The Revolution Will Not Be Designed

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• Reader Comments (6)

  Page 1 of 1 pages

  Creative (imaginative) thinking could have eliminated the morass Iraq has become. It could have given the U.S. a workable energy policy at some point between the 1970s oil lines and today’s $100/bbl price.

  As a former graphic artist and packaging designer (with a bit of product design here and there) — a few observations from the real world…

  Designers tend to think in terms of reducing the design problem to its simplest form and then go at from a “what if” approach. A group of intelligent ideas with great ideas feeds on each member’s input and I’m sure they will present many valuable plans.

  Problem solving by design must run a gauntlet of politics (governmental and corporate), finance, political correctness and the whims of influential individuals that is unimaginable unless you’ve been there.

  The design solution is the easy part — it’s the gauntlet which kills creativity. Worst of all and to be avoided if at all possible is the COMMITTEE.

  It is ironic to see Wal-Mart listed among the sponsors. From experience I can tell you when Wal-Mart says, “ Always Low Price,” they mean it. That is THE only acceptable entry for a supplier. Today that is the major consideration with nearly everyone due to globalization and the falling dollar.

  I wish them well.

  Posted by whattheheck on Jan 13, 2008 at 10:28 AM

  The author reminds us of some important questions to keep in mind, but seems to have missed what design thinking is really about.

  To me, this assumption is where she goes wrong: “They accept the given problem, the specs and the budget, and get the job done.”

  Isn’t NOT accepting the given problem what “design thinking” is all about? Anyone who has ever worked as a designer or with a designer will know that very few accept the given problem.

  As they say, tell a designer to make a door handle, and the designer will identify the door as the real problem and soon they want to design a new house…

  Challenging the conceptualisation of the problem is something we do in every project. When taken to a higher level this way of challenging the given problem is what I see as “design thinking”.

  Posted by Ludo on Jan 13, 2008 at 4:52 PM

  The points in this article are appreciated, I would like to respond with an opinion of my own. 

  I am a graduate student in the Graduate Design Program at Stanford, and also a student recovering from a day of testing monsoon rain catching structures built for the d.school class called Extreme Affordability.  Before coming to graduate school, I worked in wheelchair design in the southern Philippines as well as in production engineering in a fruit factory in Ghana.

  I have decided to spend the next 2 years of my life studying design and design thinking because I believe that it will best enable me to make positive change in the world.

  My reason for this belief is founded in the history of design, product design in particular, which is the birthplace of design thinking.  Product design, a process based method of invention, historically focuses on the physical manifestations of solutions to human problems and dates back to humans turning branches into spears and before.

  Over the years the methods behind this type of problem solving have developed.  As business have pushed for decreases in product life cycles, the demand on product designers to continually innovate has intensified.  IDEO with its success in continually meeting this need has shown that in order to increase ones ability to solve problems one benefits from following a design process, or in other words practicing design thinking.

  From my point of view, it was this insight that spurred the d.school and its humanitarian desire to share this knowledge and the underlying skills with disciplines outside of the design field.

  While the media may be portraying design thinking as the pathway to a better future in its current state, I believe that the fact that design thinking is continuously reviewing its own process for areas of refinement the most potential.

  It is in that light that I invite and would greatly appreciate ideas on potential improvements to the d.school/GPD/ideo method. For, as a designer I know that what I bring to the table is my design process, the basis of design thinking, even though and indeed because of the fact that it is and always will be a prototype.

  Posted by Joe Mellin on Jan 14, 2008 at 1:27 AM

  Lido,

  YES!  The “problem” presented is often a result or symptom of the condition to be addressed.  A free-thinking approach allows examination from all points of view. By first reducing to the essence and then expanding to ultimate application designers could make life better for all. It is the defining of specifics too early which stifles creativity and is the death of so many ideas.

  The best part of the school this article describes is their proposal that “design thinking” be applied to intangible issues. If only our political leaders, elected bodies and policy makers would expand their thinking rather than settling for what they perceive the limitations to be (re-electibility for one) we would see genuine progress.

  Joe,

  You are entering a challenging and increasingly necessary field. Increasing population and decreasing commodities are currently seen only as cause for conflict. The “what if” factor must be pressed into service.

  Whether you work inside a company with an appreciation for your speciality, do as I did (as a free-lancer), service, a wide range of manufacturers and service providers, or apply critical, creative thinking in some other way — I want to wish you the best.

  Enjoy!

  Posted by whattheheck on Jan 15, 2008 at 8:45 AM

  If you are looking for “Design That Solves the Problems of the World’s Poor” then you are not going to find them with organisations such as IDEO I don’t think. What does IDEO do?

  By their own words:  http://www.ideo.com/portfolio/
  - Mouse - First production mouse for Lisa and Macintosh
  - Palm V - Connected organizer
  - Shopping Cart Concept - Redesign of the shopping cart for ABC’s Nightline
  - Staff Devices & Dressing Rooms - Information architecture for high-fashion store
  - Intel - Video scenarios of tech-enabled behaviors
  - Pantone - Multimedia tools to systematize color
  - Red Cross - Donor experience blueprint
  - HBO - Future vision of the media experience

  These are not solutions for the poor, for people with no clean drinking water and no sanitation or for a way out of the energy system mess and the resulting climate change.

  I submit that designs for these problems are actually around already, but they do not make money for the incumbent, so are not interesting. If you want to find new and interesting designs to actually interesting problems and important issues you have to look beyond the standard design, which only fits the norm.

  Computer geeks that design energy distribution systems and cars, lighting engineers that design sustainable food production systems are some. They are out there, just don’t look to the standard place to find the answers.

  Posted by bjelkeman on Jan 18, 2008 at 3:39 PM

  Whatttheheck,

  I just wanted to thank you for your wishes.  I think that even responding to this article has helped me better understand the points which it raises, and value the questioning, or what if factor.

  Thanks again,

  Joe

  Posted by Joe Mellin on Jan 18, 2008 at 3:58 PM

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