Recently, as part of my teaching role in the Bachelor of Design at UQ, I had the opportunity to run a short facilitation bootcamp for third-year students preparing to lead their own co-design sessions.
The session focused on psychological safety — what it is, why it matters in collaborative work, and what a facilitator can actually do to create it. We also explored some of the constructs that sit alongside it: belonging and social identity, trust, and procedural justice. These come from organisational and social psychology, but the practice of building these conditions in a room is deeply design-oriented. One of the things I enjoy most about my work is sharing design with psychologists and psychology with designers — and this session was a good example of why that exchange matters.
I opened by asking everyone to close their eyes and think of a time when they were in a group and had something to contribute — but didn't. What held them back? It is a simple prompt, but it works because everyone has a response. That moment of recognition is what psychological safety feels like from the inside — and it makes the point better than any definition can.
Psychological safety and social identity are core constructs in my PhD research. Crucially, psychological safety is not a personality trait — it is entirely a property of the group. The same person will speak freely in one room and stay silent in another. That is what makes it so important in co-design, and so much the responsibility of the facilitator to create.
Students left with a workbook I put together to support their facilitation practice — a reference for thinking through belonging cues, signals, and affordances before they walk in the door. I'm genuinely excited to see how they use it.