Beyond Innovation: Challenging the Limits of Human-Centered Design
A drop of water creates the ripples of change.
The Promise—and the Problem—of Innovation
Innovation has never moved faster. From breakthrough technologies to new ways of working, we're constantly iterating, redesigning, reimagining.
But amid this flurry of creativity, a stark reality emerges. The question arises:
"What exactly have we been innovating for?"
While we build apps, scale platforms and refine processes, our oceans warm. Soils degrade. Inequality grows. Climate systems collapse.
The tools of design thinking—once hailed as a revolution in problem solving—are now everywhere. Empathy maps, user journeys, rapid prototypes. And yet, the systems we live within are more fractured and fragile than ever.
Have we mistaken optimization for transformation?
The Limits of Human-Centered Design
Design thinking promised progress by putting people first. But somewhere along the way, we stopped questioning:
Which humans?
Whose needs?
At what cost?
"We became experts at improving experiences while externalizing consequences."
We disrupted without really asking what we were disrupting. We scaled without pausing to see what was shrinking. We designed for the individual while ignoring the planetary.
The result? An innovation ecosystem that often reinforces the very problems it claims to solve.
Enter Carom: A Provocation - Not a Service, Not a Product
Carom wasn’t created to offer more of the same.
Not another consultancy. Not another lab. Not another toolset.
"Carom itself is a provocation."
A refusal to accept that the status quo is the best we can do. A challenge to the extractive narratives baked into the stories of innovation. A space for rethinking what progress even means in a world approaching its ecological and social limits.
We believe it's time to go beyond human-centered design and ask:
Can we center ‘life’ instead of just humans?
Can innovation be earth-literate?
What must we unlearn to become regenerative?
A New Kind of Innovation
Carom exists to stir the deeper questions. To create space for:
Designers seeking alignment with planetary systems
Leaders questioning legacy logic
Collaborators ready to unlearn and reimagine
"This isn’t a roadmap. It’s a refusal to stay on autopilot."
Innovation is not neutral. It never has been. It reflects our values, our blind spots, and our sense of what’s possible.
Carom exists to expand that sense.
Join the Provocation
If you’ve ever felt uneasy about where "innovation" is headed—you’re not alone.
Let’s rethink innovation. Let’s redesign progress. Let’s reconnect it to life. Let’s ask ourselves:
"If the future is to be regenerative, then what must we unlearn about innovation itself?"
Connect with Carom
📧 jeremy@carom.com
🔗 www.carom.com
📱 Instagram: @carom.cares
💼 Jeremy on LinkedIn
💼 Carom on LinkedIn