Who We Are
MIdST LABS is a research and design firm dedicated to advancing the public interest through knowledge sharing and collaboration. We co-develop frameworks, services, and products for the public good, by uniting expert and community knowledge. We aim to achieve this vision through a two-pronged approach:
Co-Creation of Retooled, Public Design Frameworks: We publicly co-create retooled design frameworks to advance the public interest. Several design frameworks concurrently emerged across industries, each catering to different contextual needs, yet sharing a common core set of value. These frameworks showed great promise in designing better systems, and their guiding values, outlined below, also act as a guide for our own work. We seek to extend, improve, and enrich these frameworks, by putting them in dialogue. Our community at midstlabs.substack.com contributes to these living frameworks through their comments and work to better meet regional and contextual needs while designing to advance the public interest.
Research and Design Consultancy: At midstlabs.com, we offer research and design consultancy services for experts seeking to design products or services that advance the public interest. We ensure that an expert’s purported solution addresses the problem their research has identified through user research, market research, and service design activities. This is a market that has historically been neglected in academia, but we are happy to take on a range of projects at varying stages in their life cycle and levels of intuitional backing. As expressed in our guiding principles, we define “experts” very broadly to honor knowledge is many places and forms.
Our Guiding Principles
Guiding principle 1: Research and design are two inseparable and equally important processes for developing better systems.
Guiding principle 2: Research and design needs to be iterative, not linear.
Guiding principle 3: Nuance, multiplicities, and contradictions are a welcomed part of the research process and lend themselves to the development of better systems.
Guiding principle 4: Data and quantitative analysis are integral parts of good design.
Guiding principle 5: Communities hold valuable insight and serve as essential collaborators.
Guiding principle 6: Experts are broadly defined to include (1) any individual with specialized knowledge seeking to address the problems within their discipline, and (2) through this work, express a desire to advance the public interest.
Guiding principle 7: We are committed to solely taking on projects that advance the public interest.
Theory of Change
Guiding principle 1: Research and design are two inseparable and equally important processes for developing better systems.
The research-and-design (to denote how inseparable research is from design in building better systems) process requires a larger post explaining its importance, as it is at the core of our work. Rudimentarily, we pose:
How can one design without research? Why research, if not designing?
MIdST LABS pulls its research and design processes from frameworks that co-emerged across industries. We can visually represent the loose process across these framework through the UX double diamond.
Guiding principle 2: Research and design needs to be iterative, not linear.
Research informs design, and while designing, it is common to identify areas in need of more research. We welcome this time and inquiry as it allows us to quickly determine potential dead ends, allow for greater creativity, ensure we are not operating on ill-conceived assumptions, and, ultimately, improve our solutions.
Guiding principle 3: Nuance, multiplicities, contradictions, and context dependency are welcomed parts of the research process and lend themselves to the development of better systems.
Generalizations fail to capture a community’s diverse experiences and needs. We seek to honor nuance and contradictions, in order to actually create systems that advance the public interest for all.
Guiding principle 4: Data and quantitative analysis are integral parts of good design.
Quantitative insights a critical role in design. They add value and depth, when presented alongside qualitative findings. We embrace the contributions of data and quantitative analysis, recognizing their importance in building better systems.
Guiding principle 5: Communities hold valuable insight and serve as essential collaborators because they have intimately experienced the problems that experts seeks to address.
Community-based research is an effort known by many names. In academia, it takes the form of community-based participatory research. In industry and tech, it is the backbone of service design thinking and the UX design process, respectively.
Communities, as we define them, consist of members who intimately experience and, in turn, have a deep understanding of the problems in which experts seek to address. We value the knowledge of communities and see them as a type of expert.
Guiding principle 6: Experts are broadly defined to include (1) any individual with specialized knowledge seeking to address the problems within their discipline, and (2) through this work, express a desire to advance the public interest.
Experts can range from academics to community members who, through intimate engagement with a discipline, have identified some problem within their discipline in which they seek to address. Often times, these individuals come to us with ideas, products, and services to fill these gaps. In line with our principles, we refine and validate these solutions to ensure that they are effective and impactful.
Guiding principle 7: We are committed to solely taking on projects that advance the public interest.
We are committed to working alongside communities. We seek to protect and respect community knowledge; communities should never be exploited in the process of creating systems that are, ultimately, intended to serve them. We see them as co-collaborators and want to design alongside them.
Conclusion
MIdST LABS aims for inclusivity and collaboration across communities. The most obvious solution is not always the best solution. While many experts believe their ideas, products, and services will fill the gaps that they have identified, rigorous data-driven, community-based research-and-design processes are key to building better systems. We see evidence of this in several co-emerging processes and frameworks across society, which will be documented, explored, and enriched through our publications. We hope to leverage the potential of these frameworks by aiding in knowledge sharing across experts, academics, practitioners, and communities to advance the public interest.
While part of our vision and organizational goal is public facing, in the co-creation of adaptable and scalable frameworks through these publications, we also offer research and design consultancy for specific projects, organizations, and experts whose goals align with our mission. To start this process, get in touch; we would love to hear from you!