About a month ago, Erika Hall posted the following statement on LinkedIn:

Most designers want to affect positive change in the world. But as a profession, we’ve often failed to have an honest conversation about what that means in practice. From our experiences in tech, even if you’re working on something genuinely useful like Chrome or Google Maps, you’re ultimately still working for an advertising business.

There are places where those incentives align more cleanly. Some organisations are funded differently, which changes what “success” looks like and how decisions get made - Wikimedia and Mozilla are good examples. (More locally, silverorange and Resolve to Save Lives are two examples in Daniel’s experience). Others sell products that people actively choose and value — tools like Duolingo, Figma, or Slack — where usefulness is directly tied to the business model.

There’s also a third category worth naming: work that helps directly establish a better future. This includes areas like medical research, public health, or government agencies — whether that’s a company improving access to clinical trials like Flatiron Health or a government organisation like gov.uk.

Whatever shape that alignment takes, we hope you find it. And if you’re still figuring out where that might be, our community is here to help.

Rachel Ilan Simpson, Member of Hard Problems

Senior Service Designer, Genomics England (London)

Genomics England partners with NHS to provide whole genome sequencing diagnostics. They are looking for a service designer to translate user needs and service goals into human centered solutions across teams.

Salary: from £66,500

Design Specialist, Ariadne Labs (Somerville, US)

Ariadne Labs in a join center for health systems innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Their goal is to save lives and reduce suffering by developing and implementing solutions for childbirth, surgery, palliative care, home hospital, and primary health care.

Salary: $73K to 107K

Experience Owner, Commonwealth of Massachusetts (US)

The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) is hiring an Experience Owner to develop and iteratively improve the renter’s experience of learning about, applying for, and gaining access to private and affordable housing.

Salary: $90/hr to $100/hr

Research Scientist, Koita Center for Digital Health - Ashoka & Microsoft Research Lab (Bengaluru, India)

Koita Center for Digital Health at Ashoka is aimed at advancing and developing digital health in India. Their collaboration with Microsoft Research Lab is focused on the convergence of healthcare, genomics, information technology, and artificial intelligence.

Salary: Rs. 15 lakh to 24 lakh

Senior Technology Specialist, Givewell (US, Remote)

Givewell is a nonprofit dedicated to finding outstanding giving opportunities in global health and development. They’re looking for a senior technology and IT specialist to give their team the best possible experience with technology while maintaining security and operational efficiency.

Salary: $118K to $130K