting with a declaration that I Am A White Ally, is necessarily the best way. Or more accurately: "Since we are meeting for the first time, I will let you know that I am a cis-gendered, White woman, currently not living with a disability. I am positioned in our culture as a recipient of White privilege. I am doing this work as an anti-racist ally and equity designer, endeavouring to move the field of design forward using its tools to redesign unjust systems." There's just something holier than thou about that opening and rather than inviting readers into the work, it potentially alienates.
Design for Belonging does have a couple of interesting points and exercises for you to hone your attentiveness to design features that include or exclude. But overall, it's not the most substantive of reads; Priya Parker's The Art of Gathering is a better investment, or perhaps Peter Block's Community.
These were the points that stood out for me and if they feel like disconnected snippets, that's pretty much how they appeared in the book:
- Othering is not always an explicit policy like apartheid but can show up in systems like higher education, housing, and health care, which have ben designed to make some people feel less than. Pay attention to "the environmental cues of othering - like who is featured, who is promoted, who can literally access a space".
- How might we intentionally design for belonging in the following "design moments": invitation, entering, participating, code switching, contributing, dissenting, repairing, diverging and exiting?
○ Invitation: Clear purpose, focus on the feeling you want people to have when learning of the invitation and glimpsing your values. Invitations matter also for pattern breaking so if you want to move beyond your existing community, you can't rely on your usual email list or regular outreach channels. Be clear about who you seek to engage and to understand why they may not have been - or felt they were - invited before. Try an A/B test by using one invitation to see who shows, then using another version and see if it makes a difference.
○ Entrance: This is not just about the physical entry to a space but also about the kinds of actions required on entry. Is there a verbal greeting, do you need to get a visitor pass, do you need to put on a special costume (like doctors putting on PPE in a ward). These actions set the stage for participation to follow.
○ Participation: The moment of participation is sometimes where othering shows up in both subtle and explicit ways. Maybe you show up for an exercise class and realise it requires special equipment you don't have. Or you go for an event and feel it's designed and executed for a completely different audience profile.
○ Contributing: How can we help people recognise what they are bringing to the table and contributing (i.e. their gifts)?
○ Dissenting: Full belonging means having a meaningful voice, the right to make demands, being able to advocate for oneself and for others. It means having the opportunity to participate in the design of social and cultural structures.
- Levers of design to help shape belonging includes spaces, roles, events, rituals, grouping, communications, clothing, food, schedules and rhythms. As you explore how to shape these design levers, ask yourself how it would feel and for whom. Consciously attend to what is currently not working and then explicitly crafting something different to change the dynamics. On rhythms, a lot of the daily, weekly, and yearly rhythms in many places like the government, schools, companies etc are based on legacy needs, reflecting who was meant to belong in some other time. It is difficult to shift old, entrenched rhythms though so some prototyping might be required to show people the possibilities of what a shift in rhythms would create.
On methodologies/approaches to explore belonging:
- Wise suggested using an emotional journey map to explore when one felt included or othered. This could be in the context of where you live, a job you have had, an organisation of which you are a part, where you draw a line to represent the emotional ups and downs you have experienced and the circumstances that created these different emotional states.
- We can ask ourselves when and where we felt a sense of belonging, and map those places. Where are the places that allow us to experience belonging, to feel brave, try new things, work through rough patches. How might this exercise of exploring our moments of belonging allow us to understand how belonging in constructed in our life and in the systems we dwell in?
- Use a picture grid to explore people's feelings about belonging. Ask them to select an image that feels like the state of belonging in their family/town/organisation and why.
- Try this exercise: How might we support more belonging for _______ by focusing on [moment that might matter to them] using [design lever].
- Changing culture is about everyday acts and this means we can start small, try lots of things and see what works. This gives us the opportunity to tune ourselves to see, feel and notice what is changing, and for whom. How might we identify what are the everyday acts that represent a culture of belonging - picking up trash so wheelchair access is not obstructed? Avoiding esoteric acronyms when they aren't necessary? Asking everyone to introduce themselves and ensuring all voices are heard?
- Engage in an assumption storm, where we generate all the assumptions one has about who belongs and why, consciously seek to flip those assumptions by coming up with all the possible opposites and brainstorming ways to achieve those flips using different design levers.
Design for Belonging does have a couple of interesting points and exercises for you to hone your attentiveness to design features that include or exclude. But overall, it's not the most substantive of reads; Priya Parker's The Art of Gathering is a better investment, or perhaps Peter Block's Community.
These were the points that stood out for me and if they feel like disconnected snippets, that's pretty much how they appeared in the book:
- Othering is not always an explicit policy like apartheid but can show up in systems like higher education, housing, and health care, which have ben designed to make some people feel less than. Pay attention to "the environmental cues of othering - like who is featured, who is promoted, who can literally access a space".
- How might we intentionally design for belonging in the following "design moments": invitation, entering, participating, code switching, contributing, dissenting, repairing, diverging and exiting?
○ Invitation: Clear purpose, focus on the feeling you want people to have when learning of the invitation and glimpsing your values. Invitations matter also for pattern breaking so if you want to move beyond your existing community, you can't rely on your usual email list or regular outreach channels. Be clear about who you seek to engage and to understand why they may not have been - or felt they were - invited before. Try an A/B test by using one invitation to see who shows, then using another version and see if it makes a difference.
○ Entrance: This is not just about the physical entry to a space but also about the kinds of actions required on entry. Is there a verbal greeting, do you need to get a visitor pass, do you need to put on a special costume (like doctors putting on PPE in a ward). These actions set the stage for participation to follow.
○ Participation: The moment of participation is sometimes where othering shows up in both subtle and explicit ways. Maybe you show up for an exercise class and realise it requires special equipment you don't have. Or you go for an event and feel it's designed and executed for a completely different audience profile.
○ Contributing: How can we help people recognise what they are bringing to the table and contributing (i.e. their gifts)?
○ Dissenting: Full belonging means having a meaningful voice, the right to make demands, being able to advocate for oneself and for others. It means having the opportunity to participate in the design of social and cultural structures.
- Levers of design to help shape belonging includes spaces, roles, events, rituals, grouping, communications, clothing, food, schedules and rhythms. As you explore how to shape these design levers, ask yourself how it would feel and for whom. Consciously attend to what is currently not working and then explicitly crafting something different to change the dynamics. On rhythms, a lot of the daily, weekly, and yearly rhythms in many places like the government, schools, companies etc are based on legacy needs, reflecting who was meant to belong in some other time. It is difficult to shift old, entrenched rhythms though so some prototyping might be required to show people the possibilities of what a shift in rhythms would create.
On methodologies/approaches to explore belonging:
- Wise suggested using an emotional journey map to explore when one felt included or othered. This could be in the context of where you live, a job you have had, an organisation of which you are a part, where you draw a line to represent the emotional ups and downs you have experienced and the circumstances that created these different emotional states.
- We can ask ourselves when and where we felt a sense of belonging, and map those places. Where are the places that allow us to experience belonging, to feel brave, try new things, work through rough patches. How might this exercise of exploring our moments of belonging allow us to understand how belonging in constructed in our life and in the systems we dwell in?
- Use a picture grid to explore people's feelings about belonging. Ask them to select an image that feels like the state of belonging in their family/town/organisation and why.
- Try this exercise: How might we support more belonging for _______ by focusing on [moment that might matter to them] using [design lever].
- Changing culture is about everyday acts and this means we can start small, try lots of things and see what works. This gives us the opportunity to tune ourselves to see, feel and notice what is changing, and for whom. How might we identify what are the everyday acts that represent a culture of belonging - picking up trash so wheelchair access is not obstructed? Avoiding esoteric acronyms when they aren't necessary? Asking everyone to introduce themselves and ensuring all voices are heard?
- Engage in an assumption storm, where we generate all the assumptions one has about who belongs and why, consciously seek to flip those assumptions by coming up with all the possible opposites and brainstorming ways to achieve those flips using different design levers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 4, 2024
Another Bowdoin book read in January! This was a read from the Inclusion and Diversity office that I opted into because I remember reading and following a lot of work out of the Stanford d.school when I was working at UChicago in the entrepreneurship space. The d.school has some really unique and creative thinkers and a way with practically explaining and designing things that work well. I have a few bones to pick with this book (at the end) but I think a lot of them are more of a theme of late than anything specifically at issue here.
First though, the good: this book is clear and tactical about ways in which we can, with intention and forethought, better design programs and spaces that bring more people into an event, a program, or an organization. There is clear and useful advice that any start-up, non-profit, board of directors, or other organization can use to help bring new people in and have them feel welcomed and a part of the organization. I started thinking a lot more about space and atmosphere for programs that I run, but also how organizations I am a part of can better invite people in as well. The writing here is clear and the advice quite concrete.
Now, my bone to pick: sort of like the other book read I recently did, this book feels incredibly dated and ideological because of its highly progressive, social-justice oriented language. The references to anti-capitalist (don't get me starte...) and anti-racist thought, as well as the constant name-checking of different identities will, somewhat ironically, make a book about belonging feel like a whole heck of a lot of people - basically anyone not steeped in elite higher ed or corporate culture - feel like this book doesn't belong to them. There's a certain amount of signaling that is going on among progressive writers now to show that they are enlightened and on the the right team. The problem is that - being charitable - you can now have a book which has many good ideas (like this one) and it will turn off a lot of people who could otherwise learn a lot from those ideas. That's a real shame and it does the opposite of what I think the authors intend.
First though, the good: this book is clear and tactical about ways in which we can, with intention and forethought, better design programs and spaces that bring more people into an event, a program, or an organization. There is clear and useful advice that any start-up, non-profit, board of directors, or other organization can use to help bring new people in and have them feel welcomed and a part of the organization. I started thinking a lot more about space and atmosphere for programs that I run, but also how organizations I am a part of can better invite people in as well. The writing here is clear and the advice quite concrete.
Now, my bone to pick: sort of like the other book read I recently did, this book feels incredibly dated and ideological because of its highly progressive, social-justice oriented language. The references to anti-capitalist (don't get me starte...) and anti-racist thought, as well as the constant name-checking of different identities will, somewhat ironically, make a book about belonging feel like a whole heck of a lot of people - basically anyone not steeped in elite higher ed or corporate culture - feel like this book doesn't belong to them. There's a certain amount of signaling that is going on among progressive writers now to show that they are enlightened and on the the right team. The problem is that - being charitable - you can now have a book which has many good ideas (like this one) and it will turn off a lot of people who could otherwise learn a lot from those ideas. That's a real shame and it does the opposite of what I think the authors intend.
October 24, 2022
𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Design an Env of Belonging
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: The exercises
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Easy
𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲: Book
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Non-fic societal
4/𝟱
🌱THE EXCELLENT
~ Great examples to consider belonging
~ Self awareness questions that are important
~ Allows for a shifting of focus & thought
The book considers belonging - through the lens of numerous authors & professionals in the field - who have developed ways to think about & plan for the feelings of being safe, seen & cared about in different spaces & instances. It presents situations & questions for your day-to-day that allow you to act & be a positive change in improving collective experiences.
🌵
I feel that these issues related to belonging are better solved when you also consider yourself as an ‘other’ - as out of the ‘main’. What would it take to make you comfortable? I think many international schools have to navigate this daily - & they do an excellent job at it - this is something that can be studied, modified & replicated.
Overall a good read to analyze how the society around you operates & how it can improve.
✨𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.
🌱THE MEH
~ Seems to a stance of ‘looking at’ instead of situating yourself 🤔 or putting yourself in the space
♡🌱 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲 ;)
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: The exercises
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Easy
𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲: Book
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Non-fic societal
4/𝟱
🌱THE EXCELLENT
~ Great examples to consider belonging
~ Self awareness questions that are important
~ Allows for a shifting of focus & thought
The book considers belonging - through the lens of numerous authors & professionals in the field - who have developed ways to think about & plan for the feelings of being safe, seen & cared about in different spaces & instances. It presents situations & questions for your day-to-day that allow you to act & be a positive change in improving collective experiences.
🌵
I feel that these issues related to belonging are better solved when you also consider yourself as an ‘other’ - as out of the ‘main’. What would it take to make you comfortable? I think many international schools have to navigate this daily - & they do an excellent job at it - this is something that can be studied, modified & replicated.
Overall a good read to analyze how the society around you operates & how it can improve.
✨𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.
🌱THE MEH
~ Seems to a stance of ‘looking at’ instead of situating yourself 🤔 or putting yourself in the space
♡🌱 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝗲 ;)
January 2, 2022
Such a wonderful source for people really wanting to understand the ins and outs of what it means to belong. Through colorful illustrations, exercises and mind maps, the author pays tribute to a number of researchers and theorists in the myriad of belonging while also drawing from her own experiences.
Before addressing design itself, I appreciate how Wise prefaces herself with her positions of privilege out of the gate and how she sites various folks on their methods of thinking/speaking/addressing people. The author expertly raises a plethora of questions to consider and rewire the reader’s brain to think about situations from multiple POVs in addition to recognizing their own POV in a thorough manner.
The profiles of each individual does seem random in placement. Would love to see a bit more depth in their profiles and lines that draw them to the text. Certain names are capitalized while others aren’t which without context seems off.
Design For Belonging further guides the reader to consider various spaces and how to think beyond themselves to make that space approachable, accessible and welcoming. Everyone deserves to feel like they belong and this book really engages the reader to think about their own POV of belonging before highlighting frameworks to put into action.
This would be a fabulous resource in a wide range of classrooms, communities, organizations, households and beyond.
Thank you so much Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an ARC!
Before addressing design itself, I appreciate how Wise prefaces herself with her positions of privilege out of the gate and how she sites various folks on their methods of thinking/speaking/addressing people. The author expertly raises a plethora of questions to consider and rewire the reader’s brain to think about situations from multiple POVs in addition to recognizing their own POV in a thorough manner.
The profiles of each individual does seem random in placement. Would love to see a bit more depth in their profiles and lines that draw them to the text. Certain names are capitalized while others aren’t which without context seems off.
Design For Belonging further guides the reader to consider various spaces and how to think beyond themselves to make that space approachable, accessible and welcoming. Everyone deserves to feel like they belong and this book really engages the reader to think about their own POV of belonging before highlighting frameworks to put into action.
This would be a fabulous resource in a wide range of classrooms, communities, organizations, households and beyond.
Thank you so much Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an ARC!
April 14, 2022
Design for Belonging by Susie Wise provides framework for strategies to make environments more inclusive and inviting. The guide opens on talking about what belonging (as well as othering) feels like and then transitions into approaches you can take to help initiate these emotions.
The thoughtful illustrations by Rose Jaffe highlighting the main ideas of the book as well as authors from some of the referenced works are great additions to the overall work.
This book is a great read for leaders of any type of community whether a group, a workplace, or even a neighborhood or town! Between the framework it provides and the other resources it cites, it is a great starting point for thinking about creating inclusive environments.
Thank you to NetGalley and Ten Speed Press for the ARC
The thoughtful illustrations by Rose Jaffe highlighting the main ideas of the book as well as authors from some of the referenced works are great additions to the overall work.
This book is a great read for leaders of any type of community whether a group, a workplace, or even a neighborhood or town! Between the framework it provides and the other resources it cites, it is a great starting point for thinking about creating inclusive environments.
Thank you to NetGalley and Ten Speed Press for the ARC
June 4, 2024
I liked this book because the author explains how different leaders cope with their leadership in building up their diversity and equity. This is also because the author demonstrates in every way how to explore deeper or to expand on the knowledge of building such as diversity, equity, and inclusion in groups. She would provide examples of how to start different kinds of organizations, including their effect and impact on the economy. My favorite part of the book is where she introduces Bell Hooks, as she is a writer and cultural critic known for her contributions to feminist theory and cultural studies. The different books about the community and resistance to patriarchy she wrote inspired me as she spoke about what belonging feels like across time and space.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 22, 2024
Design for belonging introduces the readers to new ideas while also acknowledging concepts that are often overlooked in the process of planning social gatherings. However, it sometimes does it in a very shallow way without giving opportunities to actually explore the ideas and see their full relevance to the subject of belonging.
While I know it is a book written in the United States, it felt like it was overly centralized around problems of American identity politics, which can be in my opinion quite divisive if addressed incorrectly.
I enjoyed reading this book; it had a good feeling despite the problems I mentioned above. I would recommend it to educators or organizers who want to make any space they create more welcoming and foster a calming sense of belonging.
While I know it is a book written in the United States, it felt like it was overly centralized around problems of American identity politics, which can be in my opinion quite divisive if addressed incorrectly.
I enjoyed reading this book; it had a good feeling despite the problems I mentioned above. I would recommend it to educators or organizers who want to make any space they create more welcoming and foster a calming sense of belonging.
Read
April 27, 2024Design and inclusion are two of my hot-button favorite topics, so I was really eager to read this... and therefore really disappointed by it. This is a book for activists and community builders and extroverts, not for engineers or what I think of as designers. Even after realizing that, I still couldn't get into the book. The tone felt patronizing, Mister Rogersy. Content was poorly edited and awkward to read. Physically, the pages were stiff; hard to flip. I expected much better design.
Unrated, because I’m clearly not the target audience. I want to think that maybe there’s good material here for someone else.
Unrated, because I’m clearly not the target audience. I want to think that maybe there’s good material here for someone else.
March 21, 2023
Terrific book - practical and useful book for assessing and intentional planning for inclusion of diverse groups. Belonging is core to facilitating growth and change and authentic and meaningful inclusion. “Belonging is the key that unlocks the best in everyone”…”Belonging helps us to be fully human. It gives us permission to share our talents and our life force. It enables cooperation, collaborations and the ability to work across differences.” Not quite a how-to manual but certainly provides simple steps one can take to bring people together and take action.
May 15, 2023
I really like this book because it made me think more deeply about how I design my interventions. There were many aha moments about how and when people feel belong or othered by virtue of the design we create.
I loved the exercises and questions for reflection provided at the end of each section. They definitely made me think. The chapter on rhythm and schedules seemed a bit incomplete to me.
The design of the content in the book along with the murals within are unique and add to the overall topic of the book.
Strongly recommended for facilitators and HR folks.
I loved the exercises and questions for reflection provided at the end of each section. They definitely made me think. The chapter on rhythm and schedules seemed a bit incomplete to me.
The design of the content in the book along with the murals within are unique and add to the overall topic of the book.
Strongly recommended for facilitators and HR folks.
April 27, 2024
Super simple read. Lots of practical ways of thinking and ways to apply some ways to make sure your space is an inclusive space. Lots of things can play a role in belonging and othering and this book offers a space for it all, and how to continue to move forward into creating more belonging in a world where we so frequently other. Great design and colors in the book and overall solid read, would recommend to folks looking to be more intentional in building friendships and communities (social or work) into places of belonging.
February 13, 2023
I recently attended a women’s professional group and couldn’t figure out why this one felt just right. This book highlighted some of the secret sauce elements to why I felt belonged. There was safety, authenticity, familiarity, connectedness, and access to growth (pg21) with the women.
Pg 42 talked about the importance of entrances into the space the aids or hinders belonging. After all, that is the first and most impressionable step.
Pg 42 talked about the importance of entrances into the space the aids or hinders belonging. After all, that is the first and most impressionable step.
September 14, 2025
An inexpensive, lovely book by the Stanford d.school and Ten Speed Press, two organizations whose work I admire very much. Not a great sit down-and-read book but full of ideas, references, and exercises that get you thinking about your own environment and how you can make it more welcoming, inclusive, and collaborative. I signed this out from the library but see myself picking up a copy to always have on hand.
March 12, 2023
Concise introduction to key concepts in designing for belonging. I appreciated how the author included a variety of people from different backgrounds and case studies to highlight approaches that foster belonging. I found the section end exercises useful, specially since the with invited the reader to consider their own additions informed by their context.
July 18, 2023
I loved this book, the ideas discussed, the artwork throughout, and especially the use of references being almost entirely those who are usually not represented (BIPOC, women, LGBTQ, etc).
I gave this 4 stars only because I didn’t have a way to directly apply the last third of the book to know if it was effective for putting this into practice. The first two thirds were amazing though!
I gave this 4 stars only because I didn’t have a way to directly apply the last third of the book to know if it was effective for putting this into practice. The first two thirds were amazing though!
June 19, 2024
“Belonging helps us to be fully human. It gives us permission to share our talents and express our life force. It enables cooperation, collaboration, and the ability to work across difference. It emboldens our creativity and our problem-solving abilities. When people feel like they belong, they are able to be their best and do their best.”
June 7, 2025
I appreciated this beautifully illustrated book that breaks down complex social dynamics into digestible outlines and concepts. The concept of allowing dissent in groups and the most healthy groups welcoming a questioning of authority or consensus spoke to me in particular- a worthwhile read for those of us who build communities.
July 1, 2025
We purchased this book as a possible community-wide read for our school. I wanted it to be the perfect read for our teaching faculty but I don’t think it’s what we were looking for. While the ideas are good, it felt very surface level and not designed for what teachers would need. I also did not appreciate the overly cutesy graphics, tiny print, and inner folding of the pages.
October 19, 2025
This is a great book I think for anyone but especially for leaders of organizations or educational places there’s a lot that I want to consider for my classroom. The grade level that I lead and I will definitely recommend this book to like my principals. Besides that anyone who has a say in the vibe of your organization, should definitely take a look at this book.
July 30, 2022
I enjoyed this book - this is just what we need in this disconnected world..
A few notes that resonated the most:
- When people feel like they belong, they are able to be their best and do their best.
- Belonging helps us to be fully human.
I love the chapter on food for belonging.. it's very true how it brings people together...
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom 🙏
A few notes that resonated the most:
- When people feel like they belong, they are able to be their best and do their best.
- Belonging helps us to be fully human.
I love the chapter on food for belonging.. it's very true how it brings people together...
Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom 🙏
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 25, 2023
Good book guidelines for people who are working on creating a good culture at a workplace or any other environment where people suppose to interact with each other and collaborate on a common things.
It’s beautifully illustrated and designed book. What a pleasure to turn page through such books.
It’s beautifully illustrated and designed book. What a pleasure to turn page through such books.
April 27, 2023
There is a lot of good information in this book, and I would recommend it for people that are looking into designing with inclusion. But it is more of the starting when designing and I was looking for something more in-depth. But still good, and easy to digest.
May 6, 2023
This book came highly recommended from an acquaintance and when I finally picked it up, didn't realize how tiny it'd be. Quick and easy read and easily organized for bite-size reading. Some helpful exercises and well-written overall.
July 3, 2023
Useful book for thinking mindfully about inclusive community-building, regardless of what kind of community you are in (a school, business, rec center, etc.). I definitely recommend getting your own hard copy, as this is a book you will want to annotate. There are a lot of pages with exercises and questions, but I also marked up pages as I read and had ideas spark.
July 26, 2024
A slim, easy-to-read book about the concepts and aspects of belonging. Because it tries to be applicable in just about every context, it seemed overly vague at times, but it still has a lot to reflect on and make your own.
August 14, 2024
A concise, accessible and gem-filled guide to design thinking with the goal of creating belonging. This is an excellent companion to both work and communal life and I am excited to apply it to my day-to-day.
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