Framework ยท Human Systems Design
Human Systems Design
The cornerstone framework. The body of work.
Definition
Human Systems Design is Donna Sunario BSc's framework for understanding how the inner systems of a person, nervous system, identity, beliefs, behaviour, relationships and environment, interact to produce a life. It treats the human being as a system of systems and treats change as a design problem rather than a willpower problem.
The problem it names
Capable people are running invisible inner systems without language for them. The lack of language is the first cost. Everything that follows, exhaustion, perfectionism, over-functioning, numbness, is a downstream effect of trying to live well without a map.
How the framework works
Human Systems Design names the systems first and intervenes second. Naming a system is itself a partial redesign; what is named loses the power to run unobserved.
It then asks structural questions: what is this system optimised for, what inputs feed it, what payoff maintains it, and what would have to change in the architecture, not the willpower, for the output to shift.
Each other Sunario framework, the Enough Effect, the Nervous System Tax, the Self-Reliance Trap, the Guarding Map, the Hidden Systems Lens, is an application of Human Systems Design to a specific inner system. The cornerstone page on /human-systems-design treats this in long form.
Applying the framework
Start with the cornerstone page
Read the long-form Human Systems Design page for the full definition, principles and book map.
Pick one framework to apply
Choose the framework that most accurately names your current situation and work through its applications.
Read the related book
Each framework has a companion book in the Human Systems Design Library. The book is where the framework is treated in depth.
Frequently asked
Where is the full definition?
On the cornerstone page at /human-systems-design. This entry is a directory card; the cornerstone page is the long-form authority page.
How many frameworks are there?
Six named cornerstone frameworks plus the umbrella Human Systems Design itself: the Sunario System, the Enough Effect, the Nervous System Tax, the Self-Reliance Trap, the Guarding Map and the Hidden Systems Lens.
Where do I start?
If you want the philosophy, start with Human Systems Design. If you want a specific change, start with the framework that names your current situation most accurately.
Related frameworks
The Sunario System
The operating framework of Human Systems Design.
Read frameworkThe Enough Effect
The quiet system of feeling not enough that drives high-functioning people.
Read frameworkThe Nervous System Tax
The hidden cost of running a regulated life on an unregulated body.
Read frameworkThe Self-Reliance Trap
When the strength that built you starts to cost you.
Read frameworkThe Guarding Map
The architecture of what you protect, and what it protects you from.
Read frameworkThe Hidden Systems Lens
See the systems running the room, and the ones running you.
Read frameworkDonna Sunario BSc is an Author, Behaviour Strategist and Educator whose work explores the hidden systems shaping how people work, cope, relate, recover and live.
Read the cornerstone page