Overlap Associates

We feel incredibly honoured to work alongside RCHCentre and their community partners supporting their multi-generational housing solutions!

Huge thanks to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for making space for us to help move housing solutions forward across the country and in our communities!

Kizito Musabimana, founder of RCHCentre is spearheading a project to create Toronto’s first multi-generational African-Canadian housing village.

Aiming for at least 300 units in the Mini Village and up to 1,000 in the Ultimate Village by 2030, this ambitious initiative is all about fostering healing, inclusion, and belonging. It’s not just about creating homes but building interconnected communities. It’s about writing a new story – one that marks a significant step toward more equitable and inclusive housing solutions for African Canadians across the country: https://ow.ly/e4Oe50QMEJh.

In problem mapping, it’s important to understand the distinction between symptoms and causes. Symptoms are like signals indicating that something is amiss. They are the visible manifestations of an underlying problem. Causes on the other hand are like the roots of a tree. They’re hidden beneath the surface, but driving the visible symptoms. By understanding both, we end up with a holistic view of the problem.

Read the final chapter in our series on Problem Mapping at the link in our bio!

Design isn’t just for directors, entrepreneurs, or CEOs – in fact, some of the best designers we know are also some of the youngest.

On Tuesday, September 19th, we’re bringing our networks together to share the innovative ways we’re thinking about child and youth engagement.

Overlap’s Design Director Kyrie Vala-Webb will be joined by Alli Truesdell, Manager of Youth Participation for a virtual keynote and fireside chat to explore how we can better support and amplify the voices and needs of children and young people in our communities.

Our goal? To create a world where every child's voice is heard and valued.

What to expect:

🤝Together, we’ll explore what youth-centred design is, why it’s critical to design in collaboration with young people, and how to be a better adult ally

💙Alli will share insights and experiences from her work engaging youth with UNICEF Canada and shaping their approach to engagement

💬 We'll have plenty of time for discussion, questions, and idea-sharing!

Let’s pave the way for a brighter future where children and youth thrive. We can't wait to see you there.

Mark your calendar and register today: https://overlapassociates.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIpde-qpjsrE9djOmifW4lg2E2uJY76dyMf #/registration

A problem statement is like the North Star, guiding us in the right direction. ⁠
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It defines the core challenge we aim to address, and most importantly, it identifies who experiences that problem most. ⁠
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When we practice problem mapping, we create problem statements that are clear, concise, and focused by asking: what problem we are trying to solve for whom? ⁠
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Seeking this clarity ensures that we don't get lost in our hunt for solutions.⁠
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Read more at the link in our bio.

Introducing the Overlap Expert Series 💡

Each month, we're bringing our community together to introduce a new expert in our networks for a keynote and interactive workshop where we'll use design to collectively make sense of complex problems, ideas, and technologies.

First up: Using Design to Make Sense of AI

While AI may seem to cut humans out of the equation, we firmly believe that technology can be harnessed to empower people in sectors where human interaction is vital. By leveraging human-centered design, we can unlock new ways of working, enhance creativity, and instill confidence in our next steps.

On July 18th, we'll be joined by AI expert Dr. Trystan Goetze (they/he/she), a professional philosopher, writer, Cornell University educator, and game designer as we explore the ethics and implications of AI, together.

Learn more and register for the first session in our Expert Series here:

Using Design to Make Sense of AI You're invited to the first session in our new Expert Series! Each month, we'll bring our community together to introduce a new expert in our networks for a keynote and interactive workshop. We'll use design to collectively make sense of complex problems, ideas, and technologies.First up: Using Des...

An ideation exercise shouldn’t consist of a group getting together and “talking about ideas”. When we do that, we limit individual group members’ abilities to contribute, we often end up with one or two people dominating conversation, and at the end of the day, we don’t come up with the best ideas.

Read on for a few strategies we use at Overlap to amplify each individual voice to facilitate a process of coming up with our best ideas as a group.

What kinds of strategies have you found benefit your group ideation exercises most? How do you ensure all voices and ideas are heard?

How to Facilitate Inclusive Ideation Your description

NEWS: Kitchener welcomes UW Innovation Arena in Downtown Kitchener. This new site is part of an expanding focus on health innovation in Southwestern Ontario.

Details: https://bit.ly/3mpQkTX

You can love how you work, find meaningful solutions and deliver better results. It all starts with an introduction.

Over two virtual half days, you'll learn tools, methods and mindsets you can apply right away with our Introduction to Human-Centred Design course. You’ll get a crash course in design thinking and creativity and hands-on practical skill application.

Register for our next monthly cohort (happening April 25th & 27th from 9AM-12PM EST) here: https://overlap.school/products/introduction-to-human-centred-design

At its core, design is about putting the needs of the people affected by a problem first. Then, using creative techniques to come up with innovative solutions that meet those needs. But the benefits of design thinking go far beyond just problem solving:

💡 Design thinking fosters an innovative culture.

📐Design thinking breaks down silos and helps organizations to be more responsive to problems.

🎉 Design thinking builds team motivation and energy.

🙌 Design thinking increases team alignment and engagement.

🧠 Design thinking encourages a growth mindset.

It can be tricky to know where to start when it comes to design — that's where we come in. Whether you need a free tool to help you ask for better feedback, or a guided approach to making better decisions, we're here to support you on your design journey to better.

Visit https://overlap.school/ to learn more 💭

Risk taking is fundamental to creativity. Because of this, many organizations do not promote it for fear it might negatively impact the status quo. And as individuals, creativity is something we learn to stifle from a young age in order to fit in and avoid the watchful eyes of strict school administrators and bullies looking for someone to pick on.

So as adults, our own creativity is something we don’t always have an opportunity or the willingness to explore. Luckily, creativity is the lifeblood of design thinking, and something teams and individuals are encouraged to discover with design thinking training.

Creativity is an incredibly important skill for any team, as it’s what will help you solve complex problems, innovate, and accomplish what others think is impossible.

Dig into the value of design thinking and the many critical benefits of pursuing ongoing design thinking training here:

8 Critical Benefits of Design Thinking Training Your description

Do your meetings have a growing lack of engagement? Are there too many of them? Do they all have a clearly defined purpose, or are people left wondering why they’re there?

Effective meeting strategies leverage people’s strengths and empower attendees to strive for a results-driven approach. Because when you aren’t getting things done or making progress on the meeting’s purpose, what’s everyone there for?

Are you following the asynchronous work model? Battling different time zones and multiple deadlines? This approach may be the answer

As many in begin the month-long observance of , we encourage everyone to celebrate the values of compassion, generosity and self-reflection. To our local Muslim community, we wish you a month filled with joy, blessings and the warmth of community.

Happy International Women’s Day! Today we celebrate the incredible achievements of women-identified folks, and lift each other up.

Today, and everyday, we’re proud to be recognized as a Certified Women Owned business — one of only two in KW Region!

Overlap was cofounded in 2011 by CEO, Lisa Grogan.

Lisa is a passionate advocate for women’s leadership and “philanthrepreneurship”.

Swipe to read part of what IWD means to our community ➡️

Design is everywhere. It influences how we live, work, play, and engage with the world around us. At Overlap, we’re guided by the belief that better is possible, and it’s possible with the power of design.

Next Thursday, we’re hosting our annual, virtual conference to bring together visionary leaders, hopeful optimists, and people driving change in our world.

The world needs designers, now more than ever — will you join us?

Register here to save your seat: https://pheedloop.com/thebetterispossibleconference/site/home/

What does better look like for ourselves, our teams and our communities?

At Overlap, we’ve always believed in hopeful optimism — in designing better solutions and experiences for people with a human-centred, deeply empathetic approach. ⁠

Join us on March 2nd for our half-day, virtual Better is Possible Conference!

What to expect:
🎤 2 LIVE, VIRTUAL KEYNOTES⁠
🤝 8 INTERACTIVE BREAKOUT SESSIONS⁠
💚 20+ INCREDIBLE SPEAKERS & PANELISTS⁠
✨EXCLUSIVE OVERLAP DESIGN TRAINING
💭 ENGAGING NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
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The Better is Possible Conference is an opportunity to bring people together, to shine a spotlight on the ideas driving change in our world. To get beyond the ‘So What’ and bring people’s community experience, vision and ideas into meaningful discussion about what better means.⁠

Register here to save your spot: https://pheedloop.com/thebetterispossibleconference/site/home/

Let's get to better, together.

WE'RE HIRING | Designer & Senior Designer Positions

Want to join our team? We'd love to hear from you!

We are delighted to be adding to our team of interdisciplinary designers, strategists, facilitators and creatives. We look forward to finding diverse and creative problem solvers who are eager to make a positive contribution in a fast-paced, caring environment.

We believe that better is possible. Being an Overlapper means working to make it happen.

Careers Your description

“Empathy is one of the most important leadership traits around right now. Really understanding how to put that to work is going to be critical moving forward.”

— Brock Hart, Chief Design Officer at Overlap

Making an effort to understand someone’s personal experience and where they’re coming from is vital to building trusting relationships with your team, your clients, and your community.

Read more:

Cultivating Empathy in the Workplace—Today’s #1 Skill Your description

It’s hard to know how to make good decisions. How do you know beyond a doubt that the choice you’re about to make is the right one? What if you get it wrong?

This fear can be paralyzing, as none of us know what the future holds. Truthfully, every decision we make is a risk, but we can mitigate that risk by learning how to make better decisions.

Read more:

How to Make Better Decisions Your description

We compiled a list of 12 of our favourite idea generation techniques that you can use to hone your ideation skills and solve whatever problems you or your organization are currently facing.

Read more here:

12 Powerful Idea Generation Techniques Your description

We're kicking off our 5 Days of Design to celebrate Black Friday! We'll be sharing new offers for courses, certificate programs and Overlap Gear every day.

Today's deal? 10% off of ALL GEAR ORDERS until 11:59pm EST!

Don't miss up to 30% off our best selling tools and methods - dropping into your inbox this week.

SHOP NOW: https://overlap.school/discount/MONDAY10?redirect=%2Fcollections%2Fgear

Gear We started making our own tools and methods accessible to friends and clients because people asked us to. It aligns with our belief that better is possible when people use a human-centred approach and work to solve real problems with the people that experience them. Overlap Gear has emerged from our...

Agile methodology refers to a way of working that is iterative and flexible. It emphasizes real-time feedback integration from stakeholders and customers by breaking projects down into smaller, workable pieces that can be changed at any time.

Though the concept of agile began in the software industry, it's focus on people and flexibility over process and documentation makes it incredibly transferrable sector-wise. Trust us — agile isn’t just for tech teams.

DID YOU KNOW — Overlap offers a course to teach you the principles of agile project management, and how to build accountability within your team?



In your first session, you’ll learn tools and techniques to tackle projects using tight feedback loops while promoting diverse ideas. 

In your second, hands-on session, you’ll gain experience using agile practices to lead a team in a safe space. You’l have the opportunity to apply your knowledge and see how being agile improves project management. 


Join our next live online cohort and learn how to work differently.

We've also put together a list of resources to help non-tech industries get to know the agile way of working: https://overlapassociates.com/ideas/resources-to-learn-agile-methodology/

If you have questions about agile, or how to get started, we'd love to hear from you!

Helpful Resources to Help Non-Tech Industries Learn Agile Methodology Your description

How do you solve the problem while ensuring everyone is reasonably satisfied with the result? Enter complex problem solving.

Read more at:

An Introduction to Complex Problem Solving Your description

You can love how you work, find meaningful solutions and deliver better results. It all starts with an introduction.

Over two virtual half days, you'll learn tools, methods and mindsets you can apply right away with our Introduction to Human-Centred Design course.

Register yourself or your team before 11:59pm EST on October 31st to save 15% with code INTRO15.

Are you ready for better? It starts here:

Introduction to Human-centred Design In this course, you’ll develop an understanding of the mindset required to think creatively about solutions to complex problems—you know—the problems we’re all facing right now. You’ll gain a practical understanding of design thinking as a process to navigate human-centered problem solving...

Empathy is the skill of connecting with others to identify and understand their thoughts, perspectives and emotions — and demonstrating that understanding with intention, care and concern.

Have you experienced someone asking how you’re doing, only to then ignore or jump in with their own perspective on your answer?

Asking the question isn’t enough for connection — we need to keep the person centered in our response.

Empathy bonds colleagues together and forms the foundation of a resilient and inclusive workplace. It’s often overlooked as a business skill, but research suggests that empathy is actually essential to success in today’s workplace.

Swipe for 6 ways we’re practicing empathy at Overlap.

"Human-centred design doesn't just apply to customers or clients, but also helps place that overall importance on employee wellbeing.”

Overlap's Chief Design Officer Brock Hart sat down with Human Resources Director Canada to talk about empathy's integral place in leadership. Read the rest of the article here:

Leading with empathy when you're stressed, depressed, and burned out For employers, trying to manage teams when they're struggling themselves is creating a wellbeing crisis

Design thinking isn't exclusive to designers. Read that again.

Here are seven ways your team and overall business can benefit from human-centred design training - no matter your industry.

Why Every Team Needs Human-Centred Design Training Your description

Today, we’re celebrating 11 years of sharing the power of design! 🎉

When co-founders Lisa Grogan & Brock Hart started Overlap, they set out to see if they could do business, better.

At Overlap, we’re passionate about transformation. We want to unleash the extraordinary potential in all of us, and build capacity in people for more ideas, new thinking, creative cultures and better results.

Thank you to our clients, friends, and long-time supporters of Overlap who share in our belief that better is possible, and thank you to our incredible team!

Our team of strategists, facilitators, creatives and designers see the solutions, make the connections, and bring a little bit of that Overlap magic to each project we are lucky enough to be a part of.

Here’s to another decade of solving complex problems, unleashing extraordinary, and getting to better.

G'mar chatima tova to all Kitchener residents observing Yom Kippur. We’re wishing you a good, peaceful and meaningful fast.

Did you know that we created our first design thinking course in 2008?

The questions we ask in design, the approach we take to problem solving, and the creativity that is necessary to find great solutions aren't things that only 'designers' can do. At Overlap, we help non-designers learn these things too.

Wouldn't it be nice if the next problem you faced felt like it had multiple ways to solve it? That you had the confidence in the next step to take to explore a solution? That problems didn't feel daunting because finding more than one solution felt easy?

Design is about informing the decisions we make along the way. It's about focusing on the process and not being fixated on the outcome.

We're booking one-day, virtual team trainings for this fall right now! Check out our Introduction to Human-Centred Design course for yourself or your team:

https://overlap.school/products/introduction-to-human-centred-design.

Introduction to Human-centred Design In this course, you’ll develop an understanding of the mindset required to think creatively about solutions to complex problems—you know—the problems we’re all facing right now. You’ll gain a practical understanding of design thinking as a process to navigate human-centered problem solving...