Image by Jannyl
Intention setting is a crucial part of psychedelic journeys, where individuals reflect on their desired outcomes, emotional goals, and personal growth. Similarly, in the design process, clear intentions shape the final product, ensuring it meets the needs of the user and the brand’s vision. In both cases, whether it’s a transformative experience or a powerful design, the process begins with clear, thoughtful intention.
In this post, we explore how the practice of intention setting in psychedelics parallels with the creative design process and how applying these principles can lead to more purposeful, user-centered designs.
What is Intention Setting in Psychedelics?
Intention setting is a mindful practice used in psychedelic assisted therapy, psychedelic ceremonies, and personal psychedelic journeys. It involves consciously identifying what you hope to "achieve" or experience during a psychedelic session. This "achievement" is abstract; as it could range from personal healing, spiritual insight, emotional release, or simply exploring creativity and having fun.
Key components of intention setting include:
Clarity: Defining clear and specific outcomes.
Focus: Creating a mental space where distractions are minimized.
Reflection: Being aware of one’s current emotional or psychological state.
Adaptability: Remaining open to the unknown while maintaining focus on the core intention.
It is worth noting that, the essential practice of intention setting, is only a guidepost during a psychedelic experience. It reminds individuals to stay connected to their goals while navigating transformative internal states, and at the same time it allows for enough flexibility to get a lot more from the experience.
For example for one of the my recent guided MDMA journey's, my intention was to figure out where my anger was coming from. That intention was clear, focused but at the same time adaptable, and open ended. In the actual journey - with the help of a Somatic Coach who guided me through IFS- I was able to see that this anger was a "younger part" of mine. A whole lot of other insights came from the session, that were related to the anger, my personal history with my parental figures - real and imagined! The outcome was a great relief from "emotional baggage" and a greater self awareness. My body felt tired and ready to let go of this baggage.
Intention Setting and the Design Process
Like with psychedelic journeys, design is about creating experiences or outcomes. A designer's intentions shape the entire process, from initial research and brainstorming to the final execution. The most impactful designs come from a place of mindfulness and purpose.
In the design process, setting an intention is analogous to identifying the problem you're solving or the goal you’re aiming for. Here’s how intention-setting can transform your design practice:
Clarity of Purpose: Just as psychedelic explorers define what they wish to gain from their journey, designers must define the purpose of the project. Whether it is improving user engagement or creating an emotional connection through visuals, having a clear purpose drives the creative process.
Empathy and Focus: In both psychedelic exploring and design, empathy is absolutely critical. In design, this means deeply understanding your users' needs and experiences. Design research entails placing yourself in the user’s shoes by asking questions to get deep inside the user's desires, pain points and emotions. It is said that design researchers need to ask their users "WHY" at least five times.
Iteration and Adaptability: Both processes are iterative. In psychedelic experiences, the journey often unfolds in unexpected ways, requiring a lot of adaptability. In design, feedback and user testing often lead to revisions and shifts in direction, but the core intention remains.
Aligning Intention with User Experience (UX) & It's Parallel with Psychedelic Integration Practices
In UX design, setting an intention means focusing on the experience you want the user to have. This goes beyond aesthetics to address functionality, accessibility, and emotional resonance. Just as intention-setting creates a container for psychedelic journeys, intentional UX design creates a seamless, purposeful flow for users.
Intentional Layouts: Good UX starts with clear objectives. Designers should ask, “What is the primary action I want users to take?” This is similar to asking, “What do I hope to gain from this psychedelic experience?”
Mindful Feedback Loops: In psychedelic integration, reflecting on the experience is key. Integration techniques allow for an internal feedback loop between the subconscious and conscious parts of your mind. In this way, integration practices, allow us go beyond meaning making, all the way to changed behaviour. Similarly, gathering user feedback and refining designs based on insights, ensures that a user interacts with the product in a pre determined manner.
The Power of Ritual in Design
In psychedelics, ritual is often part of the intention-setting process. Lighting candles, creating a quiet space, setting the lights low, bringing in comfort objects (blankets, pillows, etc.), journaling and even partaking in breathing exercises are all examples of how someone may bring ritualistic elements to their journey. This ritualistic approach, can also benefit design, helping you to create space for creativity and focus.
These are some rituals I incorporate into the creative process:
Mindful Brainstorming: Before diving into a project, I take time to reflect on what the design should achieve. I sketch, meditate on ideas, or write a creative brief that encapsulates the core intention - all with the knowledge that these are preliminary sparks of creativity. There's no right or wrong here! No judgement, only a flow of potential.
Sacred Prototyping: Treating early design drafts as sacred spaces for experimentation means accepting that they are probably going to be rough and are going to need a lot of revising. Just like in a psychedelic session, the first step isn’t the final destination. The road may be paved with bumps and maybe a little heartache, but the journey is still worth going through. The final version of yourself doesn't emerge without constant and persistent work, just like final version of the design is hardly ever the last.
Designing with Intention
Ultimately, both psychedelic journeys and the design process are about transformation—whether it’s personal growth or creating an impactful user experience. The power of intention is what drives the outcome in both fields.
By consciously setting an intention at the start of a design project, you can create designs that not only meet user needs but also resonate on a deeper, emotional level. Whether it’s a website for a psychedelic wellness brand or a digital campaign for plant medicine, intention is the invisible thread that ties it all together.
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