Reflection is a powerful tool for a designer. It offers us introspection, opportunities for growth, and the time to celebrate our wins. At ThinkPlace, we’ve had a big year filled with purpose-driven projects.

The global landscape in 2023 has presented many challenges. These challenges motivate us to continue pushing the parameters of purpose-driven design and looking back on the year that was, we’re proud of the solutions we helped our clients achieve.

A company highlight was winning five Good Design Awards in Australia. These wins acknowledged not just our strategic expertise, but also the passionate purpose-driven people that make up ThinkPlace. If you’d like to take a look at the projects that led to our design wins, you can do so here.

To end the year in a reflective tone, we’re taking a moment to acknowledge (just a few of!) the humans that drive what ThinkPlace does. We asked some team members about their highlights and challenges, and this is what they had to say.

“I learnt to play golf this year! Whilst I’ve not been as dedicated as I’d have wanted to; learning how to play is something I’m proud of! I also finished reading Dr. Catherine Hamlin’s book, ‘the Hospital by the River’ that was so profound and allowed me to be retrospective on multiple fronts.” – Oliver Muchiri, Senior Strategic Designer, Kenya

“This year my team grew from six to 10, with an ever-increasing diversity of skills and backgrounds coming into the mix. It lends itself to a rich tapestry, and comes with all sorts of challenges around how you lead, how you communicate, how you bring people together to form a team that’s greater than the sum of its parts, how you navigate as a group through ups and downs of the market.” – Chun-Yin San, General Manager (Strategy, Foresight & Futures), Australia

“This year I attended night classes over a few months growing my skills in tīkanga (protocol) Māori and Te Reo Māori. As a wāhine Māori who is continually growing my connection to my Māoritanga, this was an awesome time to reconnect with parts of my culture that I had been disconnected from over the years such as waiata (song) and kapa haka (performance).” – Avara Moody, Senior Designer, Aotearoa New Zealand

By using data for good…

“I worked with Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and our good friends at Spatial Vision to co-create a data-driven experience that helps people understand the sometimes hidden benefits that nature offers them, their children and their community. The result pivots the narrative of what nature means for us, and what biodiversity loss means for our future.” – Darren Menachemson, Head of Digital Societies and Chief Ethicist, ThinkPlace Global

By actioning co-design practices…

“For our Work and Development Order (WDO) Scheme project, we transferred the research team to the New South Wales outback for four weeks. We were there to learn from people who were delivering services to vulnerable people, and people with lived experience of hardship and fine debt. It’s as close to ‘walk a mile in someone’s shoes’ as you can get, and meant that the service design was immeasurably improved with their lived experience expertise.” – Mirei Ballinger, Executive Producer, Australia

And by leveraging our analytical skills and creativity…

“Working with the VillageReach and ThinkPlace teams, we designed responsive Primary Health Care (PHC) systems aimed at addressing health inequalities, particularly for the most vulnerable communities. This project pushed my analytical and creative process beyond its limits as it was a complex project. I had a chance to interact with respected experts in the PHC space whose insights led to the success of this project. Eventually, we were able to design a framework that can be leveraged when designing responsive PHC systems and I am very excited as this is already being implemented in select countries in Africa! This project also allowed me to fulfil a long-standing dream of visiting the United States.” – Oliver Muchiri, Designer, Kenya

“As a new studio, we’re always trying to push into new sectors with new clients. We received several rejections [from one client] and each time we took the feedback and kept building on the learnings with each proposal. Two months ago we finally won a project with them! It’s the biggest and longest project we’ve won for our studio.” –Brittany Thurston, Studio Director, United Kingdom

“A challenge for me recently has been finding impactful ways to tautoko (support) multiple kaupapa (issues) at once. Top of mind is the continued oppression of Palestinian people and the increasing antisemitism in association with this, alongside issues closer to home such as Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the founding partnership document between Māori and the British Crown) and ensuring the rights of Māori are upheld by government and Tangata Tiriti (non-Māori). These issues have taught me the importance of using our positions of privilege and our platforms to amplify the voices of resistance. It’s also made me recognise the incredible energy and humanity people can have even in times of extreme struggle. It’s increasing my understanding of systemic issues and their interconnectedness and the need to work strategically to overcome these. Karawhiua! (give it everything!).” – Avara Moody, Senior Designer, Aotearoa New Zealand

“I presented at a conference for the first time this year, and in the lead up I was really anxious and had a really bad case of imposter syndrome. I was listing all the things I wasn’t: I wasn’t medically trained, I wasn’t from a public health unit, I wasn’t an academic… But it turns out that being different pays off. Presenting on a public health topic that’s adjacent to a lot of mainstream health issues (like hardship and fine debt) meant it generated a lot of interesting discussions on how system collaboration can support the health and wellbeing of communities.” –Mirei Ballinger, Executive Producer, Australia

“I am looking forward to stepping into 2024 with a fresh commitment to creating public good through delivering world-class, human-centred design services for our partners and clients around the world.” –Chun-Yin San, General Manager (Strategy, Foresight & Futures), Australia

“From a marketing perspective, 2024 is about sharing the incredible work of our clients. Sharing so that others get on board and find hope that there are many people working hard to make the world a better place.” – Alice Jeffries, Global Marketing Manager