This paper introduces reflective journaling as a tool for advancing biodesign practices, merging documentation methods from biology and design while integrating more-than-human sensibilities into laboratory practices. It highlights the need for tools that can flexibly support record-keeping across biology and design, balancing precision and accountability with iteration, creativity, and collaboration. Furthermore, it critically addresses calls to support care ethics and nurturing multispecies interactions within biodesign. Through an explorative review of diverse documentation formats, including laboratory notebooks and annotated portfolios, and informed by our own biodesign experiences, we introduce the Reflective Biodesign Lab Journal as a potential approach to address these needs. This innovative format is designed to support rigorous experimentation, creative design processes, and interdisciplinary reflections. This proposal lays the groundwork for addressing the unique nature of biodesign experiments, unlocking new possibilities that transcend the limitations of traditional disciplinary approaches.

Microbes assume an indispensable role in design, given their inherent adaptability, functional diversity, and abundance. Yet, designing with microbes presents notable challenges for biodesigners, stemming from, for example, the distinct temporalities and scales of microbes. Conversely, cultivating microbial sensibilities—reflecting human comprehension and alignment with the distinctive characteristics of microbes—stands out as a unique potential of biodesign for fostering a deep connection between humans and other living entities. In response, we present the concept of “becoming microbes”, a philosophically grounded approach advocating for a non-anthropocentric stance in biodesign, aiming at immersing biodesigners in the realms of microbes with a fresh perspective for imagining the world through the lens of a microbe. By harnessing diverse microbial qualities, including motility and communication, we present various design avenues to explore the notion of becoming microbes. We reflect on the role of merging the biological with the immersive digital systems in this context.