Design is Everywhere: Trauma-Informed Design for End-of-Life Decisions

Posted inDesign Theory

PRINTCast: The PRINT Podcast Studio is a curated collection of cutting-edge podcasts we love about design, creativity, branding, books, and further subjects afield. Soon, we’ll have a dedicated digital listening room. In the meantime, we present Design Museum’s Design is Everywhere, hosted by Sam Aquillano and Liz Pawlak—a “podcast featuring stories of people and organizations using design to make an impact and change the world.”


How does design influence how we make the difficult decisions after a loved one passes? In this week’s episode, we learn about the role of design to improve the decision-making process after a death. Sam is joined by Lisa deBettencourt, Founder and Principal at Forge Harmonic, an innovation and strategic design firm that works with digital health and life sciences.

Lisa shares her experience after her mother’s passing and how the process can be improved. Later on in the show, they are joined by Megan Yip, an attorney at The Law Office of Megan Yip where she drafts estate plans and assists with post-death trust administration. Together they chat about how they approach difficult conversations and the importance of being trauma-informed in this work.