If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.Join our Community: https://circle.thisishcd.com/Join-CommunityDesign isn’t just creativity — it’s care. In this episode, Gerry sits down with Ali Fawkes, Head of Social Innovation at Humanly (founded by Jenni Parker) to unpack practical safeguarding and trauma-informed practice in design research. We trace Ali’s unconventional route from fine art and special education into service design, talk honestly about imposter feelings and labels, and get concrete about how to design safely — for participants and practitioners — especially on sensitive, high-stakes work.You’ll learnHow non-traditional backgrounds become real superpowers in designWhat “designing safely” actually looks like (policies, consent, escalation paths)How to prepare teams for disclosures (e.g., hopelessness/suicidality) without freezing the workWhy safer practice reassures clients and improves outcomesGuest: Ali Fawkes, Head of Social Innovation, Humanly (London)Connect with Ali on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alifawkesShout-out to SDinGov for the spark.Like what we do? Make a Tip. Or Leave a review: https://ratethispodcast.com/hcdSponsor links10x your service design offering with Smaply. Take 20% off your order with ''ThisisHCD20off'Sign up https://auth.smaply.app/sign-upCheck out 'This is HCD x Sutsu' range. Gerry wears and endorses Sutsu ethical clothing. Use HCD10 to get 10% off this range.Get 10% off ScenarioCards.org when you used our link https://scenariocards.org/HCD10Click here to watch a video of this episode. Click here to view the episode transcript. Creators & Guests Gerry Scullion - Host Ali Fawkes - Guest

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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