Designing With Care: Why the Caribbean Needs Humanity-Centered Solutions, Not Colonial Tourism 2.0
- Kayla Joy
- May 21
- 2 min read
Reimagining the Caribbean Through Humanity-Centered Design
The Caribbean has long been seen as a paradise.
Clear waters. Warm smiles. Endless escape.
But beneath that postcard image lies a deeper truth:
The systems that shape our tourism economy today still echo the logics of colonialism—prioritizing profit over people, fantasy over fact, and extraction over equity.
It’s time for something different.
Humanity-centered design gives us that opening.
This isn’t just about pretty branding or better UX.
It’s about building solutions, brands, and experiences that are deeply rooted in our cultural context, historical truths, and the real well-being of the people and places most impacted.
Colonialism Didn’t End—It Just Rebranded
To understand the power of humanity-centered design, we have to first acknowledge what we’re designing in response to.
Colonialism didn’t disappear when flags were lowered.
It shifted—into hotel chains, development agencies, and luxury experiences built for everyone but the locals.
Modern tourism, as it operates in much of the Caribbean, often centers:
Foreign ownership of land and businesses
Labor models that exploit local workers for minimum pay
Cultural experiences stripped of context and sold for spectacle
Environmental practices that prioritize convenience over sustainability
The result?
Communities that host but don’t benefit.
Workers who smile but can’t rest.
Land that feeds others but starves its own.
Humanity-Centered Design: What It Really Means
Humanity-centered design moves differently.
It’s not just “design thinking.”
It’s not innovation for the sake of trend.
It asks:
Who is this for?
Who might be harmed?
Who is missing from the table—and why?
How do we restore rather than impose?
In the Caribbean, this means slowing down long enough to:
Understand the historical trauma still shaping our economies
Value indigenous knowledge systems and local labor
Create with—not just for—the people who will live with the outcomes
Measure success not only in revenue, but in restoration, joy, and justice
Why It Matters for Brands, Businesses, and Experiences
Whether you’re a designer, entrepreneur, policymaker, or creative—if you’re building in or with the Caribbean, you hold responsibility.
Humanity-centered design can shift how we:
Design tourism experiences that uplift, not exploit
Build brands that honor cultural memory, not erase it
Develop products and services that respond to real local needs, not imported assumptions
Partner with communities in ways that redistribute power, not consolidate it
It’s not just about inclusion.
It’s about accountability.
About co-creation over consultation.
And about moving from extraction to embodiment.
The Impact: When Context Meets Care
When we lead with context, care, and community, we begin to see different outcomes:
Farmers becoming teachers of land and food sovereignty
Elders holding space in wellness retreats, not left behind in development plans
Artists, vendors, and storytellers not just booked—but believed
Brands emerging that hold space for both profit and purpose
This is what humanity-centered design makes possible.
A Caribbean not only marketed as paradise,
but designed to be one—for those who live here, too.
Final Word: Design Is Never Neutral
The Caribbean doesn’t need another imported solution.
It needs memory-driven innovation,
place-rooted collaboration,
and design that centers humanity—over hustle.
Because we are not just resources.
We are resourceful.
We are not just destinations.
We are designers of futures.
Let’s build accordingly.
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