IA Collaborative Co-Founder and Co-CEO Kathleen Brandenburg was recently featured on “The Visible Voices” podcast, in conversation with host and practicing emergency medicine physician, Resa Lewiss, MD.

The two discussed the illuminating, necessary power of systemic thinking to solve complex problems; the importance of keeping research creative; and how human-centered design can advance health equity and positive health outcomes.

Rather than stay in the insulated, speculative space of assumed user needs, Kathleen champions the IA maxim “live the problem to design the solution.”

This can mean suiting up in PPE in a high-temperature environment to uncover the lived experience of aid workers; lacing up and running alongside athletes when designing for better performance; or, scrubbing into the OR to directly observe how surgeons navigate an operation. The goal: Uncover not only the pain points but the bright spots empowering users — athletes, patients, doctors, or otherwise — to access the solution they seek.

“Design allows us to look systemically at everything. We look at all Five Human Factors; we don’t just think about the physical issues. We think about the social, the cognitive, the emotional, the cultural.”

— Kathleen Brandenburg, IA Collaborative Co-Founder + Co-CEO

You can listen to the podcast episode on thevisiblevoicespodcast.com or on Apple podcasts.

About Kathleen Brandenburg, Co-Founder, Co-CEO of IA Collaborative

Kathleen was an early pioneer and advocate for human centered design and one of the first to link design, business strategy and innovation. In 2000, she co-founded IA collaborative, a global design and innovation consultancy based in Chicago. Fast Company has named her a “Master of Design” and one of the 50 most influential designers. She has been a Harvard Visiting Professor of Design for Social Innovation. 

About Resa E. Lewiss, MD + “The Visible Voices” Podcast

Resa is a practicing Emergency Medicine physician and the first woman Professor of Emergency Medicine and Radiology at Thomas Jefferson University. She is the Director of Point of Care Ultrasound. She speaks, publishes, and writes on healthcare, equity, and current trends. She produces the Philadelphia-based “The Visible Voices” podcast, which amplifies voices that are Visible and those that may be Invisible.