See clearly. Build boldly.

Product decisions are often filled with assumptions about what people need and what their lives look like. We replace assumptions with evidence and bring people into the process of what comes next.

Our Methods

We help teams understand the people, systems and real-world conditions surrounding their product.

Applied Design Research

We learn from people and context to uncover realities that can powerfully shape what gets built.

Collaboration & Co-Design

We design with users, creating space for their knowledge and experience to influence the products and systems that affect them.

Synthesis & Analysis

We make sense of complex information and translate it into insights teams can use to make better decisions.

Product Design

We turn insight into products and experiences that work for people in the real world.

Latest Articles

Blog
Design for Disconnection
Design for Disconnection

Over the course of 2025, we spoke with activists living and working in both connected and remote parts of Africa. Our research spanned a broad exploration of critical needs for connection—to understand what’s important to support by any technology—and a narrow exploration of the applications for peer-to-peer (P2P) solutions. This paper provides a perspective into what's needed most and discusses technology futures through the lens of activists' needs and realities.

Read more →
Digesting Censorship Data: 5 Insights for Dashboard Design
Digesting Censorship Data: 5 Insights for Dashboard Design

On behalf of theBlocky project, we set out to understand how different people use censorship data—from journalists to researchers to advocates. What emerged was a set of themes about how censorship data is understood, shared, and acted upon.

Read more →
Growing With The People: Insights from Outline VPN Providers
Growing With The People: Insights from Outline VPN Providers

The circumvention technology space is riddled with complexity due to the social realities of authoritarian countries and the ever-changing technical capabilities of governments to block the internet. As censors evolve, circumvention experts and VPN providers must also evolve. The insights of this research report shed light on the social challenges and technical hurdles encountered by both the people using VPNs and those providing them. Dive in and read the full report!

Read more →

Our Philosophy

Technology has incredible power to help people connect, mobilize and share information. It can also create risks, enable surveillance and cause harm. We believe good design starts with understanding the reality in which a product exists. We take a risk-informed, context-aware approach to unlock the highest potential of technology for humanity.