Kahua Deck · ʻŌiwi Design Thinking
Kahua
The ʻŌiwi Design Thinking Deck
What if design wasn't about innovation, but about reconnection? Backed by research, this deck is an invitation: to slow down, to reflect, to design with integrity. To move beyond extractive practices and toward regenerative ones. To remember that all design is cultural, and that reclaiming our own ways of knowing is both an act of resistance and an act of love.
The Research
Design Isn't Universal, It's Cultural
This project began as a challenge: what would it mean to redesign the design process itself? Rooted in academic inquiry and cultural practice, the ʻŌiwi Design Thinking Deck emerged from a multi-year capstone project exploring the intersections of Indigenous Hawaiian epistemology and Western design thinking.
The research draws on sources from Hawaiian studies, design theory, and Indigenous knowledge systems, critically examining how mainstream design often reinforces values like speed, mastery, and individualism. In contrast, this framework honors Hawaiian ways of knowing, like kilo (observation), moʻolelo (storytelling), and hana noʻeau (skilled practice), as valid and powerful tools for creative work.
More than a critique, this project offers an alternative: a place-based, relational, and regenerative design model grounded in six Hawaiian values. The deck is both a response to extractive creative practices and a contribution to the broader movement of Indigenous innovation.
The Process
The Thinking Behind the Cards
"Design grounded in ancestry, relationship, and rhythm."
Each card was shaped by six guiding principles that challenge Western design norms. These principles helped reframe not only what gets designed, but how and why we design in the first place.
Story is method
Moʻolelo carries theory, practice, and memory across generations.
Knowledge is cyclical
Creation is never linear; it spirals through reflection, iteration, and renewal.
Context is everything
There is no such thing as a neutral process; every act of design is positional.
Accountability is creative
Good design is rooted in pilina, kuleana, and the long view.
Surprise is part of learning
Reflection and play are essential to shift rigid ways of seeing.
Making is remembering
Hana noʻeau connects us to lineages of skilled, purposeful, and beautiful creation.
The Deck
An 80-Card System for Creative Transformation
The deck supports reflection, creativity, and design rooted in Indigenous values. Rather than following a rigid process, it invites you to move fluidly through themes, prompts, and provocations inspired by ʻŌiwi worldviews.
What's inside
How to Use the Deck
Four Ways In
There's no one "right" way to use this deck. Whether you're a student, solo designer, educator, or community leader, it adapts to your intentions.
Solo Reflection
Start your day or design session by pulling a single card. Sit with its value, metaphor, or prompt. Use it as a journaling or sketching tool to guide clarity and focus.
Project Phase Mapping
Working on a specific project? Map out each design phase (Understand, Research, etc.) and pull 1–2 cards from each category to explore that phase with cultural integrity.
Group Facilitation
Use the deck in workshops or classrooms. Let each participant pull a card and explain how it speaks to their role, challenge, or vision. Use Nā Huli and Huli Paths for team recalibration.
Creative Breakthrough
Feeling blocked or unsure? Try the "Reframe" Huli Path: ask a question, pull 2–3 cards at random, and read them as if they're responses from your kūpuna or from ʻāina.
The Creator
About the Designer
This deck was created by Tre Zamora, a Native Hawaiian designer, researcher, and cultural strategist committed to reclaiming space for Indigenous knowledge in design.
As a student, storyteller, and kapa practitioner, Tre has worked at the intersections of graphic design, multimedia storytelling, curriculum development, and ʻŌiwi design thinking. This project is part of his Creative Media Capstone at UH West Oʻahu, but lives beyond the classroom as a tool for community use, cultural restoration, and creative resistance.
The Feedback
Voices from the Deck
Real reflections from early users, educators, and community collaborators.
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Want to learn more or share feedback?
Interested in bringing the ʻŌiwi Design Thinking Deck into your classroom, organization, or creative space? Have feedback, questions, or want to collaborate on expanding this work?
Reach Out →FAQ
Top of Mind Questions
The ʻŌiwi Design Thinking Deck is an 80-card system grounded in Indigenous Hawaiian values and epistemology. It offers an alternative to Western design frameworks, one that centers storytelling, relationship, and regenerative practice.
The deck is for students, educators, solo designers, community organizers, and anyone seeking a more intentional and culturally grounded creative process. No prior design experience is required.
Not at all. While the deck is rooted in ʻŌiwi worldviews, it is designed as a tool for anyone who resonates with its values. Approaching it with respect, curiosity, and openness is what matters most.
Start simple, pull one card and sit with it. Read the prompt, value, or provocation it carries. You can journal, sketch, or simply reflect. The deck meets you wherever you are.
Nā Huli cards are recalibration tools, designed to shift perspective and reorient your thinking when you're stuck, misaligned, or need a new direction. They work especially well in group settings.
Yes. The deck was developed with educational and facilitation contexts in mind. If you're interested in bringing it into your classroom, organization, or creative space, reach out via the contact form.
Reach out via email, Tre would love to hear from you. Whether you're a collaborator, educator, researcher, or community member, your feedback helps this work grow.