A successful career doesn't always have to follow an upward trajectory, believes Lauren Celenza. Experiences - with ups and downs - are the ones that give meaning in any field. Lauren is a designer and writer, focused on shaping new technology with care for environments, communities, economies & social needs. As a designer, she led global projects for Google Maps, The World Resources Institute, The Gates Foundation, and P&G, with a focus in user experience, brand, and inclusive and equitable design. Lauren is an adjunct professor at Harbour.Space University, where she supports scholarships for emerging designers worldwide. She is the author of Tech Without Losing Your Soul, a newsletter examining tech’s ethical dilemmas through critical essays and in-depth interviews.
Lauren Celenza will be present in September at UNFINISHED among a vibrant community of global thinkers and makers. Part festival, part talks, part art, part undefined, the UNFINISHED experience gathers 3141 participants selected from those who apply. We talked with Lauren about silence and humility, about the ways that design and creativity adapt to new technologies.
The perspective about your work
With experience came two seemingly contradictory things: Confidence and humility. Confidence, because I have a clearer understanding of how to focus my work, my strengths and limitations, and that where I decide to place my time, and who I create with, matters. But also, humility, because the more I experience life, the more I realize the importance of letting go of control.
I think it’s a myth that a career should always be an upward trajectory when, in reality, it’s a rollercoaster. You may feel like you’re at the top of your game one day, but then that could all change tomorrow, and vice versa. Humility can be a helpful tool when navigating this ride.
What inspires you
I’m inspired by people who are actively creating new models, communities, or structures that challenge the inequity, destruction, and monotony around us. They don’t see uncertainty as a barrier but as a spark for their creativity. They don’t ignore contradictions or complexity, they embrace it. They don’t try to do it alone, they seek to collaborate. This spirit–the flexibility, creativity, and critical thinking–is an essential part of what makes us human, which feels especially important to tap into as we increasingly live in a world created alongside artificial intelligence.
#Unfinished
Our global economy tends to overvalue the finished product or result. But when we neglect to notice the process that brought us to that result, it can lead to a lot of suffering and heartache. UNFINISHED is a space to honor the process–in art, design, business, democracy, our relationships, our health, everything. Ultimately, if the process manifests the result, why not celebrate it?
What does silence mean to you. When is it necessary? When is it dangerous?
Silence is typically defined as the absence of something, but absence is not nothing. Silence is a communication tool, and similar to other tools, I think it’s most compassionate when it’s used to create space, care, or reverence, and dangerous when it’s used to oppress. Last year, I sought to resist this kind of oppression by petitioning with fellow workers in the US, specifically across Washington state, for the Silenced No More Act, an act that prohibited employers from using non-disclosure agreements to silence workers on issues of discrimination, retaliation, and wage violations.
The versatility of how we experience silence is what makes this year’s theme fascinating, and a reminder that the more versatile a tool is, the more important it is to use it consciously.
SILENCE in design
In a world that is overstimulated, overworked, and over-influenced, silence can be an effective design technique for creating the space needed to focus, discern, and decide. Silence in design can take many forms. In the digital world, silence emerges when a layout is designed with ample space and a cohesive visual system, allowing a reader to consume information calmly and effectively before making a decision.
Silence emerges when an interface provides flexible options for people to make their own decisions depending on their situation, instead of algorithms, push notifications, ads, or even influencers deciding for them. It is in this silence that we can connect to our intuition, values, and critical thinking as guideposts for our decisions. And this can make a product or service more memorable and sought-after, especially amid all the noise.
The ethical boundaries & the new technologies
Within the tech industry, the biggest change I’ve seen in the last five years is a greater consciousness for why regulation is important, and why we can’t necessarily rely on corporations to do this on their own. It will take government policy and pressure from consumers and workers across the world. But the challenge that remains is deciding what those boundaries are, and how to establish them when new technology, like artificial intelligence, feels unknown.
Our planet and society can’t afford to continue building technology the way we have in the past, instead, we must listen, research, and set ethical boundaries early and often, moving at the same rate of technological development, rather than being outpaced by it. This will require a shift in the way we build and invest in technology, but I think many of us are eager and ready to adapt to this shift. I take hope in the fact that one of the most incredible parts of what makes us human is our ability to adapt when needed, and I think our technology will be better for it.
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