Resource List: Tools for navigating bias in your design practice

Design is an act of perspective, and every perspective has limits. 

Each of us carries unique experiences and these shape how we create. They influence our choices in colour, typography, imagery and iconography and guide the narratives and mediums we gravitate to. 

In the process of creation, even well-considered decisions can unintentionally limit who feels included or accurately represented. Our inherent bias is a natural part of how we interpret information and make decisions. It surfaces in the assumptions we lean on and the intuitive shortcuts that help us work quickly. These influences often go unnoticed in our own thinking, yet they still shape how ideas come together and how we picture the people we’re designing for.

A thoughtful design practice grows from paying attention to these internal patterns. By examining how our own thinking influences the work we produce, we strengthen our ability to communicate with clarity, curiosity and responsibility. 

The resources gathered here support that ongoing process. They offer ways to reflect on perception, understand how mental habits guide creative choices and build a practice that stays attentive to the many perspectives that design needs to reach.

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Project Implicit: Implicit association test

Harvard University, ongoing

The Harvard Implicit Association Test, among other things, measures the speed of connections that people make between concepts such as gender and profession or race and emotion. By tracking how quickly a person pairs certain words or images, the test reveals automatic associations that often operate below conscious awareness. These subtle patterns can expose biases that influence perception and decision-making, even when you believe you are being objective. Taking the test can be an eye-opening experience, especially for designers who frequently have to make intuitive and time-sensitive choices. These learnings shape how audiences are represented, including the visual cues we choose and the assumptions we make. They also influence how tone is set and who is imagined as the “default” audience.

The value of this exercise lies in the awareness it creates. Within design teams, it can prompt honest reflection and conversation about how social patterns influence creative choices. That shared awareness helps teams approach their work with greater intention, clarity and a stronger sense of responsibility.

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Inclusive design toolkit

Microsoft Design, ongoing

The Microsoft Inclusive Design Toolkit provides a practical framework for embedding inclusion into every stage of the design process. It gathers activity cards, case studies and detailed guidance that help designers understand how exclusion occurs and how to design for a wider range of people. The toolkit introduces methods for addressing accessibility barriers and considering users with diverse abilities and backgrounds.

Recent updates expand the focus to include artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. These resources examine how bias can appear in automated systems and visual outputs and how designers can apply inclusive principles to data, language models and AI-assisted work. For visual communication designers, this perspective is increasingly relevant, as many creative tools now rely on AI-generated imagery and algorithmic decision-making.

The materials presented in the toolkit position inclusion as an ongoing practice that evolves with technology. They encourage designers to question assumptions embedded in both human and machine systems, fostering visual communication that remains clear, equitable and ethically grounded in a rapidly changing world.

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99% Invisible

Podcast hosted by Roman Mars, ongoing

99% Invisible is a long-running podcast that explores the overlooked architecture and design of everyday life. It examines the systems, conventions and histories that shape how people see, move or interact, often in ways that are so familiar they escape conscious attention. Each episode examines a familiar object or environment, from flags and signage to city sounds and colour codes and reveals the assumptions that influence its design.

For visual communication designers, 99% Invisible offers an ongoing exercise in shifting perspective. It helps build the ability to notice patterns, defaults and social narratives that are woven into designed environments. The podcast broadens awareness from aesthetics to context and encourages reflection on who design includes, who it overlooks and what becomes invisible through familiarity. It teaches designers to be more observant and to find meaning in the details of everyday life that usually go unexamined.

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Thinking, fast and slow

The book by Daniel Kahneman, 2011

Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow explains how people think and make decisions through two mental systems: one fast and intuitive, the other slow and analytical. The book shows how quick, instinctive judgments can lead to bias, while deliberate thinking allows for more balanced and reasoned choices.

For designers, it is an essential study of perception and judgment—a reminder that intuition is powerful but not always reliable. Reading it builds awareness of the mental shortcuts that shape creative decisions, from visual hierarchy to audience assumptions. Kahneman’s insights encourage a reflective design practice that balances instinct with evidence and clarity with empathy, helping designers understand how people see, decide and respond.

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Bias prompt cards

by DTU (Technical University of Denmark), ongoing

The Bias Prompt Cards were created as a practical tool for identifying how unconscious assumptions influence creative decision-making. Developed by the Innovation Lab at the Technical University of Denmark, the cards offer short prompts that discuss patterns in thinking that may limit perspective or unintentionally exclude certain audiences.

Cards work especially well for designers because they are easy to keep on hand, revisit during reviews and circulate within teams. This format makes the learning more immediate and more likely to be applied during fast-paced decision-making. There are many card-based bias resources available online, but these are the ones I return to in my own practice. I revisit them from time to time so the prompts stay familiar and easy to recall, which helps me bring awareness into my work more naturally. The cards are available as a free, downloadable, printable set, making them simple to integrate into both individual practice and team workflows.

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These resources provide opportunities to continue learning, questioning and refining our understanding of and communication about the world. Engaging with them over time supports a design practice that is more self-aware, responsible and attuned to the complexity of the audiences we serve.