Design Character helps the reader peel back their own layers, finding the ‘who’ at the centre of their design practices.

Are you exhausted by the need to constantly advocate for the value of your work? Do you experiencing self-doubt when it comes to your authority and credibility in the field? Do you feel stuck professionally, in a cycle with no one to advocate for you? You are not alone. Whether you're lacking clarity, alignment, confidence, or motivation, you have the ability to build up your inner strength—your design character—to create resilience and impact in your life and work. Dr. Melis Senova, author and creator of This Human, has spent 23 years in the world of design and leadership and discovered there was a big conversation that wasn't taking place: It doesn't matter how good a designer you are if you don't know who is doing the designing. This susceptibility to "moral fading" and lack of confidence has been silently plaguing designers for years, so Dr. Senova built her Design Character blueprint to provide the tools needed to help you become clear and uncover the type of designer (and human) you want to be in this world. In this book you'll learn: • How to build values literacy and understand how values can inform your work. • How to become aware of and diminish blindspots in your work. • How to develop your own ethics and discover different ways to think about them. • How to have impactful conversations that propel your work and career forward. • How to establish strong boundaries to keep yourself, and others, safe. Design Character is not one of your typical personal growth books. Inside you'll not only find fun, interactive, and lively pages, but also 14 exercises based on research from human centered design, strategic design, design innovation, mindfulness, somatic psychotherapy, neuroscience, and more. If you're ready to find alignment in your work and life, gain a greater understanding of who you are, and make an impact on the world, begin your Design Character journey today. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr Melis Senova is a recognised industry leader in human-centred leadership and design, a published neuroscientist, entrepreneur, author of two books–this human and design character. She founded award winning strategic design firm Huddle; its associate school, Huddle Academy; and This Human, a community of practice focused on advancing and deepening the practice of design to help address our shared planetary challenges. As an advisor to many influential people, Melis has worked with business leaders to heads-of-state. Her work and influence are broad ranging and deep, from participating in the establishment of Australia’s Space Agency to supporting female entrepreneurs in the South Pacific, West Africa, and Aruba. Melis has a PhD in Human Factors (HCD) and has been designing, teaching, and mentoring for over 20 years. Her current research is focused on establishing the new practice of Therapeutic Design. She teaches within the post- graduate design courses at RMIT and Swinburne University. Melis has lived and worked internationally since 1996, from Akita to Amsterdam, New York to Chennai, she currently resides in Melbourne, Australia.