E V E N T R E C A P
Designing for Death
1. Why talk about death?
The workshop began by grounding everyone in three simple truths:
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Death is inevitable: Everyone one day will die.
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Avoidance has a cost: The less we face it, the less agency we have over it - and over the life before it.
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Design is possible: We have more power over this experience than most people realize.
With these ideas as a foundation, Dr. Sandra Diaz introduced key concepts around preparing for death, drawing not only from her professional expertise but also from her own deeply personal experience with the loss of her husband. Her story brought an often-abstract topic into sharp focus, helping participants see that preparing for death is not simply about planning for an ending—it is also about shaping how we live, care, and make choices along the way.
Takeaway:
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Avoiding the topic of death leaves our loved ones burdened with impossible decisions. And it keeps us from living with the full awareness of how previous and finite our time actually is.
2. Designing our deaths
The workshop then shifted into a more creative and generative space. Attendees moved through three activities designed to help them imagine and shape their own deaths—and consider the experience their loved ones might have.
1. Write your obituary, but make it honest!
This twist on the powerful “Letter from the Future” design exercise invited attendees to imagine how they would want to be remembered. It shifted the room into a hopeful, ambitious mindset. The word “badass” was used more than once. 💪🏼
2. The Gift of Clarity
This activity applied Empathy Maps to help attendees step into the perspective of a loved one experiencing their death. What would that person need? What might they feel, think, or struggle with? The exercise revealed how much clarity and care we can offer others by preparing in advance.
3. Design Your Ceremony
This activity took things to the next level, inviting attendees to apply experience design principles to their own death ceremonies. The word “funeral” hardly seemed to do justice to what they imagined. “Celebration of life” was far more apt. Attendees envisioned ceremonies that expressed who they were and everything they loved—with mourning taking a back seat to celebration.
What attendees said:
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"I have never thought about designing a funeral to what I actually want. I just imagined it as a place people wear all black and are stressed and sad. I like the idea of re-defining that."
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"It is very inspiring! I felt more clear about how to spend rest of my life including every day."
3. Community Social
Over ice cream, attendees eagerly continued the conversation, reflecting on what they had just experienced and deepening the connections they had made during the workshop. The conversations flowed so naturally that we ended up staying at the ice cream shop for quite a while!
Pretty much all of it - I have never thought about death in this way and it was eye-opening to reflect on these questions and hear others’ stories. The obituary exercise in particular was a great reminder of what I want out of life.
I really appreciated the topic and how it forced us out of our comfort zones to think about a subject that is so universal, but often avoided. It made death seem less scary and more joyful. Who knew there would be so many laughing moments in this workshop!
I loved thinking through the different aspects of the entire experience around death, particularly considering the perspective of those left behind. [I want to] be more proactive and intentional in thinking about death.