https://www.practiceofdesign.co/blog daily 0.75 2021-08-17 https://www.practiceofdesign.co/blog/blog-post-one-sbag8 monthly 0.5 2021-08-24 https://www.practiceofdesign.co/home daily 1.0 2026-02-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1629138076525-CCC8G5BMBDI9XKR1XSDE/New+Bauhaus.jpg Home - “The goal is no longer to re-create the classical craftsman, artist and artisan, with the aim of fitting him into the industrial age. By now technology has become as much a part of life as metabolism. The task therefore is to educate the contemporary man as an integrator, the new designer able to re-evaluate human needs warped by machine civilization.” — L. Moholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion https://www.practiceofdesign.co/structure daily 0.75 2023-01-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1629744710141-YYMMZROA3F7I02PPUE0U/Design+Squiggle+W.png Structure The Design Squiggle describes the messy design process. https://www.practiceofdesign.co/syllabus daily 0.75 2025-10-21 https://www.practiceofdesign.co/class-4 daily 0.75 2025-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631032062466-YP5UMKZ6KD0AU0H78P8Y/Tatlin%27s_Tower_1919.jpeg Form Model of the Tower for the Third International, by Vladimir Tatlin (1919) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1630983604650-OCB8FGI2SWS52IBD9PJZ/Bundesarchiv_Inflation.jpg Form - The Context Germany faced harsh reparations as a consequence of the Treaty of Versailles. The country was devastated as a result of the war and faced economic and financial crises. The Weimar Republic was established in 1919 with the electoral history of the Social Democrats. Despite challenges such as hyperinflation, Germany experienced a cultural renaissance. Its economic expansion came to a halt in 1929 with the Great Depression. The Weimar Republic ended with Hitler’s chancellorship in 1933. Million Mark note being used as scratch paper. (credit: Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-00193 / CC-BY-SA 3.0) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/d8e7b358-5b6c-4687-ab07-31abc636ebcb/OWD+1920-1940+GDP.png Form https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/adf97770-359c-4184-bc85-b64d040bb067/OWD+1920-1940+GDP+PC.png Form https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/ccb73498-e7cd-4e06-bb7e-22a1f431e884/csm_Zabel_Johannes_Gleichgewichtsstudie_Vorkurs_Moholy_Nagy_1923-24_Foto_Lucia_Moholy_b97f342e51.jpg Form https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/3bf98e5e-22b9-4f7d-bd0e-ff454a050a25/Moholy-Nagy_Laszlo_Licht-Raum-Modulator_1922.jpg Form https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1630987047135-7RIY48ORI39X3OZBF1NF/Walter_Gropius.jpg Form - The Werkbund and the Arbeitsrat The Deutscher Werkbund continued to espouse the integration of craft with industrial processes. Members of the group, including Walter Gropius, appear to have been impacted by the war and subsequently advocated for a return to craft traditions. The goal of the Arbeitsrat für Kunst was to establish the artist as the architect of a new world. “From now on the artist, as shaper of the sensibilities of the people, is alone responsible for the external appearance of the new nation.” Similar thoughts can be seen in the Bauhaus Manifesto written by Gropius in 1919. The dialog regarding art, craft, and manufacturing resulted in the evolution of ideas surrounding the education of designers. This conversation evolved by 1923 with László Moholy-Nagy assuming responsibility for the Preliminary Course. Image Left: Walter Gropius © via Wikimedia License Under Public Domain Images above: Study in Balance, Johannes Zabel (photo: Lucia Moholy, 1923–1924); Light-Space Modulator, László Moholy-Nagy, 1922-1930, replica 1970 (Bauhaus Kooperation) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631046704612-V11DSDK02BTQ3HMQRXLI/Bauhaus+Foundation+Course+1922.jpeg Form https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/bd7750f2-0645-4e76-b084-3f2f1b78410c/Joost-schmidt-mechanical-stage-design-1925-1926-ink-and-tempera-on-paper-64-x-44-cm1.jpg Form - Moholy’s Bauhaus The beginnings of the Bauhaus in 1919 were quite different after Gropius began returning to his industrial roots in 1922. He saw the need to begin history anew with a design and architecture influenced by the machine age. Johannes Itten resignation in 1922 brought Moholy-Nagy to the foundation program. “Itten was replaced by the Hungarian designer László Moholy-Nagy, who rewrote the Vorkurs with a leaning towards the New Objectivity favoured by Gropius, which was analogous in some ways to the applied arts side of the debate. Although this shift was an important one, it did not represent a radical break from the past so much as a small step in a broader, more gradual socio-economic movement that had been going on at least since 1907, when van de Velde had argued for a craft basis for design while Hermann Muthesius had begun implementing industrial prototypes.” The Weimar Bauhaus was forced to close in 1924. The city of Dessau funded the building of a new Bauhaus school, which was completed in 1926. Adolf Sommerfeld provided financial support so that the Bauhaus could establish a company to sell products created at the school. Breuer’s Wassily Chair was not created in the Bauhaus workshops and was sold through a company that he established. Industrial cooperation steadily increased during Gropius’ tenure. Image: Mechanical Stage Design by Joost Schmidt, 1925 (Wikipedia) Images below: Woman wearing an Oskar Schlemmer mask seated on Marcel Breuer’s B3 chair, 1926 (Bauhaus-Archiv), Bauhaus Signet https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/a1e53a1c-a1d6-483e-864b-056a654c223d/Wassily+Chair.jpg Form https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/c0483ed9-f60d-4734-a54a-1136391bde46/Bauhaus-Signet.png Form https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631048700205-WPQF9HZ759N1P9GYQX11/Zabel_Johannes_Gleichgewichtsstudie_Vorkurs.jpeg Form - Thoughts to Consider Consider the changes in teaching at the Bauhaus. Study in Balance, Johannes Zabel, photo: Lucia Moholy, 1923–1924 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1630990680791-XTTDL0T3TV0XPWM96WYQ/El_Lisitskiy_1920.jpg Form - The Socialist Individual Lenin and the Bolshevik Party seized power in 1917 but continued to fight a civil war until 1921. Propaganda continued to serve the purpose of educating a largely illiterate populace about socialism and its enemies. The struggle between realism and abstraction largely represented the differences between the less literate and the intelligentsia. Artists explored new visual languages to communicate the opportunity of building a new world based upon revolutionary ideals. Kazimir Malevich and El Lissitzky created equally revolutionary art and books. The ideas regarding the individual’s — and the artist’s — place in society were highly influential in Europe and the world. These ideas can be seen in Bauhaus publications. Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge, 1920 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1630992110854-HMN0FO74SOU7H89I1E4R/Konstruktivizm_Aleksei_Gan_1922.jpg Form - Constructivism The Fine Art Department (IZO) was Russia’s effort to “prepare artists for work in industry (V. Margolin). An active conversation regarding the nature of art and the artists role in society resulted in Constructivism. This new conception of form and space resulted in stark, powerful imagery. Constructivism also brought new thinking to the forms of architecture including the use of lines, planes, cantilevers, and motion. Tatlin’s Monument to the Third International represents this perspective well. Ideas of a socialist society spread through Europe and were highly influential in other movements and schools of art. The cover of Konstruktivizm by Aleksei Gan, 1922 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631048213589-M9ASRO3KH5TRCCMG5NEV/Wagenfeld+Lamp.jpeg Form - The Constructivist Influence In 1923, Moholy-Nagy and Josef Albers divided the new Preliminary Course and introduced a focus on simplified forms and materials. Craft was still considered, although designing objects for the home environment became central. Students designed useful objects including utensils and lighting to be produced using industrial manufacturing processes. Industrial design became a possibility within the craft tradition. Table Lamp (1923-24), Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Carl Jacob https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1630991423798-I9GBEEF97QSI4TB1E468/Raoul+Hausmann+The+Art+Critic.jpg Form - The Avant-Garde Artists in Germany and Switzerland reacted to the horrors of war by satirizing politics and those who were felt to have contributed to this tragedy. The aim of Dada was “to destroy traditional values on art.” In contrast with Socialist and Constructivist ideals of building a new individual and way of living, Dadaists critiqued the politics of the day. Photomontage existed as a photo-mechanical process since the 1850s. John Heartfield and George Grosz experimented with ways of reconstructing meaning using combinations of word and image. Photomontage is one of the most influential artistic methods of the Twentieth Century. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631044434170-B27VE6BTHDT4C9UALVXK/Books%21.jpeg Form - Thoughts to Consider Consider how politics shaped design discourse. Books! poster by Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova (1924) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631049735816-QU1687OXAQBE0HGZ90TU/Sintrax-Coffee-Machine.jpeg Form - The New Objectivity Neue Sachlichkeit, or New Objectivity, was a rational approach to form in design. Standardized forms were used to ensure that objects could be manufactured using industrial production. Questions of designed objects also included considerations of manufacturing efficiency and standardized forms. The German Standards Board published a set of standards — German Industrial Standards of DIN — intended to ensure that products were manufactured using consistent processes and measures. Sintrax Coffee Machine (1925), Gerhard Marcks, Wilhelm Wagenfeld https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/b05288fc-636d-4cb0-961c-2001bbd5fa2b/house_of_tomorrow_introduction_program_credit_collection_of_steven_r._shook.jpg Form https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631053491648-68CYXTPOJ7MVJKCI1DMD/Frankfurterkueche.jpeg Form - The New Interior Influenced by Frederich Taylor and Christine Frederick, the New Building and New Interior built upon the rational efficient principals of the New Objectivity. Ensuring that housing and interiors were reasonably priced was an important consideration. Many homes of the period did not have dedicated cooking space. Standardization and electrification contributed to the goal of creating an affordable and useful kitchen. “Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (1897–2000) was the first Austrian woman ever to qualify as an architect.” Her perspective on the kitchen was that it should support a woman who might work outside the home and require an efficient space that was easy to maintain. The Frankfurt Kitchen (1926), architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631053421639-JW6FTN92I2204TJU8OP6/TypoGestaltung.jpeg Form - The New Typography Jan Tschichold was influenced by the Bauhaus and Moholy-Nagy’s The New Vision. He developed a set of principles for good design intended to depart from historic references and ornament. From The New Typography (1927) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631293925426-6WZ89OABUZL6VYVBFYH0/Frankfurt-Kitchen.jpg Form - Thoughts to Consider Consider the factors that contributed to the design of the Frankfurt Kitchen. Frankfurt Kitchen (1926-27), Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, photo: The Museum of Modern Art, New York https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/970b6b93-9cd9-4acd-8a3e-abe394056970/Light+Prop+for+an+Electric+Stage.png Form https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/53e9b284-0775-4ac1-9dfc-18596403a129/New+Bauhaus+Curriculum.png Form - “The right method of approach” was possible after the mastering of creative potential. Consider the continuity of Moholy’s thoughts between the Bauhaus and the New Bauhaus. Think about what has been introduced. Image above: “Light Prop for an Electric Stage,” 1930 (Courtesy Hattula Moholy-Nagy) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/d36ee28d-a2a0-4cd0-b7f4-cf8a31b922e5/New+Bauhaus+Studio.jpg Form - The New Bauhaus Moholy-Nagy was recommended by Gropius to the Chicago Association of Arts and Industries to open a school of design in Chicago. He accepted the invitation and the New Bauhaus opened on October 19, 1937. However, after the first year, sponsors were less than enthused with the results. “After that first year, I think the association realized that Moholy was doing something that was very much along Bauhaus lines, but wasn't necessarily productive in their limited definition of what the school would produce in its students.” After the association removed funding for the school, Walter Paepcke of the Container Corporation of America stepped in to support the school. The new School of Design opened in 1939. After Moholy’s death in 1946, the school became a part of the Illinois Institute of Technology and ultimately relabeled The Institute of Design. Image: School of Design workshops (1940) Citation: Dezeen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/a251a2e3-d85e-4a4a-9d21-9770531dfcc8/The-new-bauhaus.jpg Form - Thoughts to Consider Consider the additions to the New Bauhaus curriculum. The first location of The New Bauhaus at the Marshall Field mansion in 1937. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/b29dd4cc-7d5a-4dac-a53c-a8a3151d0187/Make+a+Light+Modulator.jpeg Form https://www.practiceofdesign.co/class-5 daily 0.75 2025-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631580111757-YUE0CVYY9C12TFHL3SMW/DummyShermanTank.jpg Psychology An inflatable dummy tank, source: United States Army https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1bf9edcf-23cc-4d2b-b67c-0825a47e8e88/My+Light+Modulator.jpg Psychology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631649230119-6205WIG7AGBO01D5X5JX/Saarinen+Presentation+Room.jpg Psychology - The Context World War II as a conflict brought mass destruction to Europe and around the world. The global effort to contain Fascism required world-wide supply chains and industrial output on a scale never seen. The effort also require ingenuity. Designers rose to the challenge of providing new designs to support the war effort. After the war, design education considered the role of design in the lives of the public. Image above: Trinity atomic bomb test (1945) Image right: O.S.S. Presentation Room, Eero Saarinen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/996a482c-0720-4ee9-b259-7ccf07db329b/OWD+1940-1960+GDP.png Psychology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/d20df709-9fec-4184-a6ad-e8217040547e/OWD+1940-1960+GDP+Country.png Psychology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631582064644-9KIKWFVGJ4C4OA0HBIYW/Blue_nylon_ball_gown.jpg Psychology - The Post-WWI United States The United States was in a position of strength after World War I, the war having devastated its economic competitors. “As a result, America was the preeminent industrial nation after World War I and its economy expanded rapidly during the 1920s, due to a combination of technology advances, managerial innovation, and aggressive marketing.” (V. Margolin) Additionally, American corporations developed research labs to support the development of new technologies and materials. Synthetic fibers such as Nylon resulted in affordable fabrics. International conglomerates provided a global reach for American products, and drove access to raw materials. Nylon Ball Gown, credit: Science History Institute (Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631585721547-MOEXMN88MX0E8GA0GVKG/GE+Refrigerator.png Psychology - Waste & Want The Waste in Industry Report (1921) advocated for efficient manufacturing practices and a reduction in waste. Cheap products and waste led to the founding of the Consumers Union (1936). The advertising industry felt that consumers were not purchasing enough. Elmo Calkins coined the term “consumer engineering” in 1932 to support a new science of demand generation through “progressive obsolescence.” Women were the identified as the primary consumers. New appliances and services were marketed through national advertising campaigns. Image credit: GE Photograph Collection https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631586759205-MZIJEUOK6JV2L3I9HFW8/MOMA+Organic+Design.png Psychology - Modern Design Modern design was being introduced to the United states through exhibits by museums and department stores. The Machine Art exhibition at MoMA in 1934 was one such example. Between the austerity of the European modernists and the advertising driven American designers lay a new breed of designers looking toward a harmonious design future devoid of ornament. In MoMA’s Organic Design in Home Furnishings exhibition (1941), Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen both won prizes for chairs using plywood shells. Installation view, The Museum of Modern Art Archives, New York. Photograph by Samuel Gottscho. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631587671989-J0PNTWDEAGT0C0SWM1IG/Wright+Johnson+Wax.jpg Psychology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631590045796-DNLXI4SPTYC3XOP8WFZP/Geddes+Stove.jpg Psychology - Streamlining & Cleanlining An “appliance” is “an artificial part or mask that is worn as part of an actor's makeup or costume” Many of the leading American industrial designers of the period began their careers as illustrators or theater designers. However, some designers began to dig beneath the surface. Norman Bel Geddes surveyed women in support of his work for Standard Gas Equipment Corporation to understand the latent needs of customers. Ensuring that appliances were easy to clean was an important need. White represented cleanliness. Modular panels made for an easily expanded product line. Henry Dreyfuss analyzed products to identify how a product could emerge from the necessary improvements. The Bell Model 302 telephone unified mechanical components in a shell. Streamlining and Cleanlining represent the design methods of American designers through much of the century. Image Right: Modular Stove, Norman Bel Geddes (1933) Image below: Model 302 Telephone, Henry Dreyfuss (1937) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/3063e28a-e704-4bab-ab20-eac086166903/Dreyfuss+Model+302.jpg Psychology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631638700450-MITXYQ9HKDNOKSQEN7J2/Time+Loewy.jpg Psychology - Comprehensive Design Raymond Loewy best represents the role of the design “businessman” who created a stage from which to sell the services of the office. Thinking comprehensively about design, everything from branding through retail environments were considered. “Besides the equipment the Loewy office redesigned for International Harvester, the designers also updated the company’s logotype, redesigned the packaging for the myriad replacement parts it distributed, and created clean modern designs for a range of modular International Harvester Servicecenters, where new products were sold.” The prominent industrial designers of this period were often business-driven managers who led large offices of multi-disciplinary professionals. Time Magazine cover featuring Raymond Loewy (1949) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631590902056-7J58JGYXRENU8XEH4NTM/Geddes+White+Kitchen.jpg Psychology - Thoughts to Consider Consider how how the Frigidaire kitchen compares to the Frankfurt Kitchen. Frigidaire Exhibit (1939), Bel Geddes https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631591625715-QOSJMVKCQNIJ91I739IG/Ward+Catalog.jpeg Psychology - Corporate Design Departments Ann Swainson was recruited to lead the Montgomery Ward Bureau of Design in Chicago in 1930. Prior to this, the retailer was challenged by product quality and price. This necessitated bringing design capabilities in-house. Swainson led a staff of over 30 designers focused on a number of critical initiatives. Redesigned the catalog using photos of live models Products including appliances, furniture, clothing, and utensils Managed cross-disciplinary design staff Designers such as Richard Latham worked in the office before moving to Loewy’s Chicago office. Image right: Montgomery Ward Catalog Page (1941) Images below: Lego building set (1952); Chevrolet Bel Air (1957) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/4a830735-d775-4a32-a53e-600c102aa822/1952+Lego.jpg Psychology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/6170d419-de6b-468f-b48f-0324fb999629/57_Chevy_BelAir.jpg Psychology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631592273581-5C6GQ5K1OZ75VPJDWRA2/Fuller+Dymaxion+House+1927.png Psychology - More Than Enough R. Buckminster Fuller believed that we needed to do more with less and that we could provide for every living person with the resources available to us. Fuller believed that a "maximum gain of advantage from minimal energy input” would result in an excess of material and effort. This excess would become available to the global population. Dymaxion House Model (1927), Buckminster Fuller https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/796d9927-fcd3-482e-99d7-3883f56d3a30/Levittown+Homes.jpg Psychology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/11e217fb-3250-4ab3-8d4b-b6e819e0be46/1960+Debate.jpg Psychology - Thoughts to Consider Consider the contrast between needs and desires in society. Image: 1960 Presidential Debate https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631592687503-B6RD898FXFPY0EM1QOWD/Eames+Leg+Splint.jpg Psychology - Design During World War II Designers created everything from camouflage to aircraft for the war effort. Experimentation with materials was important to the war effort, since metals were in short supply. Materials like fiberglass and plywood could be formed to create new shapes that performed better than pervious designs. The Eames office produced a number of products using plywood, including a stretcher. Information designed to support effective decision making also provided opportunities for designers to consider environments and display of data. New computational frameworks and tools brought new scientific rigor to design thinking and systems thinking. Eames Plywood Sprint (1943) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631592948742-LYL0XQ7K13EX06NMWN8M/Kammhuber+Line+Map.png Psychology - Operations Research Operations Research was a cross-disciplinary approach to analyzing and solving complex problems and understanding systems. Scientific Training — Link between development and operations Rational Analysis — Effective use of current equipment Decision Making — Use of statistics to determining outcomes Resource Planning — The military, research labs, and private industry worked together to coordinate the mobilization effort. Planning and financing of new weaponry Integration with military strategy Training programs for workers Map of Kammhuber Line https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631594433604-7YCLH1QJM7BO85BTLJW6/Model+500.jpg Psychology - User-centered Design The Model 500 Telephone design by Henry Dreyfuss sparked a “design revolution.” In addition to user-centric research resulting in a handset that could be held in place by a shoulder, the new design was faster at dialing (with refinement). Other issues were discovered in market. “When phones were first introduced by AT&T they really didn’t want women talking so much on the phone. They thought this is a serious instrument that should be used to call the doctor in an emergency. Women shouldn’t be tying up the line with their idle chatter, and then they soon discover that, actually, this was their market. That using the phone to socialize and relax was actually valuable, and women became more actively invited to use the telephone.” (E. Lupton) As an evolution of the Model 302, the 500 was successful in driving adoption of the telephone in the home. It was also a solid foundation upon which to launch the successors, including the Princess telephone. Model 500 Telephone (1953), Smithsonian https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/f8dcd942-034a-4a7e-aa94-6da9df44d6b7/Conference+on+Design+Methods+Cover.png Psychology - Design Methods The Design Methods Movement is considered to have been initiated with the “Conference on Systematic and Intuitive Methods in Engineering, Industrial Design, Architecture and Communications” which was held in London in 1962. However, with the alternate reading provided for the Design Methods topic area — The Processes of Creative Thinking, Newell, Shaw, and Simon (Rand, 1958) — we can see that defining problems was a central challenge. “Design methods originated in new approaches to problem solving developed in the mid-20th Century.” Removing the mystery of the “creative process” and supporting systematic approaches to problem solving was intended to accelerate innovation. Methods were also expected to help designers explore and solve the new challenges introduced in the Twentieth Century — “Wicked Problems.” Image left: Conference on Design Methods program cover https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631594948261-3QZXNIX3JLEGAMZT4F2Q/Technology+Adoption.png Psychology - Thoughts to Consider Consider the factors that contributed to the Model 500 telephone. Technology adoption in US households, Our World in Data https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631593637402-92319B4RMXBEQPS1YNIG/New+Bauhaus+Curriculum.png Psychology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631595536897-0YWQCGP5RVDW1BSYQ9V8/Max+Bill.jpg Psychology - Hochschule für Gestaltung Ulm The Ulm School of Design was founded in 1953 by Inge Aicher-Scholl, Otl Aicher and Max Bill. A central objective was to provide a humanistic education to the designer. In contrast with solely considering form and beauty in artifacts, the designer was empowered to be an “integrator” who would bring a multi-disciplinary approach as well as systems-thinking to bear on the design process. Inge Scholl and Otl Aicher wanted to create an institution linking creativity to everyday life in the aftermath of Nazism. Multi-disciplinary: integrating art, craft and technology Social Purpose: responsibility of the designer to society System-thinking: integration of complex requirements Max Bill, HfG-Archiv Ulm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631594105722-9ZLEHJIWF0HOQ5NWC69Q/Ulm+School+Diagram.png Psychology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631649542538-Q9W1XUVQTGQQFG8OF8XY/Braun+SK4.jpg Psychology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631644059588-OZH1WLQI0BAH4BYNURAM/Ulm+Systems.jpg Psychology - Thoughts to Consider Consider how the teaching of design changed in this period. Foundation Course exercise (1958-59), by John Lottes, HfG-Archiv/Ulmer Museum https://www.practiceofdesign.co/class-2 daily 0.75 2025-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/9d562807-4fc4-4f5c-bb04-1d99690486d5/Home+Insurance+Building.jpg Industrialization The Home Insurance Building (1885) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/39e95253-9c35-48d3-97e3-5a1ecb22dac8/OWD+GDP+1880.png Industrialization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/4aae2676-d7fb-4996-b109-32de7baec05d/OWD+GDP+Millennium.png Industrialization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/9d5804d9-be53-4d3d-b1a0-932c3bb53bf3/Railroad+1880.png Industrialization - The Gilded Age This period reflects the rapid growth around the world, as well as the inequities and social challenges that were created. It was called The Gilded Age satirizing of the thin mask of gold masking these challenges. A growing middle class was supported by higher wages in both blue-collar and a new managerial class — white-collar. Education in technical and agriculture supported growth in productivity and wages. This led to the Unites Staes leading in technical advances and patents. “From 1860 to 1890, 500,000 patents were issued for new inventions—over ten times the number granted in the previous seventy years.” Of the numerous technical advances, the skyscraper, efficient lightbulb, and the automobile stand out for their future impact to society. Even with rising wages, inequities accelerated, and the labor movement hoped for workers to receive their share of the new wealth created by society. Urbanization accelerated during this period. Along with this came many social challenges. Our goal is to understand the impacts of these factors on design both during this period as well as into the future. A Baltimore & Ohio engine. (image: Railroad circa 1910) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/111a84c2-bf6a-464b-b937-2972a612331d/Chicago%2C+Burlington+%26+Quincy.jpg Industrialization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/03fdd057-c155-4792-96c1-cd0f029e987f/Railroad+Standard+Time.jpeg Industrialization - Railroads and Productivity In 1880, there were 160,000 miles of railroad in the United States. The railroads drove many technical and managerial innovations. Standardization on rail gauge size, allowed for efficient switching across networks. Time was a challenge for a country that stretched 2,800 miles from The Atlantic to the Pacific. Charles Ferdinand Dowd proposed a national time for railroads in 1870. The proposal was accepted by the railroads in 1883. With networks of capital equipment and real estate, Railroads required strong management and a stable financial system to support the expenditures to expand services. Frederick Winslow Taylor began to study productivity and industrial capacity during this period, leading to the emergence is Scientific Management in the 20th Century. Image: Standard Railroad Time Map (American Rails) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/8b5b89b3-efdc-4b3d-a1c9-508da2282cc6/Edison+Bulb+1880.png Industrialization - Technical Advances The United States passed the Morrill Land-Grant Acts which supported public education in the technical and agricultural sciences. Industrial advances in manufacturing, mining, and business can be attributed to the growing educated middle class. Considering the systemic nature of innovation is necessary in particular when we discuss the incandescent light bulb. Thomas P. Hughes, in Technology at the Turning Point, describes: “The lamp was a small component in his system of electric lighting, and no more critical to its effective functioning than the Edison Jumbo generator, the Edison main and feeder, and the parallel-distribution system. Other inventors with generators and incandescent lamps, and with comparable ingenuity and excellence, have long been forgotten because their creators did not preside over their introduction in a system of lighting.” Other innovations including the skyscraper, elevators, the automobile, and the telephone required a complete ecosystem in order to be useful and effective. These innovations required new ways of working. Edison Bulb, 1800 (Franklin Institute) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/0e9e0b91-43bd-4ee9-bb50-5a2fbe26b56c/Burroughs+Patent.jpeg Industrialization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/b077b4d0-20f6-4487-9f3a-4398cffa6ab2/Schwinn+First+bicycle+1895.jpeg Industrialization - Thoughts to Consider Consider the influence of technology on design. Schwinn Bicycle, 1885 (Doug Barnes) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/308f494f-c79b-4995-9e4e-592805599476/William+Morris+Wallpaper.jpeg Industrialization - The Arts & Crafts Movement The Arts and Crafts Movement was a reaction against the excessive ornament of objects, as well as the decline in quality of products produced in factories. Owen Jones, an influential architect and designer, stated that “ornament ‘must be secondary to the thing decorated.’” As a social movement, it was concerned with both the welfare of the individual as well as the engagement of the person who created objects, whether manufactured or crafted. The domain of art included everything from the home to the utensils that a household may use. According to Morris and other design theorists, the artist and the craftsman would ideally work together. The labor issues of the time deeply affected the movement, and the struggle to rectify the limited scope of craft with the enormous economic engine that produced much of societies needs was in vain. The conversation was however critical and continues to today. William Morris & Co Wallpaper, 1917 (Brooklyn Museum) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/5a3f8570-772f-47fd-87f0-174c03fab037/Scotland+Street+School.jpeg Industrialization - Modern Style Modern Style was an Art Nouveau style which evolved out of The Arts & Crafts Movement in the United Kingdom. It maintained a strong belief that objects should be beautiful and that craftsmanship was critical. Modernist beliefs focused on the future, and integration with technology was important. With the growth of demand for mass-produced objects, designers needed to consider the boundaries of craft and industry. We see glimmers of the future in many of the designs. Scotland Street School, Charles Rennie Mackintosh https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/c0680b2b-81fd-48c8-9c72-b83f43b1160c/Flatiron+Building.jpg Industrialization - The Skyscraper Influenced by the rapid growth of urban areas in the nineteenth century, builders planned, and re-planned construction projects in light of nearby developments. The skyscraper was envisioned as a means to utilize expensive real estate in the urban centers of New York City and Chicago. The Home Insurance Building in Chicago represents the pressures well. It was planned as a smaller structure and over time outgrew it’s intended foundation. A new fireproofed iron structure was devised in order to allow for the increased height while at the same time allowing for greater window area. Constructed in 1885, two additional floors were added in 1891. Elevators were rapidly refined to support the vertical transport of people and supplies. Image: The Flatiron Building, New York City, 1903 (Wikipedia) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/4bc4b48c-0d26-4df4-be7b-3ebcf6da00cd/RISD+1902.jpg Industrialization - American Design Education The focus on educating the population in general, is demonstrated by the beginnings of design education in the United States in the late nineteenth-century. “Exactly fifty years before the Bauhaus, in 1869, The McMicken School of Design in Cincinnati was the first university-based design school to open its doors in the United States. Other eminent American design schools such as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (established in Chicago as the Chicago Academy of Design in 1866), Rhode Island School of Design (established in Providence in 1877), Columbus College of Art and Design (established as the Columbus Art School in Columbus in 1879), Parsons School of Design (established as the Chase School in New York City in 1896), Academy of Art University (established as the Academy of Advertising Art in San Francisco in 1929), ArtCenter (established as The Art Center School in Pasadena in 1930) were established as private, standalone schools.” Partnerships with industry were a distinct feature of some programs. RISD graduating class of 1902 (RISD) Source: The Making of an American Design School: Lessons Learned, Gjoko Muratovski, She-Ji (2020) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/b34e21c3-aeb5-4e39-afc6-7bfb9bf8dc02/Morris+and+Company+Weaving.jpeg Industrialization - Thoughts to Consider Consider the boundary between craft and manufacturing. The weaving shed at Morris & Co (1880s) https://www.practiceofdesign.co/class-7 daily 0.75 2025-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/f0c0af3f-0479-40d2-96a1-b34b3c6d9e5f/Nader.jpeg Sociology Image above: Ralph Nader (Fia Foundation) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632188847525-WCBS8SFH1B7UHSZ7SHGG/Kitchen+Debate.jpg Sociology - The Context George Orwell coined the term cold war as a state of perpetual conflict. It began with the close of WWII. By 1960, the cold war divided the world into spheres of influence. The United States had experienced a decade of rapid economic growth in the 1950s, and suburban growth drove an era of consumerism. Nuclear war and the ability to experience the challenges faced around the world through media brought about a recognition of a new class of problem. Wicked Problems were so complex that defining them was impossible. The global standoff between the two spheres of influence persisted until the fall of the Soviet Union between 1988-1991. Image right: The Kitchen Debate (1959) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/b0703178-4333-4f6e-b05b-a8c4f7a7ec18/OWD+World+Population+Growth.png Sociology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/d31a404a-6bd3-4ea3-97e0-fb176a0f1f5e/Unsafe+at+Any+Speed.jpeg Sociology - Unsafe at Any Speed In addition to safety, Ralph Nader’s 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed discussed topics including: usability issues, pollution, driver education. The conversation brought the 30,000+ vehicle fatalities that occur each year to the forefront. Automobile styling over the substance of safety was particularly critiqued by Nader. While safety has improved in the United States, it remains an issue in less regulated countries. “Pressure on car manufacturers is growing. The World Health Organization’s Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015 recommends that all countries should require, at minimum, that all cars sold should meet a set of seven basic UN standards including crashworthiness performance, pedestrian protection and provision of electronic stability control.” The auto industry avoided features which added cost to vehicles. Those who supported safer products responded, that all automakers would face the same cost increases. Still, adding costs would inhibit the consumer from treating the auto as an easily replaceable purchase. With increased auto traffic, safety was also a concern communities. Image right: Unsafe at Any Speed book cover https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/762d6f20-7771-4e83-ae67-48c9a373f801/US_traffic_deaths.png Sociology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632261610093-QUIRFGL8254VB48J76T2/Design+for+the+Real+World.jpeg Sociology - Design for the Real World Viktor Papanek wrote Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change in 1971. Echoing Buckminster Fuller, Papanek believed the design should serve people, and that the world had finite resources, which is shared would meet everybody’s needs. He hoped to address systemic challenges in the design profession including: The purpose of design Renewed consideration of indigenous solutions Ecologically sound design Papanek was largely condemned by the design community for pointing out these failings of the profession. He felt that designers contributed to three primary activities which had adverse affects on society: Designing things people do not need, supporting consumerism Killing people with unsafe products Depleting resources, adding to waste, and polluting the air. Source: Furthering Victor Papanek’s Legacy: A Personal Perspective, Cees de Bont (She-Ji) Image left: Design for the Real World cover https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/99cddd50-1310-4a23-b907-108feb11a583/Belmont+Report.png Sociology - The Belmont Report The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research, Report of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research was published by the by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research in 1979. It establishes ethical principles and guidelines for research involving human subjects and was a response to unethical studies including the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932–1972). The report identifies three core principles including: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice. The report also describes thee areas of application: Informed consent Assessment of risks and benefits Selection of subjects The ten page report is required reading fro any student wishing to work in the medical field or in research environments. Source: Wikipedia Image right: The Belmont Report https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/18acb01d-2551-4303-869f-020df7432bd2/Lennon+Ono+White+Bike.jpeg Sociology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/6d20ed7d-313a-4d3e-9844-26300acf02ea/Nixon+OSHA+1970.png Sociology - Thoughts to Consider Consider the regulations and laws that impact designers. Image left: President Nixon signing the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 1970 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/56fa7b24-7a63-474b-9b77-1b4b0fd7a956/Dubberly+Systems.png Sociology - Approaches to Systems Problems Many of our persistent problems are systemic in nature — war, poverty, education, civil rights, etc. Developing “Systems Literacy” and developing approaches to interacting with complex systems is a requirement for designers who intend to impact the world in a positive manner. C. West Churchman, an American systems scientist, believed that many decision-makers lacked the foundations from which to make informed decisions on complex issues. He outlined four to systems problems: The approach of the efficiency expert (reducing time and cost); The approach of the scientist(building models, often with mathematics); The approach of the humanist(looking to our values); and The approach of the anti-planner (accepting systems and living within them, without trying to control them). We might also consider a fifth approach: The approach of the designer, which in many respects is also the approach of the policy planner and the business manager, (prototyping and iterating systems or representations of systems). Hugh Dubberly describes three steps to achieving systems literacy. Firstly, designers must develop a vocabulary of systems topics. Secondly, we need to nurture a capacity to analyze systems and problems. And lastly, designers must ultimately synthesize and describe both existing and imagined systems. Our intention is to raise awareness of these topics and relevant readings so that design students can develop their literacy of the topics. Image right: Negative feedback loop diagram (DDO) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/40e4c449-4bdb-4294-9aca-007525defbd6/Christopher-Alexanders-Diagrams-of-Semi-Lattice-left-and-Tree-right.jpeg Sociology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632249241654-ZGJCXMFY9CH1X083QRTP/Olivetti+Alphabet.png Sociology - The Information Department Max Bense had been a guest lecturer of “Aesthetics” at the HfG Ulm since the beginning in 1953. He had begun to develop an experimental curriculum focused on “information and communication.” In an information brochure from 1955 the program becomes more articulated: “The Information Division, yet in an evolutionary state, is concerned with the problems of information and communication. Its sphere of action ranges from simple press reports via advertising and broadcasting to the results of cybernetics.” Utilizing the scientific foundations of semantics and information theory, Bense brought an intellectual base upon which to build practical information artifacts. The conflict between science and intuition mirrored the larger conflicts at the school. The space between advertising and topics such as Cybernetics was incredibly broad. New system of signs (1963), Tomás Maldonado, Gui Bonsiepe https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/aa60556d-52fd-4b76-a8ee-ec0e3dde0eda/Whole+Earth+Catalog+Page.jpeg Sociology - The Whole Earth Catalog “The Whole Earth Catalog, first published in 1968, can be considered the bible of counterculture in the 60s and 70s.” Not only was it a guide for creating and hacking one’s environment, it was a tool for empowering individuals to learn and do themselves. “Tools” were considered to be both physical in nature, as well as mental frameworks. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. The Whole Earth Catalog ceased publication in 1971, but it’s influence extended to the maker culture in Silicon Valley as well as to future publications like Wired. Image left: Page from the Whole Earth Catalog (Doors of Perception) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/7f62eb0f-ec29-44e2-bfae-48333aecc8c1/Fuller+Time.jpeg Sociology - Spaceship Earth Buckminster Fuller called himself a “comprehensive anticipatory design scientist” and believed that our resources were limited on this ship we call planet earth. Yet, with these resources, we are fully capable of providing for everybody on our ship. The artifacts he created represent the possibility of living life to the maximum while utilizing fewer resources. What does Dymaxion mean, anyway? It was originally conceived by an adman who wanted to interest people in Fuller’s house, which he called the 4D House. The adman listened to him rambling and ranting and kept hearing him saying "dynamic" and "maximum" and "tension" over and over. So the ad man thought of “dymaxion.” And Fuller applied the word to absolutely everything that he did. It became kind of his personal trademark. Fuller best represents the idea of experimentation in design. The article referenced here notes the evolution from mapping to the “geoscope” to the geodesic dome. The path was not clear. Guided by principles, Fuller found new uses for his ideas as they evolved. Participation in this adventure was not an economic motivation. As he noted, “You can make money or you can make sense. The two are mutually exclusive.” Image left: Time Magazine with Buckminster Fuller (ArchDaily) Sources and image below: Buckminster Fuller with The Biosphere (Wired) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/af395acc-66b6-41a0-9e6a-3deb661f40c7/Buckminster+Fuller+Dome.jpg Sociology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/5aedeb50-818b-4f03-8473-9fc99b90488a/Earth+Day+Flag.png Sociology - Thoughts to Consider Consider how systems and resources impact design. Image left: Earth Day Flag (Wikipedia) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632259074051-0U5MOY8TTRKI0DSVPHVZ/Target.png Sociology - Unimark International Unimark International was founded in Chicago in 1965, with two additional offices in New York City and Milan. Ralph Eckerstrom, Massimo Vignelli, Bob Noorda, James Fogelman, Wally Gutches, and Larry Klein were the founding partners, although Jay Doblin and Robert Moldafsky were brought in very quickly. The firm rapidly are beyond the original three offices, ultimately leading to challenges during the recession in the early 1970s. A focus on marketing science and European design brought much success, but also challenges in recruiting new clients. Clients included American Airlines, Ford, JCPenny, the New York Transit Authority, and Target. Target Identity (1962) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/ce207973-ebe4-4274-ae9a-ac1e6af611ff/Colin+Forbes+Campaign.png Sociology - Pentagram Design firms began to consider the skills they assembled differently as business needs changed. Local clients may provide the bulk of the work, but serving global businesses became the aspiration. As with Unimark, Pentagram sought to unify and collaborate, but modeled the firm after business consulting groups. “Most design firms, whether graphic, product or architectural, have grown from the creative and entrepreneurial energy of an individual or two or three partners. Historically, only one or two out of thousands has ever continued into a second generation. The design-driven offices of George Nelson, Charles and Ray Eames and Eliot Noyes disappeared with the death of their founders. Practically the only design firms to survive beyond the first generation have been marketing-driven companies like Lippincott & Margulies and Walter Dorwin Teague. Yet if you consider dominant names in other service industries, Arthur Andersen or Peat Marwick in accounting, for example, or McKinsey or Deloitte in management consultancy, they have all reached their second or third generation. The size and success of these organizations makes it hard to relate their experience to relatively miniscule design firms, but I believe we still have something to learn from them. The challenge is to run what we believe to be an excellent design-driven firm into a second generation.” Establishing a Pentagram “culture” and educating every partner in the workings and strategies of the firm was critical to powering the business beyond the founders tenure. Public relations and business development was both a common activity and a partner directive. Running the office as a business was essential. Pentagram continues to be a strong example of a successful design business. Source and image left: Campaign poster, 1970 (Pentagram) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/a3ce135a-33c5-47be-bfc4-c4007eaaf147/Action+Office+I.jpeg Sociology - The Action Office The Action Office was created by Robert Propst under George Nelson’s supervision. The office furniture was introduced by Herman Miller in 1964 in its first iteration. Action Office I was intended as an “semi-enclosed office” environment, while the second iteration introduced the “cubicle” concept to the world of work. Substantial research into the evolution of the office, as well as consultations with the University of Michigan on topics such as learning and communication informed the project. “Propst concluded that office workers require both privacy and interaction, depending on which of their many duties they were performing.” Criticism of the ultimately successful cubicle design has been levied by Propst and others. The dehumanizing affects of these modular environments are persistent from the inception of office work and concepts of what constitutes “productivity.” The conversation of what office managers would accept from a designed product are also interesting. The Action Office I is surprisingly modern. Image right: Action Office I, Robert Propst, 1964 (George Nelson Foundation) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/97eefdff-39d6-49ce-843e-56ac19e9d51f/Braun+TP1.png Sociology - Braun Dieter Rams won a competition with a co-worker to apply for a job with a little known manufacturer in Frankfurt. Artur and Erwin Braun managed the business and were forward thinking in their hope to create new products for consumers. Design was intended to support the marketing of products as well as to create additional value. Braun created partnerships with HfG Ulm and Hans Gugelot prior to the arrival of Rams. The collaboration was fruitful and the separation between contributors is often difficult to separate. Rams believed that the function and use of the product should be obvious. The design of elements such as the speaker grill of the TP1 is a powerful testimonial to Rams’ attention to detail. Braun was truly the Apple of its time, and Rams the influence of Jony Ives. Image left: Braun TP1 Radio and Record Player (Braun) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632252844244-PFZHKXVDUAA8PR17A6ME/Raacke+Suitcase.jpeg Sociology https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632261053224-UBAGHANPD3XJCAORYO1M/MTA.png Sociology - Thoughts to Consider Consider why design became uniquely important to business. New York City Transit Authority signage system (1970), Unimark https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632261324045-QM72G6H2PJHQ4Q5ILRIB/Design+Thinking+Origin.jpeg Sociology https://www.practiceofdesign.co/class-1 daily 0.75 2025-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/c8d1d572-29b4-41b4-912d-9552fdafa432/Moholy-Nagy+Curriculum.png Introduction Structure of the first program of the New Bauhaus, 1937 (image: MIT, Design Issues) Source: László Moholy-Nagy’s Curriculum for the NewBauhaus in Chicago, Alain Findeli https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/ad0cb8cc-3434-4c1a-acf6-c896c1ff8852/Jay+Doblin+Car.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/a7f7a974-587e-46a5-8d5e-30248320cea1/Blooms+Taxonomy.png Introduction - Class Objectives As graduate students you will be expected to analyze and evaluate in historical portions of the class, and to create when discussing topics and your future vision of the profession. We have two important learning objectives for the class: Learning Objective #1: Students will learn about the history of design practice from the Industrial Revolution forward, and be able to articulate the factors and forces that led to the evolution of practice by presenting their ideas in class, as well as through various writing assignments. Learning Objective #2: Students will explore the factors that will affect the future of design practice twenty years in the future and be able to clearly communicate their vision for their future by presenting this vision described through artifacts including charts, diagrams, imagery, and essays. Image: Blooms Taxonomy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631046704612-V11DSDK02BTQ3HMQRXLI/Bauhaus+Foundation+Course+1922.jpeg Introduction https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/a6e4a861-101a-4dc9-854e-a3c564f25d28/IIT-ID-Pathways-Report-2020.png Introduction - The Path of the Designer The ID Pathways Report of 2020 presented a vision for the role of the designer. The goal of the report was to understand where the designer would be situated in the organization of 2025. “We wanted to know what design roles would look like in three to five years, and what skills individuals will need to fill those roles.” As an institution of higher learning, we must prepare you for your future professional life. The report presented a number of organizational frameworks: 7 Trends 2 Truths Pathway from Intent to Effect 6 Core Skills 4 Design Roles The Flywheel of Design Image: Lead with Purpose Report, 2020 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/d21c2938-214c-4539-975a-40d2c425baf8/Trends.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/14e9a5c1-8a24-44a5-93b5-5b13c2811df9/buckminster-fuller-with-a-model-of-the-biosphere.jpeg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/65fa2441-c954-49b9-b3a1-76fe6caf5cb0/Restorative+Justice+Design.jpeg Introduction - Thoughts to Consider Consider how design influences more than business goals. Image: Architect Deanna Van Buren works with Anthony, an inmate at San Francisco's County Jail. (Credit: Lee Romney) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/b093ebfe-2d16-4fd4-b2a4-b8ebd2e2e866/2020+program-course-system.png Introduction https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/58154642-c22d-4ae9-b792-7acea729d2d2/Orion.png Introduction - Our Scaffolding The objective of the ID program is to ensure graduates are able to contribute to organizations and to society through their ability to tackle complex challenges with broad perspectives. “ID courses are roughly organized across three stages of study: Entry (orientation), Core (base field theory and concept exploration), and Concentration (extensions and applications).” From Foundations through practical work in the Action Lab, students are supported by faculty and each other. Entry — We are beginning with an orientation into design practice and systems theort to gain a footing Core — Our core knowledge of design practice comes from the past and we assess this hsitory to understand the future Concentration — We apply our understanding of historical practice to create a new vision of the future Image: Tactical Design in Exploring Work-Life Modes After Pandemic (Core77) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1bd30289-84a0-4275-8fb8-f84fefb22210/Rawsthorn.png Introduction - Defining Design Thinking about design, or design thinking as it was originally termed, has been a preoccupation of designers from the beginnings of the profession during the Industrial Revolution. To paraphrase Patrick Whitney, this period is the first time that people were not familiar with those who created their household goods. The first Industrial Revolution also brought about a distinction between those who designed objects and those who made them. But, humans around the globe have made sophisticated objects, using newly devised technologies, and trading them on a wide basis throughout our history as a species. In designing this class, I not only had to ask “What is Design?” needed to address “What is designed?” as well. It was critical to consider the difference between creating objects — graphic, physical, technological, transactional, and experiential — and practices. At a point in the past, designers considered the en-total system of technologies, materials, form, societal needs, and consumer needs. This point can most accurately be described as middle of the 18th Century. The role of the designer emerged from this conversation. “It is not clear when the term ‘design’ first came into use in Great Britain, but it was adopted by the Select Committee whose aim was ‘to enquire into the best means of extending a knowledge of the arts and principles of design among the people (especially the manufacturing population) of the country.’ The decline of the guilds in the 18th century had left a vacuum in British production, and manufacturers filled it with little regard for quality and a strong motivation to produce a high volume of products as quickly as possible.” We continue to discuss the role of Design and the designer in society, albeit with renewed vigor. Is Design simply the design of consumer objects, services, and experiences? Does the term have wider implications and responsibilities? Who do designers serve? With such a wide breadth of specializations and applications, it is incredibly difficult to create a definition that is accepted by a majority of designers. Image: Design as an Attitude book Source: World History of Design, Victor Margolin https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/793e9e8d-c925-42c8-b8bf-004461a74220/Behrens+Office.png Introduction - The Practice of Design The medical profession has a definition for the Practice of Medicine. “Any person shall be regarded as practicing medicine within the meaning of the act, who shall prescribe, direct, recommend, or advise, for the use of any person, any remedy or agent whatsoever, whether with or without the use of any medicine, drug, instrument or other appliance, for the treatment, relief or cure of any wound, fracture or bodily injury, infirmity, physical or mental, or other defect or disease…” The definition goes on to describe the application of these skills to those in need. Design lacks the need for similar rigor, and has few standards for applying our skills aside from professional or financial success. Architecture has more stringent professional standards and regulations given the need for viable physical structures. The question of certifications for designers is a recurring conversation without a conclusive opinion. Defining the nature of Design and practices would be required to consider certifications. In the first iteration of this class, Peter Behrens was described as the first professional designer. Combining advertising, branding, graphic design, industrial design, and architecture into a complete corporate design strategy was my rationale for my opinion. His work both inside a corporation and as a consultant only added to my opinion. The Behrens office was the launchpad of many of the 20th century’s modernist architects and designers. The question for the student is “What is design practice?” As we progress through the class, you will be asked what design practice will become in the future. Image: Peter Behrens office with assistants (from left) Mies van der Rohe, Meyer, Hertwig, Weyrather, Krämer, Walter Gropius. (Behance) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/dd0cf9c2-a98b-4006-bfdb-c3354367c62a/School+of+Design.png Introduction - Design Education Central to the discussion of design and practices is the education of professionals to create a community of practitioners. We will discuss the social forces and pedagogical frameworks used in educating designers beginning in Great Britain and Germany, and rapidly expanding to the United States and other countries. The artifacts used to communicate the goals of educating designers and understanding their impacts in society begin with the Bauhaus, but continue onward. Education is an essential component to any profession. Image: School of Design (The Victorian Web) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/2b521544-426a-4ca8-91f1-4886075f5c7e/HHC+Co-design.png Introduction - Thoughts to Consider Consider how you will create change. Image: Co-design in healthcare clinic (Nicholas Paredes) https://www.practiceofdesign.co/class-9 daily 0.75 2025-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632859954809-YPMSTNJ60N0H5JHD0RQZ/IBM+PC.jpg Globalization Image https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632860886672-UGCAJIRN943UACI6RVTT/gordon-gekko.jpeg Globalization - The Context This period saw the recessionary pressures and inflation of the 1970s extend into the beginning of the 1980s. “The debt crisis of the 1980s led to a severe recession in almost all African and Latin American countries.” The response was coordination among world’s lending organizations. Globalization of commerce and finance grew throughout the period. Japan competed with the U.S. in automobiles and other durable goods, as we off-shored our manufacturing capabilities. Shenzhen also began to become a prime location for manufacturing. We also discuss the evolution of technology and the introduction of the World Wide Web which connects us all in ever new ways. Image: Gordon Gekko from Wall Street (1987) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632862964021-6UVNUK0E0WS4A6GJLZHV/World+Bank+Global+Growth+Graph.png Globalization - A Period of Financial Challenges The period saw sustained growth, although not without two recessions in the early 1980s and 1990s. Reagan brought a market focus to economic policy, a perspective mirrored by Thatcher in England. In the United States, a budget deficit grew and a Savings & Loan crisis compounded problems. Fiscal challenges occurred on a global scale. Still, globalization continued. Chart: World Bank https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632867673464-46DG0T5C6IZ0PMBSRNFI/Wealth.png Globalization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632863804652-RFDBPE56EVCK9YK6AVV1/Divergent+Economies.png Globalization - Divergent Economies The economies in Africa, Latin America, and Western Asia experienced a lost decade of growth in the 1980s. In contrast, China and East Asia grew at strong rates. Strategy and policies account for some of these differences. IMF and World Bank growth policies and financial support tied to these narratives also provide insight into the challenges faced by some economies. Chart: UN https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/0e3920c9-bf3f-44ef-bf50-ff9da05fb62c/urban-and-rural-population.png Globalization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632865649620-91574ZBIP6FTVAULQCMG/Shenzhen.jpg Globalization - Fast Urbanism The Pearl River Delta became the fastest expanding urban area in human history beginning in the 1980s. From a small fishing village in the 1970s, the area grew to a population of 7 million in 2000. The special economic zone was driven by new market-oriented reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping. The combination of economic planning and the needs of business brought a rural population to this new urban center for jobs and opportunity. Image: Shenzhen https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632865152481-X0Q4U91R6CEBU5Y09HIL/Brandenburg_Gate_1989.jpg Globalization - Thoughts to Consider Consider whether monetary policy is a design challenge. The Brandenburg Gate (1989) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/ef9896e8-6492-4c86-a2d3-d47b06aad3e7/Flavr+Savr.jpg Globalization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/5f9517b7-8401-407b-926a-7fd6543e77d2/HBR+Porter+Five+Forces.png Globalization - Competitive Forces In 1979, Michael E. Porter published How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy, which introduced his Five Forces model. With contemporaneous discussions of the “service economy,” the model created a framework for discussing the vast changes in the economy which were occurring. Awareness of these forces helps designers explore and articulate differentiated visions for the products and services they create: “Whatever their collective strength, the corporate strategist’s goal is to find a position in the industry where his or her company can best defend itself against these forces or can influence them in its favor. The collective strength of the forces may be painfully apparent to all the antagonists; but to cope with them, the strategist must delve below the surface and analyze the sources of each. For example, what makes the industry vulnerable to entry? What determines the bargaining power of suppliers?” Social and business change requires that businesses think broadly about the future of the company as well as society. Porter discusses how the disparate forces of competition can be harnessed to successfully position products within an industry. As we will see in the period of 2000-2020, this positioning model has been expanded to cope with technological change. Image left: Porter’s Five Forces (HBR) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/7d1f3edd-b121-4be8-9c46-7421e1e1f20b/Fourth+Order+Diagram.png Globalization - Fourth Order Design The topic of Design Thinking was discussed in our previous class. As we saw, the term evolved from the dialog associated with design methods and the needs presented by Wicked Problems. In “Branzi’s Dilemma,” Buchanan, describes Four Orders of design. The first two are associated with the craft of design. The third order, finds the designer engaging in the interaction between “producer” and the “public” expanding the “accountability” of the designer. Lastly, designers find themselves “culturing” in order to find “identity” and “purpose.” “Culture is not a state, expressed in an ideology or a body of doctrines. It is an activity. Culture is the activity of ordering, disordering and reordering in the search for understanding and for values which guide action.” The act of “designing” incorporates a series of processes and needs. “Culturing” as applied to design and designers, concerns itself with the “meaning” of design as practiced and applied. Designers seek meaning for their practice. Integrating systems in the service of communities requires “invention” as well as “evaluation.” Dialog allows designers to facilitate cross-functional participation, which allows the process to transcend the outcomes. Source: Fourth Order Design, Golsby-Smith, 1996 (Design Issues) Diagram right: Four Orders of Design https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/2534f1ed-8c65-4894-a7aa-f45978557255/Bloomberg+McDonalds+Beijing.jpeg Globalization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/059ea1b6-fdb2-4639-b56a-f311b1dea16b/Walmart-greeter-1995.png Globalization - The Service Economy With the collapse of the Soviet Union and liberalization in China, globalism was unhindered during the 1990s. Monetary policies supported by stable energy prices and low-inflation allowed the US economy to accelerate. Services became a more prominent portion of the economy with the off-shoring of low-skilled manufacturing jobs. These forces came together to create an environment of growing productivity, with shifts in where value was created. “Between 1986 and 2000, 90 percent of the 21 million jobs added to the economy will be service jobs.” These jobs represent: Transportation Healthcare Education Retail Marketing/Advertising Engineering/Design By 1990, Walmart became the largest US retailer with sales of $32B. McDonald’s grew at record levels due to overseas expansion, but struggled strategically. As the service economy grew, new models of service which provided a holistic view into the company and its strategies evolved. Service Design became a discipline of its own, offering companies new means of differentiation. Source: Service Sector Means Business in the ’90s, Kleiman, 1990 (Chicago Tribune) Image left: Walmart Greeter, 1995 (Click Americana) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/aebca8cb-0fcc-4451-a58a-ad37d13d3bae/Lunchable.png Globalization - Thoughts to Consider Consider the new strategic needs of products and services. Image: Lunchables (The Atlantic) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/3e00077c-59d8-4fbc-9e57-044c60ac9a1b/Hewlett-Packard+Garage.jpeg Globalization - Silicon Valley The story of Silicon Valley begins with the the MOSFET (metal-oxide-silicon field-effect transistor), and the formation of Fairchild Semiconductor by the “traitorous eight.” Along with other component manufacturers, including INTEL, the valley became synonymous with computing and software. Our story begins with the research, computer software, and gaming industries which resulted. The Homebrew Computer Club began meeting in 1975 in French’s garage in Menlo Park. Computing culture was already established within the academic, corporate, and government research organizations in the area. Xerox Parc is perhaps the most famous research group of the period. Its most productive period was in the 1970-80s. Gaming was an influential segment which began most popularly with Atari. These industries formed the foundation from which modern design culture emerged. The disparate skills required to design for these emerging industries drove the need for new categories of design. Image left: The birthplace of Silicon Valley — The Hewlett-Pacckard Garage (Wikipedia) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/e25393b6-77f5-4366-99f2-38dba5c73fcd/Xerox+Alto.jpeg Globalization - Xerox Parc In 1970, Xerox opened their Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) to support scientists in more freely exploring their work. The environment was execute to remove research from the day-to-day operations of Xerox. This may have worked too well. Through the 1980s and 90s, Xerox PARC explored advanced research topics including: Graphical user interfaces Object-oriented programing Ubiquitous computing Ethernet & Internet propocols And yes, laser printers The Xerox Alto was PARC’s attempt to envision the future of the personal computer. The Alto utilized a GUI (graphical user interface) and was controlled by a mouse. “In 1979, Steve Jobs arranged a visit to Xerox PARC, during which Apple Computer personnel would receive demonstrations of Xerox technology in exchange for Xerox being able to purchase stock options in Apple.” Job said, “Xerox could have owned the entire computer industry, could have been the IBM of the nineties, could have been the Microsoft of the nineties." Xerox was unable to act on many of the innovations researched during this period, and was spun off as an independent research organization in 2002. Image right: Xerox Alto (Wikipedia) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/66eedda0-7cf2-4fff-b13e-546c1e664019/IDEO+Apple+Mouse.png Globalization - West Coast Design Designers flocked to the West Coast from Europe to partake in the work that was being offered by Silicon Valley companies. Bill Moggridge, David Kelley, and Hartmut Esslinger received so much work from these companies that they had to build design organizations to support client needs. IDEO, frog design, Lunar became the go-to design offices for companies like Apple, 3com, and Palm. New design skills were needed to design the disparate products and services that were required. New design skills emerged from these partnerships. Interaction Design, human factors, user research, game design, and information architecture, amongst other skills became important disciplines to explore and within which to specialize. Free movement of designers led to new design offices, as well as to a proliferation of clients resulting from designers goin in-house. Robert Bruner in particular was recruited by Apple to build a new, internal design organization. One that would later be handed to Jony Ives. Image left: Mouse for Apple Computer (Wired) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/b811c9c8-22b3-4928-adbf-3c8bd9f2eaa9/Apple+IIc.png Globalization - Apple Design Apple launched the Mac in 1984. The computer was based largely on the ideas that Steve Jobs absorbed from Xerox PARC. The computer differed markedly from those that existed previously, particularly in its aspirations to become truly useful “personal computer.” Typical computer-oriented activities such as number crunching were supplanted by creative pursuits like illustration and desktop publishing. Other software efforts were equally influential. HyperCard, developed by Bill Atkinson, supported an index-card model of multi-media. Apple’s Multimedia Lab created numerous examples of potential products, begging the question of consistency in software design. Apple’s Human Interface Group (HIG) created a vision of consistency across Apple’s software products with their Apple Human Interface Guidelines. Aligning the organization on an approach to design was critical. Ensuring that products were usable, was to become an important conversation for designing on the World Wide Web. Design has remained an important aspect of the Apple culture as a result of its embrace from Steve Jobs. Maintaining a vision for design in an organization is challenging without executive sponsorship. John Sculley needed to provide his own vision while leading Apple. His vision for the future of personal computing was the “Knowledge Navigator” video from 1987. Image right: Apple Iic demonstrating “Snow White” design language (Wikipedia) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/dc85cd9f-1d28-4104-8cd7-7fd39da7e9a2/DesignofEverydayThings.jpg Globalization - The Design of Everyday Things In the 1990s, Don Norman coined the term “user experience.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/4e036e04-ecf8-45e2-991c-a86306255510/Apple+Navigator+Video.png Globalization https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/2654300f-5825-48a7-86fd-98622bfa3070/Palm+Pilot.png Globalization - Thoughts to Consider Consider the skills needed to design for these new technologies. Palm Pilot circa 1999 (History Computer) https://www.practiceofdesign.co/class-11 daily 0.75 2025-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/e7f7d579-7781-4356-8459-48ee2ff799f4/Amazon.png Behavior https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/d7e63eda-b7bb-40f5-903d-42ec1f690b43/Napster+Logo.png Behavior https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/07ff2a4f-643e-430d-8fc6-3ca21cc5d642/Facebook.png Behavior https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/0c647a7a-66fc-45a2-9a5e-59cee6d13e6c/YouTube.png Behavior https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633395006841-Q41LUQRP8PK9IAN901ED/Jobs+iPhone.png Behavior Kings Fund Hospital Bed, source: Science Museum Group https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633396773633-7HH2S10W5G1FUR1ALXMK/Pets.png Behavior - The Context The “Behavior” epoch begins with the Dot Com crash of 2000-01, and the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The “Aughts” begin with a recession induced by the Dot Com crash and ended with the Great Recession resulting from the financial crisis in 2007. The emerging economies of Asia were less effected and sustained growth during this period. The second decade of the new millennium continued these trends with a stagnant recovery in the west, and continued growth particularly in China. Throughout the period, technology companies grew at a rapid rate. We end the discussion of design history considering the unbridled consumer and attention economies. Image: The Pets.com sock puppet mascot https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633444689122-98OTGATP0RHIGFOVKN1E/Financial+Trends.png Behavior - Globalization and the Great Recession Globalization continued at a record pace during the first decade of the millennium. “The world economy by nominal GDP almost doubled in size from U.S. $30.21 trillion in 1999 to U.S. $58.23 trillion in 2009.” Anti-globalization groups responded to the wealth generated during this period as well as to the financial crisis in 2007. China grew at a rapid rate, as did many other emerging economies. During the second decade, the Great Recession impacted many regions around the globe. China surpassed Japan as the second largest economy. Business trends included the rise of e-commerce and the challenges retail faced in responding to companies like Amazon. Bitcoin and distributed ledger technologies emerged as a challenge to sovereign currencies. ESG (environmental, social, and governance) factors emerged as a response to the risks presented by environmental and demographic changes. Chart: World Bank https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633448625315-F3FATC4J5X8OOR7LVXJ5/E-Commerce+Growth.png Behavior https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633452006061-SS6P05MA8ENAZX7MPRF7/Napster.png Behavior - The Digitization of Business Many internet companies were founded in the late 1990s, with an effort to make information available using the World Wide Web. They grew to become dominant information technology companies during the 2000s, or were consumed by competitors during the period. Napster faced many legal challenges for providing tools which people used to “pirate” music. The availability of music became a challenge to established media companies, including Sony, who ironically started the mobile music revolution with the Walkman. Other companies including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and YouTube contributed to the growth of the digital ecosystem. Image: Napster application https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633455425528-VMPIC9RIIPABXP8IDH45/iPod+1.png Behavior - The Experience Economy The Globalization epoch brought us the Service Economy. With the emergence of digital ecosystems, new value is identified in fulfilling the needs of customers. “The term ‘Experience Economy’ was first used in a 1998 article by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore describing the next economy following the agrarian economy, the industrial economy, and the most recent service economy.” In a shift from providing music as a service, as Napster had done, Apple created a complete product ecosystem complete with devices, a store for purchasing music, as well as stores for experiencing the products in person. These experiences changed the business trajectory for Apple. Devices and integrated services became the primary drivers of Apple’s income growth. Images: Apple iPod, Apple Store https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633456595256-EKU82FNRNIGUM0IYWDBE/Four+Realms.gif Behavior https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633457407661-IBCBJQS68SVTMNBXNBN6/AirBNB+Email.jpg Behavior - Thoughts to Consider Consider why services evolved to experiences during this period. Image: Email describing the AirBNB opportunity. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633457889564-VSP103NX9ZXV2DFXOPVH/Amazon+Prime+Day.jpg Behavior https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633458949490-VN8JVE5KBW5971XFX68O/i-mode.jpg Behavior - The Mobile Ecosystem Driven by the new capabilities provided by mobile devices, DoCoMo launched i-mode in 1999. This service allowed customers to access services via their mobile devices. An API-like platform allowed for the creation of mobile content and functionality. These capabilities were financially supported through a micro-payment service. DoCoMo later provided banking services. This powerful ecosystem led to a distinct mobile phone culture utilizing emoji for communication, group communication through SMS, and selfies. A culture of cuteness could be the first example of behavior modification for acceptance. Image: I-mode device https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633460653333-8R2MK7J63H36BULCC02I/iPhone.png Behavior - The App Ecosystem Perhaps expanding upon DoCoMo’s insight, Apple launched the iPhone in 2007. A partnership with AT&T provided the network functionality, which was a challenge in the United States at that time. The App Store was launched the following year in 2008, and was a game-changer in terms of empowering developers to build for iOS. Developer tools provided a strong foundation for independent developers to provide innovative mobile tools for Apple customers. Google Android launched the following year in 2008 with the Google Market for apps. These two ecosystems rapidly came to dominate the mobile market. Image: iPhone (2007) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633464126295-BBX5EOP5LZDKOHVVVWGQ/Systems+of+Systems.jpg Behavior https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633465237015-BMDCY0LXK6EN7TIFR02W/Nest+Thermostat.png Behavior - Smart, Connected Products In the previous epoch, Michael Porter established the Five Forces as a way to understand competitive advantage. In How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition, he and Heppelmann propose that smart products change the ways that value is created and delivered to customers, providing new ways to compete using a “systems of systems” model of competition. Some have called this the Third Industrial Revolution, but the authors refer to this as the “third wave of IT.” The questions that designers and business managers need to ask are very different in this era of competition. Nest represents this mix of technology ecosystem combined with experiential design well. Image: Nest Thermostat; Ring Doorbell https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633467179993-6VBC9S2HHIFVQJLYHLZG/John+Deere+Advisor.jpeg Behavior - Thoughts to Consider Consider how the role of a designer changes in this context. Image: from Farm to Data Table: John Deere and Data in Precision Agriculture by C. Williams https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633468383775-510OD0OD79HUGNLGU25K/One+Click.png Behavior - Making it Easy Amazon patented the 1-Click checkout in 1999. It was an essential component to the company’s strategy of becoming a marketplace where customers would buy everything they needed. The customer value presented by this checkout process was that it would be easy to buy from Amazon and that the company could come to understand the buying preferences of the customer. Data is critical to providing the purchasing options that consumers desire. 20 years in the future, we see how critical this strategy was to establishing Amazon as a platform. Image: Amazon 1-Click Checkout https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/ef995556-cfe3-48e3-a04a-72f29de294a0/CA3AD1DD-0A58-44F2-89D2-E59AC9E2CB28.png Behavior - Persuasive Technologies Don Norman described “user-centered design” as an approach to making design decisions based on the needs of people rather than for aesthetic reasons. His 1988 book, “The Psychology of Everyday Things,” discussed the implications of human psychology on design. The design of behavior through “persuasive technologies” considers not just the objects we design and use, but the communication and social factors. Stanford’s B. J. Fogg proposed three ways that people interact with computing technologies: As tools As media As social actors This is called the functional triad. Persuasive strategies have influenced the design of health care and sustainability. Image: Growth of the UX profession (NNGroup) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633469241136-CTMZ4R653TQLO5QODMFH/Facebook+App.png Behavior - The “Social Dilemma” The “Like” button was created to provide a positive message to the individual who posted an item to their “feed.” Later we have found that this good intention has many side effects. As social platforms have pivoted to using advertising as a primary source of revenue, the implications have become acute. Our brains did not develop to prevent endless distractions and the desire for attention from crippling our attention. Recently, it has been found that Facebook does understand the harm that is being inflicted on teenage girls. How will we respond? Image: Facebook App Icon https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1633469498004-GU2R7RQ08U41HKJCD2OO/Facebook+Hearings.png Behavior - Thoughts to Consider Consider the “stickiness” of experiences in contrast with products and services. Frances Haugen testifying about Facebook research https://www.practiceofdesign.co/class-3-2 daily 0.75 2025-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/784e19f6-2941-4f6b-a060-c399503a86fc/Sunset+Boulevard+1904.png Time Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in 1904. (Automobile Club of Southern California Archives) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/18b43b60-cb99-4083-89da-67f35d7d024f/Les_Demoiselles_d%27Avignon.jpg Time https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/56af1565-444b-4140-9cbe-8b92da4c5eff/Wright+Flyer.jpg Time - The Context Perhaps nothing better represents the beginning of the 20th Century than flight. The Wright Brothers sustained controlled flight in December of 1903 with the Wright Flyer. Industrialization represented a replacement of products made by hand, but flight represented completely new possibilities for humanity. The United States experienced continued growth with the United Kingdom beginning to decline after WWI. At the conclusion of the Great War, the U.S. was a dominant global economy. Design continues its dialog between craft and manufacturing, and the Bauhaus begins with an elaboration of this conversation. The Design profession begins with Peter Behrens and AEG with the complete consideration of brand, product, and plant. Image: First flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, December 17, 1903. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/145fbacd-db11-4dd2-8a3a-2d81d4bc7294/OWD+GDP+Per+Capita.png Time https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/808df299-acac-47ce-8a28-503986a9aecf/OWD+GDP+Region.png Time https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/bdc7eecf-82a7-429e-ac56-d440087c2cd1/Breaker+Boys+1911.jpg Time - The Second Industrial Revolution “The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution.” With electrification and the assembly line, we enter the Twentieth Century poised for rapid acceleration in manufacturing productivity. Electricity was generally produced using coal. Few households had a reliable electricity supply. Household goods were increasingly made in factories. This led to the need for designers to apply their skills to these goods. Breaker Boys, 1911 (Lewis Hine/The U.S. National Archives) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/ca75b965-45cf-4e2b-a7b2-a9c4d0d671fb/Ford+Model+T+Production+Line.jpg Time - The Ford Highland Park Plant Fordism evolved from research into how other businesses such as meatpacking and canning operated. Ford was adamant that he did not rely on experts like Taylor to evolve how model of manufacture. In 1910, Ford produced 32,000 Model T autos. By 1916, the number rose to 735,000. After WWI the increases in production began again rising to over 2 million autos. With this increase, came reductions in the price of the car. By 1916, one could purchase a Model T for under $400, a decrease in price of over 50% from 1908. This cost reduction points to the essential challenges facing craft. How can a craft person produce a livable wage? Handmade automobiles continued to be made for several decades, but these were intended as luxury items. Image: Early Model T assembly at Highland Park Plant (Ford) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/577391c8-6b0a-436c-bfe8-01198fa58f88/Ford+Model+T+Cost.png Time https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/bad632a6-9b89-4b55-928e-986162cf61e8/Pyrex+1916.jpg Time - A Material Revolution New materials including Bakelite (1907), the first plastic, and Pyrex (1916) allowed manufacturers to make new kinds of products using industrial processes. The large base of research scientists in the United States, made it possible for companies to deliver new material and technological advances at a rapid pace. New uses for these materials, allowed a new language of form for consumer goods. Image: Advertisement for Pyrex® glass dishes, 1916 (Corning Incorporated) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/bccc568b-8d24-4ad3-8ecd-285b918a56e0/AEG+Hair+Blower.jpg Time - Thoughts to Consider Consider how technology influenced design. Image: AEG Hair Blower https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/7e7325b4-9006-4b1f-9d7c-b53ba67f0dea/Deutsche+Werkbund+Exhibition+1914.jpg Time - The Deutscher Werkbund Kaiser Whilhelm II hoped to make Germany a political and military power to rival Great Britain. The desire to create an economic power aligned with the ideas of Hermann Muthesius who founded the Deutscher Werkbund in 1907. “Naumann envisioned the Werkbund as extending Germany’s economic power, just as the Navy League promoted a stronger military role for Germany in world politics.” The Werkbund brought together industrial artists and industrialists who wanted to improve the quality of German goods. Connecting designers to industry also meant improving design education to support the needs of manufacturers. “[Bruno] Paul introduced an early version of of the dual system of workshop instruction that Walter Gropius would adapt at the Bauhaus.” Quotes: A World History of Design, Viktor Margolin Image: 1914 exhibition poster, Peter Behrens https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/6027a403-ba58-4f29-933f-9b094d33ffdf/Behrens+Turbine+Factory.jpg Time - Peter Behrens and AEG Peter Behrens was a founding member of the German Werkbund, and a prolific architect and designer. Some of Europes most influential modernist architects, including Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, worked for him. He became “Artistic Advisor” to the Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG) in 1907. “Behren’s work for the AEG between 1907 and 1914 may well have been the first time that a designer was invited to control the entire design output of a large company.” He innovated in his product designs by reducing ornament and in his visual communications by utilizing grid systems. Quotes: A World History of Design, Viktor Margolin Image: AEG Turbine Factory, Peter Behrens, 1909-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/a1e858d9-742a-457f-bc73-28374e214dad/AEG+Catalog.png Time https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/096c3c2b-2a5e-432f-b975-a5311506ed07/AEG+Identity.png Time https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/b153de88-15d9-4c8e-b70f-27e84381b79a/AEG+Behrens+Design.jpg Time - Thoughts to Consider Consider the design needs of a large company. Designs for AEG, Peter Behrens https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/0ac51caf-ca49-4979-a046-5d64d09cca29/Household+Engineering.jpg Time - Scientific Management Frederick Taylor had begun studying industrial processes in the 1890s, and consulted with companies on manufacturing, most notably Bethlehem Steel. In his 1911 book, The Principles of Scientific Management, he described his techniques for a wider audience. His focus on standardization and observation of work processes was influential. Ultimately, one could question how this contributed to the life of the worker, but productivity certainly led to increased wages. Frank Gilbreth, was another proponent of Scientific Management, but differed in his approach. “The symbol of Taylorism was the stopwatch; Taylor was concerned primarily with reducing process times. The Gilbreths, in contrast, sought to make processes more efficient by reducing the motions involved.” Gilbreth was noted for his use of stop motion film. Christine Frederick was a home economist noted for her studies into home efficiency. Her books, Selling Mrs. Consumer and Household Engineering, are noted for the exploration of the home environment and products used within the home. Image: Page from Household Engineering, 1919 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/fea17f0e-f70b-44c2-8139-66e5ea4ff8fa/Piggly_Wiggly_1918.jpg Time - Efficiency & Shopping The Piggly Wiggly store changed the format of the customer experience from merchant-service to self-service. The self-service concept was patented in 1917, and the company began to offer franchises to other retailers. “The customers selected merchandise as they continued through the maze to the cashier. Instantly, packaging and brand recognition became important to companies and consumers alike.” Image: Piggly Wiggly Store, Memphis, Tennessee, 1918 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/2c2f63bb-1fc1-4197-bb2d-f0bdc0427342/Woodbury+1916+Ad.jpg Time - Thoughts to Consider Consider the advertising needs of consumer products. Image: Woodbury Soap Ad 1916 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/4d209f0e-0d74-4198-92da-dc799b0eec5e/Poesia+Futurism.png Time - Italian Futurism “The Manifesto of Futurism (Italian: Manifesto del Futurismo) is a manifesto written by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, published in 1909.” The publication celebrate industrial culture as well as the effects of industrialization such as noise, pollution, and struggle. War was glorified, although many supporters of Futurism died in the Great War. Source: Manifesto of Futurism (Wikipedia) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1630988652488-4XATQJSCQZ0PS7NVLBP3/Bauhaus+Program.jpg Time https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631045607530-QO9Q94ZGAT9I8ZV65CZ8/Itten_Johannes.jpeg Time - The Weimar Bauhaus The Bauhaus was founded in Weimar after the city bid to host the school. As described, Gropius presented the school in craft terms when it was founded in 1919. Johannes Itten taught the Preliminary Course from its inception through his departure in 1922. During this period, the program was largely craft based with little consideration for manufactured objects. Initially, Itten’s perspective on teaching aligned with Gropius’, however as the latter’s perspective evolved, the two were at odds. The 1922 diagram describing the teaching structure at the Bauhaus demonstrates a significant change of perspective. Johannes Itten, portrait by Paula Stockmar https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/13225325-77f6-4bd6-b542-17aca45e8cd8/Stolz+Breuer+African+Chair.jpg Time - Craft and the Bauhaus Europe was devastated by a mechanized war and many artists were reluctant to support industry. The Weimar Bauhaus reflected a return to craft, in contrast with many of the ideas that Gropius held about craft and design prior to WWI. This period of the Bauhaus is distinctly different to that which emerged just a few years later and continued at Dessau. Image: The African Chair, Gunta Stölzl and Marcel Breuer, 1921 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1e8c6c6f-5e15-47fa-8baa-728047c29a69/Schreyer_Stundenplan_Bauhaus.jpg Time - Thoughts to Consider Consider the design curriculum of the 1919 Bauhaus. Image: Schedule, Weimar Bauhaus Bauhaus, winter semester, 1921–1922 https://www.practiceofdesign.co/design-methods daily 0.75 2025-10-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1631831194587-H7OTLQ9H8WWF205CD6PK/Kings+Fund+Bed.jpg Design Methods Kings Fund Hospital Bed, source: Science Museum Group https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/dd8164c3-9f5a-437d-9e39-f381625734f7/NNG+Semantic+Differential.png Design Methods - The Semantic Differential “The semantic-differential question was introduced in 1957 by Osgood, Suci, and Tannenbaum in the book The Measurement of Meaning.” Linguistics and semantics evolved as fields of study during the period after the war. The Semantic Differential uses bi-polar adjectives to measure meaning, opinions, and attitudes. The tool is most commonly used to assess product options and designs, as well as to understand complex topics such as brands and customer values. Other rating scales and visualization methods such as the two-by-two grid and spider graph are available to understand and present similar information. Source and Image: Semantic Differential (Nielsen Norman Group) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632188286274-5KLKP5HUMHMKEIOFLW49/HfG+Ulm+Design+Methods.jpeg Design Methods - The Ulm Influence The Ulm School of Design (1953-1968) was founded to bring the political sphere and the designed environment together. “The HfG is not just a school where you are educated in a special subject; the HfG is more like a community whose members share the same intentions: bestowing structure and stability upon the world around us.” (T. Maldonado) Horst Rittel and Bruce Archer lectured on the use of design methods to support the design not only of products but the political milieu. Conflicts emerged between those who thought that design was more than the methods and those who promoted a wider vision. Photo above: Pumping water in northern Ghana (Drexel University) Photo left: HfG Ulm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632192664951-6MTZX82I3NT046DFPBMZ/Horst+Rittel.jpg Design Methods - Wicked Problems Rittel & Webber considered “Wicked Problems” to be ill-defined challenges that required “argument” or communication to create solutions. Conklin’s characterization is useful for understanding the challenges posed by these problems: “The problem is not understood until after the formulation of a solution.” Buchanan provides some insight into a potential design process being proposed by Rittel in Wicked Problems in Design Thinking. “Rittel sought an alternative to the linear step-by-step model of the design process being explored by many designers theorists. Although there are many variations of the linear model, its proponents hold that the design process is divided into two distinct phases: problem definition and problem solution. Problem definition is an analytic sequence in which the designer determines all of the elements of the problem and specifies all of the requirements that a successful design solution must have. Problem solution is a synthetic sequence in which various requirements are combined and balanced against each other, yielding a final plan to be carried into production” As Buchanan discusses, this is ultimately not a linear process. Rittel also points to the need for collaboration with those experiencing the problem in order to effectively create solutions. Image: Horst Rittel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632245573863-7QZZNQISQ2UZ4VOZYBKG/Double_diamond.png Design Methods https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632250895754-RQWJWLO2VAUFIFMOQF6T/Greenpeace+Pandemic+Complexity.jpeg Design Methods - Thoughts to Consider Consider if a design process is able to adapt to all “wicked problems” The wicked problem of Covid-19 (2020), Greenpeace https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/429b99ff-076d-4d24-9816-45ab00d042dc/Krebs+Cycle.png Design Methods - Science and Design Science has historically sought to understand the “way things are” whereas designers have focused “how things ought to be.” The distinction between Design Science and a Science of Design is subtle, yet critical. Since, “the origins of design methods lay in 'scientific' methods, similar to decision theory and the methods of Operational Research,” we have a multitude of approaches to understand how these disciplines interact. Scientific approaches can inform our methods. We can also systematically explore the efficacy of approaches. As we have seen since the beginning of the class, new methods in business, technology, politics, and social sciences have influenced our practice. Methodology need not consume practice. The Wicked Problems framework tells us that the analysis and the solutioning are not clearly delineated. Image left: Krebs Cycle of Creativity, Neri Oxman (MIT) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632249562217-883D0PSI7VPXGH7TLP09/Dubberly+Cybernetics.png Design Methods https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632252099026-R2DT6GVF8ZQ0E7LNS19F/Design+Methods.jpg Design Methods - Design Deconstructed In 1970, John Chris Jones published Design Methods: seeds of human futures to demonstrate that the design process could support both rational and intuitive processes. Highlighting four eras of design: “Craft Evolution”, “Design By Drawing”, “System Designing”, and finally “Socio-Technical Innovation.” With an eye to managing design, Jones set out to deconstruct the design process. He arrived at thee stages: Divergence Transformation Convergence Design Methods includes 35 methods to select from for each stage in the process. Jones describes design as “a social art” with a number of cross-functional participants. As we move into the topic of “Design Thinking”, these social ideas will play a central role. Image left: Design Methods book https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/38387771-8816-48b4-a89c-6b33744cf19f/Double+Diamond+Model+2019.png Design Methods https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/0dc5756c-03b0-48d8-a820-4511e0a5dddd/Hippo+Roller.jpg Design Methods - Thoughts to Consider What factors should the design process consider? Hippo Roller (1991) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632259620542-SZ7GAGKC2ISHBD59IU0R/Kings+Fund+Bed+Design.jpeg Design Methods - Design Research Working with the Nuffield Foundation, Misha Black and Bruce Archer set to identify areas in the hospital where design could produce better outcomes. They identified four areas to explore. “We identified four candidate problems:” A soiled dressings receiver The mal-distribution of medicines in hospital wards A large number of hospital bed types (300+) The abuse of fire and smoke control doors in public buildings The proposal of a bed was dismissed and funding cancelled. Black asked the King’s Fund for financial support. The result of the extensively researched project was a hospital bed specification rather than a specific design. Kings Fund Bed (1994), Science Museum Group Collection, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/a886fa15-68af-4010-8210-ad6ece4c8f24/Designerly+Appraoches.jpg Design Methods - Designerly Approaches Design Methods offer designers a way to manage complexity, define problems clearly, and assess outcomes of process and projects. Mixing methods to achieve both a rigorous consideration of the factors impacting a problem as well as a thorough exploration of design options allows us to remain grounded. Our challenge is to consider the balance of structure versus more social-oriented tools for exploring the problems people face in the world. Per Rittel and Horst’s perspectives on Wicked Problems, scientifically derived design methods may not offer better clarity on the problem space than less rigorous tools. Image right: A Day in the Life Activity (Science Direct) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632260237120-2OWWZCVHDVELGBICIOA9/DDR_Bed+Refinement.jpeg Design Methods - Thoughts to Consider What factors were considered in the design of the hospital bed? Designing the hospital bed (1957) https://www.practiceofdesign.co/design-thinking daily 0.75 2025-10-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/0ff81f55-1be6-474a-afc7-901ff189fffb/AirBNB+Apartment.jpg Design Thinking Kings Fund Hospital Bed, source: Science Museum Group https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/fcc45f77-c695-4b4f-bb71-7781c5658762/IDEOU+Desirability.png Design Thinking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/87b7aff1-d991-4b1c-b2e8-6d683c9bf0bf/Head+Problem+Framework.png Design Thinking - Analyzing the Designer The Design Methods movement strove to understand the nature of creativity and articulate the processes of design. As we saw in the Design Methods topic, Operations Research was instrumental in providing a foundation from which to progress forward with a discussion of designing solutions to problems. Horst Rittel began with the problem definition, and identified the challenges of applying methods to problems. “There are no classes of wicked problems in the sense that principles of solution can be developed to fit all members of a class. In mathematics there are rules for classifying families of problems—say, of solving a class of equations—whenever a certain, quite-well-specified set of characteristics matches the problem. There are explicit characteristics of tame problems that define similarities among them, in such fashion that the same set of techniques is likely to be effective on all of them. Despite seeming similarities among wicked problems, one can never be certain that the particulars of a problem do not override its commonalities with other problems already dealt with.” Tame problems and Wicked Problems required different approaches, but methods could be useful in each. In “The Reflective Practitioner,” Donald A. Schön described how professionals solved problems. In his 1986 book “Design Thinking,” Peter Rowe more narrowly analyzes how designers (architects) approach design problems. Along with more generalized business models for innovating and improving processes, Design Thinking emerged from this milieu as a means to package the messy design process in a way that businesses could understand and apply. Image above: Illustration from “Design thinking origin story plus some of the people who made it all happen” (Jo Szczepanska) Image left: Diagram from “Wicked and less wicked problems: A typology and a contingency framework”, Alford and Head, 2017 (Researchgate) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/12625b5e-48af-4596-ac61-a75f182f169c/IDEO+Tim+Brown.png Design Thinking - Design Thinking in Business IDEO’s Tim Brown has been the greatest proponent of utilizing Design Thinking in business. As described above, the evolution of the practices are more complex, and more often associated with complex problems. As a term, “Design Thinking” has been adopted as a human-centered and hands-on approach to identifying latent customer needs and desires. While the approach is most often used in the business context, mixed levels of success have been achieved in the social innovation space. As Jeanne Liedtka describes in “Why Design Thinking Works”, “I have seen that another social technology, design thinking, has the potential to do for innovation exactly what TQM did for manufacturing: unleash people’s full creative energies, win their commitment, and radically improve processes.” As designers in the ID context, your opinions and views of Design Thinking are important. Design Methods offer a more fully capable set of tools. Design Thinking offers an Agile means to approach Tame Problems. Still, few in the design or business community can define the term. Image right: Tim Brown (IDEO) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/75e7e02b-43b4-49d8-9fd1-b080e5ac1334/Design+Thinking+Framework.png Design Thinking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/3716113e-9c57-4679-8f44-527536fa1f2d/Stanford+Diagram.png Design Thinking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/d2680349-15fd-4497-b668-41fba360b4a5/Design+Thinking+Illustration.png Design Thinking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/8e802633-4e1a-4a5d-a976-576d55428eee/NNG+Design+Thinking+Illustration+Implement.png Design Thinking https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/8a226cdd-477d-4ea9-9066-8d35c834d83f/HHC+Co-creation.png Design Thinking - Thoughts to Consider Consider how problem size impacts Design Thinking approaches. Image left: Co-design work session (Nicholas Paredes Studio) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632249562217-883D0PSI7VPXGH7TLP09/Dubberly+Cybernetics.png Design Thinking https://www.practiceofdesign.co/experience-design daily 0.75 2025-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/e75943fa-aeac-47f0-9b0d-b016ac493810/Apple+Macintosh+128K.jpeg Experience Design https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/6405dc35-92e7-426b-8f92-a814d8d607d1/Adobe+Wireframing.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/94526bda-92cd-4830-999f-8bbc02785828/Engelbart+Mouse.png Experience Design - Human-Computer Interaction Vannevar Bush’s 1945 article “As We May Think,” defined the information age. Bush described how intellect would be powered by new tools. With the advent of the computer, humanity had the tools needed to support the evolution of our thinking. The challenge was that early computers required programming language expertise. New ways of communicating and interacting with computers were being introduced. In December 1968, Doug Engelbart gave a demonstration of the “oN-Line System.” This system was the culmination of the SRI Augmentation Research Center’s work to create new ways of working and collaborating. Engelbart’s paper “Augmenting Human Intellect,” pointed to the need for new tools to solve the increasingly complex problems we faced. The “Mother of All Demos,” as it became known, influenced others to expand the vision of what computers were and how we would come to interact with them. Photo above: Doug demonstrating the oN-Line System (SRI) Photo left: Engelbart 3-Button Mouse, 1968 (New Atlas) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/e34a0294-b0cf-49ee-b754-f325a359a54d/honeycomb.jpeg Experience Design - User Experience Design As described, the term “user experience” was coined by Don Norman in 1993 to describe the set of activities that encompassed the design of the new computing tools being created, as well as the support materials. As the World Wide Web evolved into a platform for information sharing, as well as commerce, new disciplines and tools were needed to ensure that everybody could access the resources. Consultancies specializing in digital products evolved to meet the needs of businesses requiring a presence on the Internet. Internet publications and Blogs, such as Boxes and Arrows were dedicated to the disparate mix of library science and visual design that came to define the Information Architects that designed to rapidly evolving Web. As connected devices, apps, and Internet APIs evolved into new ecosystems, new opportunities to create and meet customer desires evolved. New sub-disciplines were required to create these product/service ecosystems. Yet, the essential approach remains viable. As new AI tools become available, new skills will be required. The designer is unlikely to perform more than a few tasks in the expanding team environment. But, exploring the possibilities in important to building a career in design. Diagram right: The User Experience Honeycomb by Peter Morville https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/a1f3a53d-c7c8-4c43-8075-664e0fe29ec1/Elements+of+UX.png Experience Design https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/24e8f07d-e546-45c7-8e7c-89009b7d9e21/Disciplines-of-UX-Design-Snippet.png Experience Design - Thoughts to Consider Consider the possible design paths in the UX discipline. The Disciplines of User Experience Design Diagram (Fast Company) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/3ac7e9aa-7b2e-46b3-ae42-68caa6211b81/Behavior+Books.png Experience Design - Behavioral Design Psychology has influenced the marketing and design of products from the inception of the profession. Don Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things” “was originally published in 1988 with the title The Psychology of Everyday Things.” Design theorists recognize that products and services are important influencers of behavior. They form what people come to believe about complex topics including finance. Choice has become an important topic in design. “Nudge” was published by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein in 2008. The book describes how choice influences decisions with a nudge being the component which helps the person make a decision. Nudge theory may predate the book although it has given rise to a new set of words used to describe what designers do to drive behavior. Designing nudges is a hot topic. Along with Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking Fast and Slow,” these books form the essential foundation for engaging with the topic of Behavioral Design. Start here. Image left: Nudge and The Design of Everyday Things https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/793866a0-c085-40c4-9237-79b10d33bee5/Dark+Pattern.png Experience Design - Dark Patterns Harry Brignull coined the term “deceptive design” in 2010. A “dark pattern” is “a user interface that has been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things, such as buying overpriced insurance with their purchase or signing up for recurring bills.” These interfaces guide users to end states that pre-select an outcome where privacy is reduced or a sale of a non-optimal product or service occurs. Many have experienced the difficulty of cancelling a service or the continued charges after believing that a service was canceled. These patterns prioritize business outcomes over the interest of people. I was surprised to see the pattern at the right when I clicked on a link to learn about the psychology of the Amazon sales experience. Ick. Image right: A dark pattern leading to an article about dark patterns (Growth Design) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/ab349422-6458-4147-9f75-9ba6ac2fcd7e/IKEA+Illustration.png Experience Design https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/2bb06a28-e8dc-4f4b-add9-80744158edd5/Ethical+Honeycomb.png Experience Design - Thoughts to Consider Consider what makes a design ethical or unethical. The Expanded Honeycomb (UX Matters) Image below: Modular Series Synthesizer (Teenage Engineering) https://www.practiceofdesign.co/service-design daily 0.75 2025-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/de40e529-7400-4fb7-b84b-cc82fbf43491/Forbes+Nordstrom.jpeg Service Design https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/75f1e8d6-6897-4000-a68d-efc10a29db09/ID+Service+Blueprint.png Service Design - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/3b2d56cc-1d8e-4b5f-9ca0-3c1d00dc8ec6/HBR+Service+Blueprint.gif Service Design - The Beginnings Lynn Shostack established the essentials of Service Design with her seminal article “Designing Services That Deliver.” Shostack articulated the need to treat services as rigorously as products. She described how understanding and controlling a service provided companies the opportunity to differentiate these experiences. The operations side of service management often uses work flow design and control methods such as time-motion engineering, PERT/GANTT charting, and quality-control methods derived from the work of W. Edwards Deming. These procedures provide managers with a way to visualize a process and to define and manipulate it at arm’s length. What they miss is the consumer’s relationship to, and interaction with, services. “Back stage” actions are particularly important to most services. The service blueprint makes visible the many roles and technologies that support a typical customer interaction. Accounting for the time and resources that are dedicated to a customer are important to understanding the profitability of an organization. Photo above: CEO of McDonald’s testing a self-service kiosk (Fortune) Image left: Service Blueprint (Harvard Business Review) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/f4957ab8-a1ba-46bc-b169-692314419f77/Service+Positioning.png Service Design - Service Positioning Shostack described how services can be positioned in the market in her 1987 article “Service Positioning Through Structural Change.” She describes how the essential aspects of a service can be engineered for strategic positioning using the tools of decision theory and operations management. Controlling for complexity and divergence in a service creates many new opportunities for positioning. Reduced Divergence: A more uniform and consistent service Increased Divergence: A tailored and personalized service Reduced Complexity: Specialization in a single service Increased Complexity: Adding and enhancing services As many great service providers — Disney, HR Block, Southwest Airlines — have demonstrated, people are key to providing great service. Shostack elaborates on how employee self-management can lead to better outcomes. Training, communication, and marketing are important to improving behavior and motivation in an organization. Consumer participation can also change the positioning of a service in meaningful ways. Combining design methods with these tools can provide new insights into consumer preferences and behaviors that lead to new products and services. Image right: Service Positioning, Shostack, 1987 (Journal of Marketing) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/203f9445-a41c-41a8-bdfc-cca54a63a930/The+Founder+Tennis+Court.jpeg Service Design https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/c4ecf0cd-3028-48e1-88ff-eea903d8c98f/NYT+Uber+Taxi.png Service Design - Thoughts to Consider Consider how the services you use are positioned. Uber Taxi service revisited (New York Times) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/c5fbe12e-5efc-41b0-b030-f16fce5a3ba9/Gartner+Design+Thinking+Agile.png Service Design https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632260237120-2OWWZCVHDVELGBICIOA9/DDR_Bed+Refinement.jpeg Service Design - Thoughts to Consider Consider how design methods apply to service design. Designing the hospital bed (1957) https://www.practiceofdesign.co/designing-futures daily 0.75 2025-11-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/a24f89eb-f8a1-40bd-a5a8-d39220b40529/Floating+in+Space.jpg Designing Futures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/c592e0e6-6533-4fb1-a4e0-17fdf5bd69db/Population-Pyramid-1950-to-2100.jpg Designing Futures - Population Trends Rapid increases in global population are soon to come to an end. By the end of this century, birth rates will significantly decrease and the demographic balance will change. Decreases in mortality will create a world where the retired become a larger burden on advanced economies in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. Increases in health make it possible to remain productive longer in life, while at the same time prolonging life beyond where people can remain independent. Designers have the opportunity to contribute to our appreciation of prolonged engagement with work and society. Is retirement all it’s cracked up to be? Chart: Population Pyramid (Our World in Data) Images below: State of the World, Mathieu Lehanneur (Dezeen) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1cac54c7-c633-44d7-9d06-3a1bda235c45/Lehanneur+State+of+the+World+Gallery.gif Designing Futures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/940d5372-bb95-4866-98e0-5a7895a848ba/Lehanneur+State+of+the+World+Spain.jpeg Designing Futures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/0762e409-79eb-4ffb-b169-b23e66858ee7/OWD+Global+Trade.png Designing Futures - Globalism Revisited Prior to World War II, globalism was flourishing. As Paul Krugman recently notes: “Many people, I think, imagine that globalization is a fairly recent development. Economic historians know, however, that a surprisingly integrated world economy emerged between about 1870 and 1913, made possible by the advanced technology of the time: steamships, railroads and telegraphs. In the early 20th century, Britons were already dining on Canadian wheat, Argentine beef and New Zealand lamb.” With recent events including regional conflict in Europe, as well as with environmental limitations, globalism could see a decline. Chart: Value of exported goods as share of GDP (Our World in Data) Chart below: Population Cartogram (Our World in Data) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/c438eaab-c281-491c-a0d6-120539797e60/Population-Cartogram_World.png Designing Futures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/068e5515-ba8f-4df4-95ef-8d0fb010a76c/PESTELE.png Designing Futures - STEEPLE Factors A number of frameworks exist for businesses and organizations to monitor macro-environmental factors. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) is one such model. STEEPLE Factors (Social, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal, and Ethical) are a useful approach to supporting conversations about the near future. Formally considering the decisions that organizations makes is a critical business function. Consider how designers contribute to these discussions. Consider the language and imagery describing the future. Diagram right: PESTELE Diagram https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/49f8ab9e-9a7e-4c6f-ad0b-a948c6fb228b/johari.png Designing Futures - Understanding the Unknown “The Johari window is a technique designed to help people better understand their relationship with themselves and others. It was created by psychologists Joseph Luft (1916–2014) and Harrington Ingham (1916–1995) in 1955, and is used primarily in self-help groups and corporate settings as a heuristic exercise.” Gaining insight through discussion and collaboration is one way to reduce the likelihood of failure. Diagram from Using the Johari Window to really get to know yourself. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/bb3afa50-ca04-4674-9130-10d4fa6f8abd/Vision+2040+Factors.png Designing Futures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/0dc5756c-03b0-48d8-a820-4511e0a5dddd/Hippo+Roller.jpg Designing Futures - Thoughts to Consider Consider the factors that a design process should include? Image left: Hippo Roller (1991) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/3de66ef0-bf7d-4f76-abcc-b9969cfc94be/UX+Collective+Co-design.png Designing Futures - Social Design As Matthew Allen notes, “One reason that disability has not been more thoroughly integrated into design education is that it is not usually formulated as an exciting challenge.” Designers must reconsider what they believe to be exciting. Our many challenges in inclusivity, diversity, privacy, and wellness persist. In moving beyond simply responding to legal issues, it is critical that we bring a design perspective to the challenge by creating new value for all of our stakeholders. A great example of what is possible in going beyond the requirements is The Hogeweyk® Care Concept and DVA Dementia Village®. The project shifts the conversation from designing a care facility for those suffering from dementia to designing an environment for caring for these patients. Asking the simple question of how we would like to be cared for changes our perspective. As designers, we are trained to bring this thinking to the work that remains to be done. Image: Co-design with older adults (UX Collective) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/fedb7f3a-cffe-42e7-9803-f5e47bc1377b/Socia+Design+Domains.png Designing Futures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/f71be179-71da-4610-be73-da0a3de405d3/Designing+for+Death.png Designing Futures - Thoughts to Consider Consider the needs of expertise versus community contribution. Image left: from Reinventing death for the twenty-first century https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/47f860b5-cd8b-48b1-81d3-432ce59a45ee/Toby+Walsh.jpeg Designing Futures - Artificial Intelligence Artificial Intelligence is a tool developed by humans. It could not have emerged on its own as biological systems do. The question is whether such tools will help us or pose a threat to humanity. Image recognition has the ability to bring us together. It also presents the opportunity to enforce a police state. The tools can augment our abilities, or take our jobs. AI with human-level intelligence is likely to exist within our lifetimes. Defining our relationship, and most importantly, defining the nature of humanity will be critical to our ideas of self-identity. Image left: Toby Walsh (The Brilliant) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/45d2881a-27ba-4ede-9d76-1f78248b00d4/test-scores-ai-capabilities-relative-human-performance.png Designing Futures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/4746d173-81d8-4f03-9f40-a912d63f97eb/IDEO+AI+Ethics+Cards.png Designing Futures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/0241efd2-af14-4cea-8743-17aa2c8f1313/Nature+COVID+Vaccine.png Designing Futures - Accelerated Science Collaboration and communication are improving the speed at which scientific discover occurs. With the outbreak of COVID-19, public and private organizations got to work to rapidly develop a vaccine using mRNA. A vaccine was delivered in record time without compromising safety. It was perhaps so fast as to reduce trust. Scientists and engineers working across disciplines are accelerating many areas of research. Research is often dispersed on a global scale so that poor countries can experience the benefits. Scientific discovery is also a way to exert political power as demonstrated by the global delivery of vaccines. Chart right: Vaccine Innovation Timeline (Nature) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/43cd3b12-6ccc-4c91-a30e-114b72eca71a/AI+Discrimination.png Designing Futures - Thoughts to Consider Consider who benefits from these technologies. Image left: AI Discrimination Risks (The Guardian) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/99d1c12a-db6c-4a25-80d7-0a7857f07f00/COVID+Knitted.jpeg Designing Futures - Health and the Environment Environmental factors affect health. From pollution to environmental stressors, many factors affect our health and wellbeing. As social animals, we require stable social environments to support our psychological wellbeing. The Coronavirus Disease has increased the stress in our lives in many ways, and has drastically changed social interaction. Coupled with these changes are the environmental cotastrophes of extreme heat and wildfires. As we design for the future, environmental impacts will continue to affect the outcomes of our efforts in unexpected ways. Image right: Knitted COVID 19 (Medium) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/79f788af-4002-4eba-b861-30ba61c6fd23/Environment-Centric+Design.png Designing Futures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/599a6cdb-8204-4ec5-8576-f21469820b61/IDEO+Cup.png Designing Futures - Sustainable Design Sustainable Design considers the environment in developing physical objects and service systems. A considered approach to using minimal and sustainable materials is the common approach to designing for the product lifecycle. Recycling is of course a valid response, but designing for reuse is critical. Designing our lives around concepts of non-consumption may also be necessary. Image: CupClub (DesignMuseum) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/ad762ec6-ffc7-44ab-b3a1-a7aea3fd7bdf/Menzel+Man+Eating+Bugs.jpg Designing Futures https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/d8eec1af-8468-42e8-b96a-dd35e930db2f/black-swallowtail.jpeg Designing Futures - Thoughts to Consider Consider who your stakeholders are as a designer. Image left: Black Swallowtail Butterfly (Raritan Headwaters) image below: Urban Bees (Jstor) https://www.practiceofdesign.co/class-14 daily 0.75 2025-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/dbcd1688-6720-45e8-9e34-1610270d8eae/Studio+Gang+Madison+Plaza.jpeg Conclusion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/cc6546ac-e5f7-4e8a-807e-d86b070565ae/OWD-gdp-per-capita-2020.png Conclusion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/63ae3ef5-95d2-4169-889d-2fa312c0c97d/Railroad+1880.png Conclusion - Craft Versus Industrialization The labor issues of the time deeply affected the Arts and Crafts Movement, and a struggle to rectify the limited scope of craft with the enormous economic engine that produced much of societies needs began. Most products continued to be produced by craftsmen. A growing middle class was supported by higher wages in both blue-collar and a new managerial class — white-collar. Education in technical and agriculture supported growth in productivity and wages. This led to the Unites Staes leading in technical advances and patents. The beginnings of professional management emerged. Railroads required strong management and a stable financial system to support the expenditures to expand services. Frederick Winslow Taylor began to study productivity and industrial capacity during this period, leading to the emergence is Scientific Management in the 20th Century. Image left: A Baltimore & Ohio engine. (image: Railroad circa 1910) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/8739ba12-e0ff-4929-b4ff-e80301839c1c/Household+Engineering.jpg Conclusion - A Revolution of Time and People “The Second Industrial Revolution, also known as the Technological Revolution” is in its nascent stages at this point in history. Fordism evolved from research into how other businesses such as meatpacking and canning operated. New materials including Bakelite (1907), the first plastic, and Pyrex (1916) allowed manufacturers to make new kinds of products using industrial processes. Peter Behrens was a founding member of the German Werkbund, and a prolific architect and designer. “Behren’s work for the AEG between 1907 and 1914 may well have been the first time that a designer was invited to control the entire design output of a large company.” Christine Frederick was a home economist noted for her studies into home efficiency. Her books, Selling Mrs. Consumer and Household Engineering, are noted for the exploration of the home environment and products used within the home. The Bauhaus was founded in Weimar after the city bid to host the school. Walter Gropius presented the school in craft terms when it was founded in 1919. Image right: Page from Household Engineering, 1919 Image below: The Bauhaus Preliminary Course (1922) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/ad9644d1-8ec2-4201-9532-dad7bebaee2a/Bauhaus+Program.jpg Conclusion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/ec919365-cf6f-4cca-b908-85521ba4b16a/New+Bauhaus+Curriculum.png Conclusion - The Bauhauses The Bauhaus Manifesto, written by Gropius in 1919, espouses the integration of craft with industrial processes. The dialog regarding art, craft, and manufacturing resulted in the evolution of ideas surrounding the education of designers. This conversation evolved by 1923 with László Moholy-Nagy assuming responsibility for the Preliminary Course. Changes in Bauhaus locations and leadership instigated by the Nazi’s, ultimately brought Moholy-Nagy to Chicago. He accepted an invitation by the Chicago Association of Arts to found the New Bauhaus, which opened in 1937. The Fine Art Department (IZO) was Russia’s effort to “prepare artists for work in industry (V. Margolin). An active conversation regarding the nature of art and the artists role in society resulted in Constructivism. This new conception of form and space resulted in stark, powerful imagery. Influenced by Frederich Taylor and Christine Frederick, the New Building and New Interior built upon the rational efficient principals of the New Objectivity. Ensuring that housing and interiors were reasonably priced was an important consideration. Architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky designed the The Frankfurt Kitchen (1926) using these rational approaches to design. Image left: The New Bauhaus Program (1937) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/41cdda44-55d7-4ec9-a2f1-943eb482bb1e/Model+500.jpg Conclusion - Consumer Psychology The United States was in a position of strength after World War I, the war having devastated its economic competitors. “As a result, America was the preeminent industrial nation after World War I and its economy expanded rapidly during the 1920s, due to a combination of technology advances, managerial innovation, and aggressive marketing.” (V. Margolin) Elmo Calkins coined the term “consumer engineering” in 1932 to support a new science of demand generation through “progressive obsolescence.” Women were the identified as the primary consumers. New appliances and services were marketed through national advertising campaigns. Designers began to dig beneath the surface. Norman Bel Geddes surveyed women in support of his work for Standard Gas Equipment Corporation to understand the latent needs of customers. “Design methods originated in new approaches to problem solving developed in the mid-20th Century.” The Ulm School of Design was founded in 1953 by Inge Aicher-Scholl, Otl Aicher and Max Bill. A central objective was to provide a humanistic education to the designer. In contrast with solely considering form and beauty in artifacts, the designer was empowered to be an “integrator” who would bring a multi-disciplinary approach as well as systems-thinking to bear on the design process. Image right: Model 500 Telephone (1953), Smithsonian https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/871cef0d-5235-42de-97f5-540670b101b2/Ulm+School+Diagram.png Conclusion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/94cd2922-d34a-4943-b67c-7e1bd6b5a5d0/Kings+Fund+Bed+Design.jpeg Conclusion - Design Methods Rittel & Webber considered “Wicked Problems” to be ill-defined challenges that required “argument” or communication to create solutions. Conklin’s characterization is useful for understanding the challenges posed by these problems: “The problem is not understood until after the formulation of a solution.” Buchanan provides some insight into a potential design process being proposed by Rittel in Wicked Problems in Design Thinking. “The origins of design methods lay in 'scientific' methods, similar to decision theory and the methods of Operational Research,” providing us a multitude of approaches to understand how these disciplines interact. In 1970, John Chris Jones published Design Methods: seeds of human futures to demonstrate that the design process could support both rational and intuitive processes. Working with the Nuffield Foundation, Misha Black and Bruce Archer set to identify areas in the hospital where design could produce better outcomes. The Kings Fund Hospital Bed was one design outcome from this work. Image left: Kings Fund Bed (1994), Science Museum Group Collection, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1a8f91df-54ad-4946-a70b-bd5efdeea9ac/Unsafe+at+Any+Speed.jpeg Conclusion - Business and Society Ralph Nader’s 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed discussed topics including: usability issues, pollution, driver education. The conversation brought the 30,000+ vehicle fatalities that occur each year to the forefront. Automobile styling over the substance of safety was particularly critiqued by Nader. Viktor Papanek wrote Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change in 1971. Echoing Buckminster Fuller, Papanek believed the design should serve people, and that the world had finite resources, which is shared would meet everybody’s needs. C. West Churchman, an American systems scientist, believed that many decision-makers lacked the foundations from which to make informed decisions on complex issues. Buckminster Fuller called himself a “comprehensive anticipatory design scientist” and believed that our resources were limited on this ship we call planet earth. Yet, with these resources, we are fully capable of providing for everybody on our ship. Image right: Unsafe at Any Speed book cover https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/0221cc13-84f7-4f96-98ee-e64d0ec98df7/Christopher-Alexanders-Diagrams-of-Semi-Lattice-left-and-Tree-right.jpeg Conclusion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/72516f0e-432d-4369-9d1c-c007b8bc8f6d/Head+Problem+Framework.png Conclusion - Design Thinking Tame problems and Wicked Problems required different approaches, but methods could be useful in each. In “The Reflective Practitioner,” Donald A. Schön described how professionals solved problems. In his 1986 book “Design Thinking,” Peter Rowe more narrowly analyzes how designers (architects) approach design problems. Along with more generalized business models for innovating and improving processes, Design Thinking emerged from this milieu as a means to package the messy design process in a way that businesses could understand and apply. IDEO’s Tim Brown has been the greatest proponent of utilizing Design Thinking in business. As described above, the evolution of the practices are more complex, and more often associated with complex problems. As a term, “Design Thinking” has been adopted as a human-centered and hands-on approach to identifying latent customer needs and desires. Image left: Diagram from “Wicked and less wicked problems: A typology and a contingency framework”, Alford and Head, 2017 (Researchgate) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/a14a960e-1a4b-4dbe-95c0-35140ea91377/Walmart-greeter-1995.png Conclusion - Globalism and Competition Michael E. Porter published How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy, which introduced his Five Forces model. With contemporaneous discussions of the “service economy,” the model created a framework for discussing the vast changes in the economy which were occurring. Buchanan, describes Four Orders of design. The first two are associated with the craft of design. The third order, finds the designer engaging in the interaction between “producer” and the “public” expanding the “accountability” of the designer. Lastly, designers find themselves “culturing” in order to find “identity” and “purpose.” With the collapse of the Soviet Union and liberalization in China, globalism was unhindered during the 1990s. Monetary policies supported by stable energy prices and low-inflation allowed the US economy to accelerate. Services became a more prominent portion of the economy with the off-shoring of low-skilled manufacturing jobs. These forces came together to create an environment of growing productivity, with shifts in where value was created. Silicon Valley and the rise of technology brought to the foreground many new opportunities to design for people. Image right: Walmart Greeter, 1995 (Click Americana) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/3913c378-40ad-497d-b623-3210153ed6de/HBR%2BService%2BBlueprint.gif Conclusion - Service Design Lynn Shostack established the essentials of Service Design with her seminal article “Designing Services That Deliver.” Shostack articulated the need to treat services as rigorously as products. She described how understanding and controlling a service provided companies the opportunity to differentiate these experiences. Shostack described how services can be positioned in the market in her 1987 article “Service Positioning Through Structural Change.” She describes how the essential aspects of a service can be engineered for strategic positioning using the tools of decision theory and operations management. Controlling for complexity and divergence in a service creates many new opportunities for positioning. Marc Stickdorn and Jakob Schneider offer five key principles of Service Design in This is Service Design Thinking. Image right: Service Blueprint (Harvard Business Review) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/b2e10057-cc09-4980-bbc6-d3d3688cd5ae/Apple+iPhone+2007.png Conclusion - Designing Behavior In the 1990s, Napster faced many legal challenges for providing tools which people used to “pirate” music. Other companies including Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and YouTube contributed to the growth of digital ecosystems. With the emergence of these ecosystems, new value is identified in fulfilling the needs of customers. “The term ‘Experience Economy’ was first used in a 1998 article by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore describing the next economy following the agrarian economy, the industrial economy, and the most recent service economy.” Michael Porter established the Five Forces as a way to understand competitive advantage. In How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition, he and Heppelmann propose that smart products change the ways that value is created and delivered to customers, providing new ways to compete using a “systems of systems” model of competition. Amazon patented the 1-Click checkout in 1999. It was an essential component to the company’s strategy of becoming a marketplace where customers would buy everything they needed. The “Like” button was created to provide a positive message to the individual who posted an item to their “feed.” Later we have found that this good intention has many side effects. Image left: iPhone circa 2007 (Apple) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/df709df2-7aac-4eb4-8210-213c19ec01f0/Behavior+Books.png Conclusion - User Experience Design In December 1968, Doug Engelbart gave a demonstration of the “oN-Line System.” This system was the culmination of the SRI Augmentation Research Center’s work to create new ways of working and collaborating. The term “user experience” was coined by Don Norman in 1993 to describe the set of activities that encompassed the design of the new computing tools being created, as well as the support materials. As the World Wide Web evolved into a platform for information sharing, as well as commerce, new disciplines and tools were needed to ensure that everybody could access the resources. Don Norman’s “The Design of Everyday Things” “was originally published in 1988 with the title The Psychology of Everyday Things.” Design theorists recognize that products and services are important influencers of behavior. They form what people come to believe about complex topics including finance. Choice has become an important topic in design. “Nudge” was published by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein in 2008. The book describes how choice influences decisions with a nudge being the component which helps the person make a decision. “Dark patterns” are “user interface[s] that has been carefully crafted to trick users into doing things” that they would otherwise not do. Image right: Nudge and The Design of Everyday Things https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/cd41ed99-9a51-4241-a672-e496fd2f0f2c/Apple-iTunes-ad-xl.jpeg Conclusion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/4aa1eeff-00b5-4a43-adbf-5d6f74c679df/UX+Collective+Co-design.png Conclusion - Posthuman Design As Matthew Allen notes, “One reason that disability has not been more thoroughly integrated into design education is that it is not usually formulated as an exciting challenge.” Designers must reconsider what they believe to be exciting. Our many challenges in inclusivity, diversity, privacy, and wellness persist. In moving beyond simply responding to legal issues, it is critical that we bring a design perspective to the challenge by creating new value for all of our stakeholders. Environmental factors affect health. From pollution to environmental stressors, many factors affect our health and wellbeing. As social animals, we require stable social environments to support our psychological wellbeing. The Coronavirus Disease has increased the stress in our lives in many ways, and has drastically changed social interaction. Sustainable Design considers the environment in developing physical objects and service systems. A considered approach to using minimal and sustainable materials is the common approach to designing for the product lifecycle. Image left: Co-design with older adults (UX Collective) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/79f788af-4002-4eba-b861-30ba61c6fd23/Environment-Centric+Design.png Conclusion https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/33826b82-ff10-428e-9ea9-c7c8db4cd75d/Pathways.png Conclusion - Thoughts to Consider Consider how you’ll contribute to the design profession. Image left: The MDes program course system (Matt Mayfield) image below: DVA Dementia Village (DVA Dementia Village® Associates) https://www.practiceofdesign.co/resources daily 0.75 2023-08-22 https://www.practiceofdesign.co/design-research daily 0.75 2026-03-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/187fdbdc-8908-42c9-a332-7cfc7a2793c9/Gilbreth+Motion.png Design Research - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/e4207d41-4e97-4a9c-9040-0f2c1fb7afcd/Nightingale-mortality.jpg Design Research https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/68dd550d-9356-4f49-98e8-09f866c3bbd8/the_horse_in_motion_2022.154.13.jpg Design Research https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1cda8f5d-2af1-4d3c-bed1-132973929110/architectural-review-lillian-gilbreth-barbara-penner-8.jpg Design Research - Analyzing Housework Frank and Lillian Gilbreth invented the motion study to help identify wasted motions and challenging maneuvers in work, both industrial and domestic. The Kitchen Work Triangle, which was used to determine kitchen layouts, was an important contribution by Lillian Gilbreth. Early time and motion research commonly focused on improving the efficiency of work. Another researcher with a domestic focus was Christine Frederick. Her book, “The New Housekeeping: Efficiency Studies in Home Management” described efficient approaches to managing the home. Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, the designer of the Frankfurt Kitchen found inspiration in this work. This early work is not commonly considered to be Design Research, however the implications for the design of domestic environments is clear. Research helps designers and organizations make decisions. Along with the process chart (above), the work described amply demonstrates the study, analysis, and communication that both researchers and designers require to be effective. Such work proved to be very useful to industry. Image above: process chart for loading rifle grenades from the Gilbreth report. Image left: Diagram from “Wicked and less wicked problems: A typology and a contingency framework”, Alford and Head, 2017 (Researchgate) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/f5ca8e84-4a64-44dd-a7bb-70dd766651f5/Pardoe+Kitchen.png Design Research https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/e1d0f8c0-e247-48eb-bd61-2f62c24116b1/The+Measure+of+Man.png Design Research - Researching People From Moholy-Nagy’s exploratory studies into form at The New Bauhaus, to Henry Dreyfuss’ work identifying the need to move the alphanumeric characters outside the rotary dial, new approaches to researching the needs of people evolved during the pre-WWII period. Understanding how objects fit in the hand empowered makers of hand tools to deliver safer and more effective tools and instruments. With the evolution of the office as a primary place of work, a focus on the ergonomics of office furniture and equipment became a product differentiator in competitive markets. Henry Dreyfuss published The Measure of Man: Human Factors in Design in 1967, consisting of data collected describing “Joe and Josephine,” his representations of average people. The book was an important resource for industrial designers. Image right: The Measure of Man (1967) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/fefffaa7-538a-467f-b85b-4b010a7eeb2a/mathematical-theory-of-communication-010.png Design Research - Psychoacoustics World War II and The Cold War created a need for new tools such as Operations Research, as well as the need to generate knowledge that could be applied to the battlefield. JCR Licklider conducted research into psychoacoustics writing influential papers on pitch perception. As Director of ARPA, he funded foundational work in computing, including Douglas Engelbart’s work on the Graphical User Interface (GUI). Adjacently, Claude Shannon developed his theory of communication, which is foundational to our understanding of telecommunication. The term “bit” originates in his theory. Applied psychology, including industrial and organizational psychology, extended the study of people and their problems in the context of work and communication. The domain, particularly at Xerox PARC, was an important environment from which to launch a new form of Design Research — Anthropology. Image left: From A Mathematical Theory of Communication https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/b497e002-0053-4e85-9c39-887ba5d4098f/Kings+Fund+Bed+Design.jpeg Design Research - Design Research Coinciding with the emergence of The Design Methods Movement, Design Research was formulated as a practice. Bruce Archer led a team of designers to explore the needs of nurses in the hospital. Observation of nurses and prototype testing was conducted at Chase Farm Hospital, resulting in innovative approaches to meeting ergonomic needs. The Kings Fund hospital Bed was a specification rather than a single physical product. This example, in conjunction with the theoretical frameworks introduced to the practice of design, highlights the emergence of research-based design practices. While slow to emerge through the subsequent decades, Design Research is a central part of most design efforts. Image right: The Kings Fund Hospital Bed (1962) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/3716113e-9c57-4679-8f44-527536fa1f2d/Stanford+Diagram.png Design Research https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/c87684a5-f697-400a-b2bc-6f3f0044ead3/Xerox+Green+Button.webp Design Research - Anthropology Lucy Suchman arrived at Xerox PARC in 1979 as a PhD student to study life in the office. “While at PARC, she conducted an influential ethnographic study, using video, of office workers and research scientists struggling to use a copy machine.” Her book, Plans and Situated Actions: The Problem of Human-machine Communication (1987), describes this study. Suchman’s central argument is that people do not approach technologies with plans, but dynamically create context-specific interactions based on the real world. Sources: Wikipedia; Lucy Suchmanin Conversation with Ana Gross, Ana Grossa and Lucy Suchman, Sociologica (2021) Image left: From A Mathematical Theory of Communication https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/700b02b0-9aed-47bf-a73e-8785ec2b3a38/norman-apple-cupertino.webp Design Research - User Research Don Norman, a psychologist by training, joined Apple in 1993 as a User Experience Architect. He spearheaded user-centered design principles to improve product usability, helping Apple’s technology remain intuitive and accessible. His approach was to identify the user’s needs from a product and use them as the primary driver of product design. Image right: Don Norman at Apple in 1994 (San Diego Reader) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/40155bbe-5b95-4aec-85f4-e111aa35cc07/Action-research-diagram.png Design Research - Research Through Design Christopher Frayling “proposed three models for design research: Research for Design (using knowledge to inform design), Research into Design (critically analyzing design), and Research through Design (using the design/making process to create knowledge) in his seminal paper, Research in Art and Design (1993). Research through art and design has several important characteristics: “materials research - such as the titanium sputtering or colorization of metals projects successfully completed in the metalwork and jewellery departments at the College and Camberwell, in association with Imperial College of Science & Technology (partner- ships are very useful, in this area of research). development work - for example, customising a piece of technology to do something no- one had considered before, and communicating the results. A recent example: the Canon colour photocopier at the Royal College of Art, successfully used by some postgraduate illustration students, who have both exhibited and written up the results. • action research - where a research diary tells, in a step-by-step way, of a practical experiment in the studios, and the resulting report aims to contextualise it. Both the diary and the report are there to communicate the results, which is what separates research.” Examples of research through design abound. Artifacts are often the end result. Understanding the path to a conclusion and a suitable artifact can be elusive in such projects. One might say that your class project is research through design. It is exploration without a clear outcome at the beginning. As the materials and artifacts are refined, clarity results. Designing a class in a collaborative manner will be an activity in one of our readings. Image right: The Action Research Methodology (IxDF) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/d2680349-15fd-4497-b668-41fba360b4a5/Design+Thinking+Illustration.png Design Research https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/8a226cdd-477d-4ea9-9066-8d35c834d83f/HHC+Co-creation.png Design Research - Thoughts to Consider Consider how problem size impacts Design Thinking approaches. Image left: Co-design work session (Nicholas Paredes Studio) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/1632249562217-883D0PSI7VPXGH7TLP09/Dubberly+Cybernetics.png Design Research https://www.practiceofdesign.co/systems-design daily 0.75 2025-11-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/74f4186a-7a2d-4887-b890-dccdf34b1eeb/Limits%2Bto%2BGrowth%2B50%2Byears%2Blater%2B.png.png Systems Design - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/7dd873dc-e2ae-406c-b606-c3ef21041e1b/Auto+Dealer.jpg Systems Design https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/c22a2627-eaab-42a8-98d3-6f1f8c18aecd/Dowding+System.png Systems Design - Origins of Systems Thinking Communication, operations, and command are central to modern warfare. WWII brought new needs to global conflicts. Simple logistics are critical to keeping an army together. The war brought new tools to support the war effort including Operations Research, and Cybernetics. The diagram at right demonstrates how the Dowding System integrated communication and tools like radar into a defensive network. “The British had developed an air defence network that gave them a critical advantage during the Battle of Britain. The Dowding System – named for Fighter Command’s Commander-in-Chief Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding – brought together technology, ground defences and fighter aircraft into a unified system of defence. It not only controlled the fighter force, but other elements of the defence network as well, including anti-aircraft guns, searchlights and barrage balloons.” These new tools and modes of thought were applied to complex problems both during the war and after. As our view of the world and understanding of complex problems grew, they were applied and adapted to topics such as poverty, policy, and environmental issues. As the tools propagated, the foundation principles remained relevant. Image right: Diagram of the Dowding System (Imperial War Museum) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/2e1bf0f0-1044-4ed6-a07a-51c490f67432/The+Systems+Approach.png Systems Design - Why Systems Thinking? Hugh Dubberly shares a C. West Churchman quote in his article “A System Literacy Manifesto,” “…there is a good deal of turmoil about the manner in which our society is run. …the citizen has begun to suspect that the people who make major decisions that affect our lives don’t know what they are doing.” This was in 1968, and Donald Schön provides similar thoughts about professionalism during this period. Churchman described 4 enemies of an approach to systems that considered diverse viewpoints. These are: The Efficiency Approach (Politics): Focuses on identifying and removing waste or unnecessarily high costs within a system. Churchman noted that this approach, while important, can oversimplify the purpose of a system and often runs into political challenges during implementation. The Scientific Approach (Morality/Ethics): Advocates for an objective, model-based view of the system, often using mathematics, economics, or behavioral science. This approach aims to understand how the system works but can fail to capture human values. The Humanist Approach (Religion/Aesthetics): Claims that systems are fundamentally about people and prioritizes human values like freedom, dignity, and privacy. Humanists often argue against imposing rational plans that might override these personal aspects. The Anti-Planners Approach: Believes that any attempt to create a single, comprehensive, rational plan for a complex social system is foolish, dangerous, or evil because the systems are far too complicated for our current intellectual powers to fully understand. Dubberly reflects on these four “enemies” and provides a fifth designerly approach. “Churchman outlined four approaches to systems: 1) The approach of the *efficiency expert* (reducing time and cost); 2) The approach of the *scientist* (building models, often with mathematics); 3) The approach of the *humanist* (looking to our values); and 4) The approach of the *anti-planner* (accepting systems and living within them, without trying to control them).[12] We might also consider a fifth approach: 5) The approach of the *designer*, which in many respects is also the approach of the policy planner and the business manager, (prototyping and iterating systems or representations of systems).” As designers, you will encounter the challenges presented by systems as well as managers of systems. As we saw during the Design Methods Movement, designers themselves can present these perspectives. Embracing complexity is the first step towards engaging in systems thinking. Source for indented, bulleted text: Google AI Image left: “A Systems Approach and Its Enemies” book cover https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/f294d707-0377-4ddd-9b2a-47d1911d74ae/Toilet_Thermo_Governors.png Systems Design - How Systems Work The behavior of systems can be described using a few simple elements. Stocks are comprise of a store of materials or information. Flows reflect the changes in stocks over time, through the inflows and outflows of material in a stock. Dynamics represent the behavior of a system over time. Feedback allows a system to be regulated or to self-regulate. The representation of systems help people to understand the essential behavior and what elements are important to how the system functions relative to its purpose. Designers have specific strengths which allow them to add value to conversations about systems. The ability to abstract representations of systems is critical to facilitating effective conversations. Collaboration across disciplines enables strong generalists to provide the human, behavioral perspective which is necessary to supporting systemic change. There are a number of points to leverage in order to influence change in systems. Image right: Diagram of a negative feedback loop (Dubberly Design Office) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/7fd73ccf-6b80-4d48-b64a-da01b7764385/Design+Affect.jpeg Systems Design https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/fe88ec37-6d06-49e3-a551-5f20d5a0d0c3/Meta-Design.png Systems Design - Metadesign Metadesign was proposed by Andries Van Onck, while at Ulm School of Design in 1963. It is a framework for promoting collaborative design (co-design) and eliciting participation not only from designers but from individuals and communities. Systems are utilized to propose solutions. The framework has been elaborated upon to include a set of tools that are used by designers. “Metadesign is a set of four cognitive tools: (a) diagram; (b) abstraction; (c) emergence; (d) procedure.” The Metadesign expands upon system design to include users in the conversation about what problems exist, the possible solutions, and what is ultimately delivered for use. “Meta-design is an emerging conceptual framework aimed at defining and creating social and technical infrastructures in which new forms of collaborative design can take place. It extends the traditional notion of system design beyond the original development of a system to include a co-adaptive process between users and a system, in which the users become co-developers or co-designers. It is grounded in the basic assumption that future uses and problems cannot be completely anticipated at design time, when a system is developed. Users, at use time, will discover mismatches between their needs and the support that an existing system can provide for them. These mismatches will lead to breakdowns that serve as potential sources of new insights, new knowledge, and new understanding.“ Rather than react to the cognitive dissonance presented by the application of design methodologies to real world problems, Metadesign proposes solutions that incorporate new insights and emergent innovations into the process. Evolutionary growth becomes a tool for use by design teams, using new models for applying the tool to problems through tools such as SER — “Seeding, Evolutionary Growth, Reseeding (SER) Model, a process model for large evolving design artifacts.” Design systems become sets on components to be used as the solution “organism” emerges and grows. Designer propositions and visualizations provide both ideas and solutions in the problem context. Participation through co-design becomes a necessary model of design, requiring that designers facilitate design, and act as gardeners within the problem space. Quotations: “Design and Politics: Metadesign for social change,” Caio Adorno Vassão, 2017; Meta-Design: A Framework for the Future of End-User Development, by Gerhard Fischer and Elisa Giaccardi, University of Colorado, Center for LifeLong Learning and Design (L3D) in Lieberman, H., Paternò, F., Wulf, V. (Eds) (2004) End User Development - Empowering People to Flexibly Employ Advanced Information and Communication Technology, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. Image left: The Meta-Design Framework from Revisiting and Broadening the Meta-Design Framework for End-User Development, New Perspectives in End-User Development, Gerhard Fischer, Daniela Fogli & Antonio Piccinno (Springer Nature) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61085eb02def9865acad9c9d/398a7fc8-38e1-4dbb-8d91-de5967eccd05/Bloomberg+GMC+Pheonix.jpeg Systems Design - Thoughts to Consider Can emergent design be a useful approach? 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