Considering humanitarian aid as a designed response, the ‘design’ elements present are often obtuse solutions to an acute situation. This paper will discuss issues needing consideration by designing for humanitarian responses through this scenario-

Seeing various insufficiencies in standard humanitarian responses, a designer is compelled to contribute their skills to develop a more sufficient response for a group of people who have been displaced by a ‘complex disaster’. This designer is not yet affiliated with any particular humanitarian aid organization.

The people displaced by this complex disaster are being persecuted by the ‘sovereign’ of the environment that they are indigenous to; the sovereign wishes to resolve this issue internally, and naturally is trying to avoid the attention of the international media, this is made easier by:

1. the sovereign’s control over who can visit and report on the situation; and
2. the decision of the persecuted people not to cross an international border, by which they would officially become refugees; thus they remain internally displaced people (IDP) who are subject to, but not protected by the governance of the sovereign.

The designer has only heard about difficulties of this hostile situation via the media, and has not experienced the situation personally; nor have they been in contact with those who have experienced the situation. The designer’s understanding of a potential response is constructed from what they have read in the media, and perhaps what they have learnt from activist groups that have come into contact with.

What are the designer’s options to assist with a humanitarian response?
Will the outcome of their effort be a local expression of solidarity? or, can it actually reach those who are being persecuted in the complex disaster? 
If the design reaches the situation, will the intended utility of the design be understood by the recipients? Will the design help to stabilise, or, will it further compromise the displaced people?

Responses to ‘complex disasters’ are designed by organizations of varying scales and capabilities. Sometimes their agendas align, and individual responses are combined with the intention of maximising their effectiveness, however, this is not always logistically and / or politically possible. Viewing these disaster situations as potential design environments, like any design the response must be adequately informed, compiled, and mobilised to respond effectively – if the system itself cannot be changed, the responsibility lies with the artefacts being delivered.