Design for Living Complexities

A 12-session course-in-development. Extracted from http://cct.wikispaces.com/design, a wikipage that invites reader input

Design is about intentionality in construction,
which involves

Design always involves putting people as well as materials into place,
which may happen by

Critical thinking involves understanding ideas and practices better when we examine them in relation to alternatives.
This course exposes and explores alternative designs through
In a sense, critical thinking is in design from the start, because design cannot proceed without the idea that there are alternatives to the current way of doing things.

Each course session:

1: Waste

Byproducts are products

2: Play

A yin and yang of design is intentional planning and play, to the extent that play involves ongoing experimenting and adjustment in putting people as well as materials into place.

3: Gathering into community

Putting people into place—as designers, users, co-designer-user—may happen by working with what you know about people, facilitating new arrangements, or working around their constraints.

4: Enabling

All disabilities can be reframed as opportunities to a) enable others and b) learn from those who are differently abled

5: Design thinking

(making such thinking available to all)
Imagine that you don't say "it's not my problem" or "this seems too hard for me to solve," and imagine instead that, whatever your age or background, you can rise to the challenge and contribute, through a series of steps, to a prototype to be tested in the real world.

6: Craft, improvisation, innovation and uptake

(design thinking in professional and commercial practice)
Craft, innovation, improvisation and uptake are well-managed learning.

7: Standards, Modularity and Infrastructure

"All invention is borrowing" (D. Pye, furniture designer); infrastructure already in place, standards and modularity enable the designer to know the properties of borrowed materials and have some sense of the possibilities and limits of adaptation into new arrangements. Indeed, Pye's dictum reminds us to build on what is already in place, not assume that new is better.

8: Local particularity

"All design is local" (to paraphrase Tip O'Neill)—ultimately what is designed has to work for particular people using the materials that can be made available in their particular setting.
To that end, a) the knowledge of the people most affected by the given issue needs to be brought into play and b) participation needs to be facilitated in ways that ensure that the full range of participants are invested in collaborating to bring the resulting design to fruition [see Gathering into community)
A corollary is for designers not to rely on early adopters of innovations, but to pay attention to users who, while prepared to adopt innovations, need them to be integrated with their own practical day-to-day concerns and specific situations [see innovation and uptake].
Finally, a corollary of all that is to acknowledge local distinctiveness or vernacular is to demand that the new keeps places worked in, lived in, not standardized, maintains employment etc.

9: Spanning distance

People distant in space can have their cultures profoundly shifted by mediated connections, especially those made around new technologies and the commodities they give rise to.

10: Integration of diverse social and material worlds

Instead of dividing real world complexities into many local situations (as if they were well-bounded systems with other processes pushed into the background or hidden for the time being), we can examine “intersecting processes” that cut across scales, involve heterogeneous components, and develop over time.
There is always a tension between, on one hand, local knowledge and solidarities forged through working and living together in particular places and, on the other hand, application of trans-local perspectives, abstractions, or other resources--or withholding such resources.
Within the intersecting processes, there are multiple potential points of engagement, which need to be linked together "transversally" in a manner that is intentional and explicit. In other words, if sustained engagement in local situations is desired to ensure that design is not a "solution.. for the problems that people don't have" (Myles Horton), what else is needed to mitigate the consequences of decisions made in governments and corporations operating on a larger spatial and temporal arena?

11: Keeping track

Possibilities for surveillance are an unavoidable by-product of standards and of keeping track of the effects of one's design.

12: Improving by taking stock (from design to adoption & adaption by others)

Making space to reflect, using various tools or processes, before proceeding either from one phase to another or on from an activity or event, makes it more difficult to simply continue along previous lines, opening up possibilities of alternative paths to proceed.


http://bit.ly/CE5PCASE
Case (for session 2 on Play): On average, children play less outdoors even though streets are safer. Moreover, play declines during adolescence into adulthood -> Design a program to shift the norms, practices, misperceptions, environments etc. EITHER back towards more play outdoors or unsupervised or other alternatives OR to extend play to older ages OR both.

1-minute responses from 25 July 13 (submitted here)
"Billy Wimsatt's model of walking through dangerous areas. Arrange guides. Decide to spend the time it takes. Cartoons on awkwardness."
"Craft spaces with lots and lots of materials of all sorts (technical, artistic, etc) and allow free access to these resources with very minimal inputs or directions on how they should be use. A Makerspace for youth."
"balance of availability of private spaces (back yards) and public ones (parks), structured and unstructured activities, with help organizing from adults (and adults getting out of the way)"

---
Plus-Delta Feedback on 5-minute presentation of earlier version of the above
Plus fleshed out thinking on the various elements of the course. Develop further: How about a session devoted to the design of a course session?

Plus great thoughtful content Delta ordering of chapters might be changed for structure

+ got everyone in an activity delta: shorter principles or what is the opening for others to invent their principles?

plus: yin/yang of intentionality, play; delta: what gets someone to know that they are at the right place/circumstances to appreciate your course?



































Schedule of Sessions, with readings and cases
Reading before course starts: Scott Huler (2010), On the Grid: A Plot of Land, An Average Neighborhood, and the Systems that Make Our World Work
(see also http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/infrastructure)

1a: Ice-breaker

Ice-breaker: Marshmallow challenge followed by discussion of the design principles involved.

1b: Waste

Byproducts are products
Reading: Preventing Waste at the Source, By Norman Crampton

Presentation:
Four laws of ecology popularized by Barry Commoner recast as four design principles:
1) Everything is connected to everything else (example).
2) Everything must go somewhere.
3) Nature knows best.
4) There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Principles 1 & 2 leading into Waste and byproducts are products, or the Engine and the atmosphere are part of the one system.
Including selections from

Case on the issue of Waste and byproducts are products
"How to respond to ways of subverting an ideal scheme of emissions tax and tariffs"

2a: Reports

Initial design sketches from the case of the previous session [not repeated in the syllabus from here on]

2b: Play

A yin and yang of design is intentional planning and play, to the extent that play involves ongoing experimenting and adjustment in putting people as well as materials into place.
Reading: V. Paley, You can't say you can't play or The girl with the brown crayon.

Presentation:

Case: On average, children play less outdoors even though streets are safer. Moreover, play declines during adolescence into adulthood -> Design a program to shift the norms, practices, misperceptions, environments etc. EITHER back towards more play outdoors or unsupervised or other alternatives OR to extend play to older ages OR both. (Bounce off models provided by 4H, Scouting, MADD, Little League sports, ...)

3: Gathering into community

Putting people into place—as designers, users, co-designer-user—may happen by working with what you know about people, facilitating new arrangements, or working around their constraints.
Reading: P. Fleischman, Seedfolks, http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Clubhouse/clubhouse-origins.pdf|Community computer clubs

Presentation:

Case:
"Learning from experience in the past and elsewhere to prepare for extreme climatic events and epidemics"

4: Enabling

All disabilities can be reframed as opportunities to a) enable others and b) learn from those who are differently abled.
Reading: xx

Presentation:

Case:
"Communities enabling the elderly"

5: Design thinking

Imagine that you don't say "it's not my problem" or "this seems too hard for me to solve," and imagine instead that, whatever your age or background, you can rise to the challenge and contribute, through a series of steps, to a prototype to be tested in the real world.
Reading: Computer Clubhouse (http://web.media.mit.edu/~mres/papers/Clubhouse/clubhouse-origins.pdf)

Presentation:

Case:
Appropriate low-tech (building off M. Cooley & Lucas Aerospace Plan)

|
From LCL course:
Find out about and visit a creative learning space in your local area.

By "creative learning space," we're thinking of a place in which people are creating projects --and learning from each other as part of the process.

Here are some questions you may want to note when visiting. You could focus on one or two, and share back to the group. If you are already an active participant, share your experience.

Projects - What kinds of projects are people working on? How would you describe the range or diversity of projects?
Interests - Where do the ideas for the projects come from? Are the projects based on individual, group, or community interests?
Learning Community - Do people help each other learn? Are there mentors in the space? Is there a trajectory of participation from newcomer to leadership roles?
Values - How do people treat each other in the community? Are there community guidelines or values that are discussed or agreed upon?
Space - Which aspects of the physical space support the creative learning process? What materials are available?

6: Local particularity

"All design is local" (to paraphrase Tip O'Neill)—ultimately what is designed has to work for particular people using the materials that are available in their particular setting.
To that end, the knowledge of the people most affected by the given issue needs to be brought into play and their participation needs to ensure that the full range of participants are invested in collaborating to bring the resulting design to fruition.
A corollary is for innovators not to rely on early adopters, but to pay attention to users who are prepared to adopt innovations, but need them to be integrated with their own practical day-to-day concerns and specific situations.

Reading: xx

Presentation:
foodsheds
Permaculture
Food Democracy Now
Slow foods
I. Illich
Transition towns
Cuban movie on post-oil adaptations
http://calculator.bioregional.com/
West of Eden
http://www.faculty.umb.edu/peter_taylor/TakingYourselfSeriouslyParticipation.html

Case:
"Sustenance in the city" Modeled on bioregional calculator, or on 10+10 questions, create a guide for planning your transition to sustainability, e.g., What role models can you find for changing your habits? Who are your local experts, for e.g. safe soils to grow foods in, composting, exercise, car alternatives, stream restoration, safe fishing, pest control, local dialects, local history & archeology, etc....

7: Integration of diverse social and material worlds

Instead of partitioning complex situations into well-bounded systems and backgrounded or hidden processes, we can examine “intersecting processes” that cut across scales, involve heterogeneous components, and develop over time.
There is always a tension between, on one hand, local knowledge and solidarities forged through working and living together in particular places and, on the other hand, application of trans-local perspectives, abstractions, or other resources--or withholding such resources.
Within the intersecting processes, there are multiple potential points of engagement, which need to be linked together "transversally" in a manner that is intentional and explicit. In other words, if sustained engagement in local situations can ensure that design is not a "solution.. for the problems that people don't have" (Myles Horton), what else is needed to mitigate the consequences of decisions made in governments and corporations operating on a larger spatial and temporal arena?

Reading: I. McHarg, Design with nature, Fathy, https://vimeo.com/15514401, Louv, Last Child in the Woods, chap. 19., Urmadic design, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_design, http://www.slowlab.net/CtC_SlowDesignPrinciples.pdf, Epilogue of Unruly Complexity

Presentation:

Case:
Cultural and environmental retrofit of the university

8: Standards and Modularity

"All invention is borrowing" (D. Pye, furniture designer); standards and modularity enable the designer to know the properties of borrowed materials and have some sense of the limits of adaptation into new arrangements.
Reading: xx

Presentation:
Hassan Fathy, https://vimeo.com/15514401,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5_LPYFyaFE, http://calearth.org/
Brad Bellows's Kuala Lumpur project,
Matt Frederick's book: http://www.amazon.com/101-Things-Learned-Architecture-School/dp/0262062666/ref=rec_dp_0
material properties
view,

Case:
"Low energy, low maintenance, affordable, DIY housing"

9: Keeping track

Possibilities for surveillance are an unavoidable by-product of standards.
Reading: xx

Presentation:
Critique of stream restoration standards
L. Busch
http://theaecassociates.com/blog/when-good-record-keeping-saved-lives-in-architectural-cad-services/
A. Gawande, The Checklist Manifesto, http://gawande.com/the-checklist-manifesto
Reproduction of images

Case:
Health surveillance, community and individual
(Mozorov opEd, Extensions of Scorecard, http://scorecard.goodguide.com/ (or Ontario Health Study), in which individuals keep track of their own histories of exposure; CounterPunch article)

10: Craft, innovation and improvisation

Craft, innovation and improvisation are well-managed learning.

Reading: E. Ries, The Lean Startup, D. Pye, The Art and Aesthetics of Design, http://artisansasylum.com/

Presentation:
http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/book/-/9781592535873,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2013/mar/15/products-through-the-ages-slideshow

Case:
"Modern apprenticeships, communities of practice, scaffolding"

11: Spanning distance

People very distant in space can have their cultures profoundly shifted by mediated connections, especially those made around new technologies and the commodities they give rise to.
Reading: xx

Presentation:

Case:
Variant of: Place the description of the video at http://papertiger.org/node/751 in a wide context by tracing connections from near and from far in place, time, practice, and culture. (Don’t watch the video at this point. Following your own interests and curiosity, use the internet to learn more about who, when, where, why, what led to this video for the different players involved, what followed from this, and so on. Use the blog to record what you find out and what further questions arise.)

12: Improving by taking stock (from design to adoption & adaption by others)

Making space to reflect, using various tools or processes, before proceeding either from one phase to another or on from an activity or event, makes it more difficult to simply continue along previous lines, opening up possibilities of alternative paths to proceed.

Reading: xx

Presentation:


Issues not (yet) explicitly included

see http://cct.wikispaces.com/design

Note contrast with:
Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design
William Lidwell; Kritina Holden; Jill Butler
Rockport Publishers
2010
http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/book/-/9781592535873

80/20 Rule

Accessibility

Advance Organizer

Aesthetic-Usability Effect

Affordance

Alignment

Anthropomorphic Form

Archetypes

Area Alignment

Attractiveness Bias

Baby-Face Bias

Biophilia Effect

Cathedral Effect

Chunking

Classical Conditioning

Closure

Cognitive Dissonance

Color

Common Fate

Comparison

Confirmation

Consistency

Constancy

Constraint

Contour Bias

Control

Convergence

Cost-Benefit

Defensible Space

Depth of Processing

Design by Committee

Desire Line

Development Cycle

Entry Point

Errors

Expectation Effect

Exposure Effect

Face-ism Ratio

Factor of Safety

Feedback Loop

Fibonacci Sequence

Figure-Ground Relationship

Fitts' Law

Five Hat Racks

Flexibility-Usability Tradeoff

Forgiveness

Form Follows Function

Framing

Freeze-Flight-Fight-Forfeit

Garbage In­Garbage Out

Golden Ratio

Good Continuation

Gutenberg Diagram

Hick's Law

Hierarchy

Hierarchy of Needs

Highlighting

Horror Vacui

Hunter-Nurturer Fixations

Iconic Representation

Immersion

Inattentional Blindness

Interference Effects

Inverted Pyramid

Iteration

Law of Prägnanz

Layering

Legibility

Life Cycle

Mapping

Mental Model

Mimicry

Mnemonic Device

Modularity

Most Advanced Yet Acceptable

Most Average Facial Appearance Effect

Normal Distribution

Not Invented Here

Nudge

Ockham's Razor

Operant Conditioning

Orientation Sensitivity

Performance Load

Performance Versus Preference

Personas

Picture Superiority Effect

Priming

Progressive Disclosure

Propositional Density

Prospect-Refuge

Prototyping

Proximity

Readability

Recognition Over Recall

Red Effect

Redundancy

Rosetta Stone

Rule of Thirds

Satisficing

Savanna Preference

Scaling Fallacy

Scarcity

Self-Similarity

Serial Position Effects

Shaping

Signal-to-Noise Ratio

Similarity

Stickiness

Storytelling

Structural Forms

Symmetry

Threat Detection

Three-Dimensional Projection

Top-Down Lighting Bias

Uncanny Valley

Uncertainty Principle

Uniform Connectedness

Veblen Effect

Visibility

Visuospacial Resonance

von Restorff Effect

Wabi-Sabi

Waist-to-Hip Ratio

Wayfinding

Weakest Link