Equity isn’t about treating everyone the same. It’s about deeply understanding people, and actively identifying and removing barriers that exclude or disadvantage certain groups.

For leaders, especially in charities and non-profits, this means looking beyond surface-level diversity and making structural changes that foster true inclusion. Often these changes are not a part of the marketing or digital brief, but are deep, systemic issues uncovered throughout the discovery and research process which the changes can specifically target.

The process of designing for equity requires stakeholder engagement, user research and bringing your organisational diversity, equity and inclusion ambitions to life. It works best in open, transparent and psychologically-safe environments. We recognise that this can be an uncomfortable process for teams or organisations, particularly those who have not worked in this way.

In this blog, we’ll share practical advice from organisations and projects that have navigated this process well. We’ll explore how Paul Hamlyn Foundation (PHF) and the Film and TV Charity have approached designing for equity, the impact of their efforts, and practical steps you can take to do the same within your digital projects and service design.

What we mean by ‘designing for equity’

Designing for equity requires a proactive approach. It’s about recognising that many systems and processes unintentionally favour some groups and exclude others.

Leaders must be willing to uncover these hidden barriers and redesign processes to ensure that opportunities and resources are genuinely accessible to everyone.

Lessons from PHF: becoming a more equitable funder

The challenge

PHF wanted to reach communities often overlooked by traditional funding processes. This meant tackling complex application procedures and ensuring that funding opportunities were visible and accessible to diverse groups. Of particular interest were those people who had never applied for funding before, either with PHF or any other foundation.

Their funding strategy is to support organisations and individuals who:

• challenge systemic injustice by focusing on structural change and shifting power

• are actively inclusive and anti-racist

• centre people experiencing injustice in leading and designing solutions

• are generous and collaborative, sharing learning with others to drive positive sector change

Steps taken

• Simplify applications: PHF re-evaluated their funding criteria to make the process more transparent and less intimidating

• Prioritise underrepresented groups: PHF actively sought feedback from those who had struggled to access funding in the past, using this input to refine their processes. The key persona for the whole website project was a ‘first-time applicant’.

• Focus on proactive outreach: by prioritising relationships with grassroots organisations, PHF ensured that those who needed funding most knew how to access it.

Impact

These changes helped create a more diverse pool of applicants, ensuring that funding is distributed more equitably. On the website we saw a 15% increase in engagement.

Read more about the brand and website we created for PHF

Lessons from The Film and TV Charity: tackling power imbalances

The challenge

The film and TV industry is known for its power imbalances and lack of diversity. The Film and TV Charity aims to address these issues by becoming the go-to partner for people working behind the camera.

Steps taken

• Create safe reporting mechanisms: establishing anonymous reporting systems for harassment and discrimination empowered more people to speak up.

• Increase access to resources: they expanded support for mental health and career development, particularly for underrepresented groups.

• Address systemic issues: the charity worked on highlighting and dismantling practices that perpetuated inequality, such as unpaid internships and informal recruitment.

Impact

These efforts led to a 114% increase in access to website resources such as the Whole Picture Toolkit and helped build trust within the industry.

Read more about the website we created for The Film and TV Charity

Practical tips for designing for equity in your organisation

1. Audit your barriers

Review policies and processes to identify who is being unintentionally excluded and why.

2. Work with excluded communities to get feedback

Actively engage with underrepresented voices within and outside of your organisation and listen to their experiences. Even better, empower people in those communities to come to you with ideas for change and action them.

3. Simplify and clarify

Make processes clear and straightforward, whether for funding, hiring, or accessing services.

4. Invest in inclusion

Allocate budget and resources to diversity and inclusion initiatives, rather than treating them as side projects.

The path forward

Designing for equity is a continuous journey, not a one-time fix. The successes of PHF and the Film and TV Charity show that meaningful change requires a commitment to listening, learning, and adapting.

Both projects were successful in reflecting each organisation’s values and ambitions for redressing equity balances because we prioritised building a relationship with their team and a long-term vision of the website as a core enabler of their organisational strategies.