Thriller
Designing With Eman
How Motherhood Shaped My Mission for Inclusion and Innovation
Every designer has a defining project. Mine began the day my daughter Eman was born. Part memoir and part manifesto — for parents, designers, and leaders who believe the most powerful innovation starts with empathy.
About the Book
“A book that started as a journal entry in the quietest, hardest moments.”
“The most meaningful systems I have ever built did not begin on a screen. They began in hospital rooms, school meetings, and quiet moments of reflection.”
Every designer has a defining project. Mine began the day my daughter Eman was born with Down syndrome.
Her arrival did more than reshape my life as a mother — it transformed my understanding of design itself. I came to see that design is not merely about aesthetics or functionality. It is about who we choose to include.
This book traces my journey from personal uncertainty to purposeful innovation. The most meaningful systems I have ever built did not begin on a screen, but in hospital rooms, school meetings, and quiet moments of reflection. Through lived experience, I discovered that empathy is the foundation of true innovation.
Part memoir and part manifesto, Designing with Eman is an invitation — to parents, designers, and leaders alike — to see design as an act of humanity. When we design with inclusion, clarity, and compassion, we shape not only better products, but a better world.
Eman doesn’t know she’s writing a book. But she is. Every moment that shaped how I see design, she was there. Every question I asked about who we’re building for — she was the answer.
Who Is It For
Three kinds of readers.
One through line.
The parent navigating systems not built for their child.
The mother in the hospital room wondering what comes next. The parent in the IEP meeting trying to understand a system built for someone else’s child. This book was written for the moment after the diagnosis — when you need to know that the path forward exists, even when you cannot see it yet.
The designer who wants their work to mean something.
The UX designer who knows there is a better question than “how do we build this?” The product manager who senses their team is solving the wrong problem. The creative who wants their work to reach the people most organizations overlook. This book gives you the framework and the permission.
The leader who senses a deeper purpose waiting in their work.
The nonprofit director who knows inclusion should be more than a mission statement. The executive who wants their organization to build differently. The woman leader who has been designing her life for everyone except herself. This book is the moment you start designing from the inside out.
“She doesn’t know she’s changing how organizations design.
But she is.“
— Rafia Munir, on her daughter Eman