Three questions. Applied to a specific decision, program, or process. Use the modules below to work through each question — individually or as a facilitated group session.
The Margins Audit works best when applied to something specific and bounded — not a values statement or a strategic goal, but a concrete decision, program, policy, or process. Start by writing it down.
When this decision is made, this program continues, or this policy stays in place — who absorbs the cost? Cost can be financial, temporal, physical, emotional, or civic. Follow the harm. Name who's holding it.
After you've named who's paying the price, ask: what structural barriers are preventing people from accessing what they need? These are built into the design — not individual failures, but systemic blockages.
Who was present in the decision-making process that produced this — and who was absent, excluded, or present in a token capacity? Participation is not the same as representation.
Name what you found — out loud, in the room, together. The Margins Audit is a diagnostic. What you do with the findings is the design work.
Attribution required. When using, adapting, or sharing the Margins Audit Toolkit, please credit: "The Margins Audit, developed by Briana Ford / Dignity by Design (brianaford.com)." This is proprietary IP made freely available as a public good.