In 1950 the United States Air Force measured 4,063 pilots across ten body dimensions. Not one of them was average on all ten. So they stopped designing for the average man and made the cockpit adjustable.
Our homes and offices are still built for that average person. And your sensitivity is not fixed: it rises with illness, pregnancy, ageing and stress.
Your body decides whether a space is safe before you have a single conscious thought. This is called neuroception. When the body does not trust a space, performance and rest both suffer.
In this episode, Etienny Trindade introduces a simple principle: design for your hardest day. When a space supports you at your most depleted, it supports everyone in it.
In this episode you will learn
- Why there is no such thing as a typical nervous system
- How the Air Force learned to stop designing for the average
- Why your sensitivity changes with illness, pregnancy, ageing and stress
- What neuroception is, and why your body decides before you do
- The Design for Your Hardest Day principle
- Four changes: softer light, less visual stimulation where you rest, lower sound, and a space with no demands
Design for your hardest day
Instead of designing for the version of you who slept well and feels fine, design for the version of you who is exhausted, unwell or overwhelmed. Soften the light, quiet the visual noise, lower the sound, and keep one space where nothing is asked of you. A space built for your hardest day works on every other day too.
This episode answers
- Is there such a thing as a typical nervous system?
- What is neuroception?
- Why do some spaces feel exhausting to me but fine to others?
- How do I design a home or workspace for sensory sensitivity?
About the host
Etienny Trindade is the founder of Nervous System Design, with 20 years of experience, author of Creating Healing Spaces for Children, and award winning creator of learning environments for neurodivergent children. She hosts Happy Healthy Homes, the only podcast at the intersection of environmental design, neuroaesthetics, and nervous system science.
Remember. It is not about perfection. It is about one conscious choice at a time.