Design for Living Complexities

"a Research Lab in the design department (INDACO) of the Politecnico di Milano [that] focuses on the visual representation of complex social, organizational and urban phenomena"

"Creativity, although important, is secondary to understanding. First understand, then create 'based upon that understanding', (then iterate)."

see esp. Transformational Deisgn Transformational Design: 1) Defining and redefining the brief: Whereas traditionally designers are brought in to follow a brief, the transformation design approach involves an analysis of the wider implications of a design problem. 2) Collaboration between disciplines: Recognizing that complex problems need to be addressed through a multI-faceted approach, we rely on collaboration for results. 3) Employing participatory design techniques: Advocating bottom-up design methodology - involving users and front-line workers in the design process. Making the design process more accessible to 'non-designers'. 4) Building capacity not dependency: Transformational design seeks to leave behind not only a designed solution, but the tools, skills and organizational capacity to respond to change. 5) Designing beyond traditional solutions & 'systems thinking'. Applying design skills in non-traditional territories, and also creating non-traditional design outputs. 'Systems thinking' is the ability to consider an issue holistically rather than reductively. 6) Creating fundamental change: Transformational design aims high: to fundamentally transform systems and cultures.

by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler

2008 conference

" The SusHouse methodology is in essence a combination of creativity workshops and scenario building together with stakeholders. The methodology has been inspired to a large extend by the methodology developed in the Sustainable Technological Development (STD) Programme of the Netherlands (1992-1997), and in this Programme by the project Sustainable Washing. An important element of the methodology is called 'Back-casting' (think backwards from a desirable or unavoidable future situation). Like in the STD Programme the premise of the project is that in the long term (50 years) a drastic reduction of environmental burden is necessary (factor 20). This reduction will not be reached by just incremental technological innovations. More drastic technological as well as socio-cultural and organisational changes will be necessary. The hypothesis in the project is that there are interesting opportunities for instance in the concepts of sharing, leasing and service-products. The project consists of the following steps: 1. Investigation of functions in countries (Jan 98-Aug 98) 2. Expert interviews and stakeholder enrolling (Jan 98 - Dec 98) 3. Creativity and backcasting workshops with experts and stakeholders (Nov 98-Jan 99) 4. Scenario-building (Jan 99 - Feb 99) 5. Assessment of the scenario's (Feb 99 - Sep 99) 6. Follow Up workshops with experts and stakeholders (Oct 99 - Dec 99) 7. Reporting and spinn-off (Jan 2000 - June 2000) The scenario assessments are threefold: 1. Analysis of environmental gains and impacts (contact information) 2. Assessment of economic consequences and viability (contact information) 3. Assessment of consumer acceptance (contact information) Each of the three SusHouse household functions (Shopping, Cooking and Eating; Clothing Care; Shelter) is being researched in three countries: SCE Clothing Care Shelter Italy X X UK X X Netherlands X X Hungary X Germany X X

short example of unwanted assistance and sensitivity to that

The collective behavior of ants, TED talk by the writer to follow

Another response to the book, The Wisdom of Crowds, by Surowiecki, and You Are Not a Gadget, by Jaron Lanier with 2 definitions of intelligence and their limitations. Further comments to the post by readers.

A tremendous treasury of articles on collective intelligence from  2017- 2007

The paper is organized as follows. It starts with a brief clarification of the target phenomenon: wisdom of crowds, in Surowiecki's book, covers a wide variety of phenomena which cannot be encompassed within a single approach, and I will spell out where my focus lies, viz. in the 'mindless' processes of aggregation of individual cognitive competences which tend to result in cognitive progress. I will then propose a contrastive characterization of rationality, intelligence and wisdom, as they apply to individuals. Next I will examine the possibility of extending these terms to collective entities or processes (leaving rationality to the side, for reasons which will become clear) and ask to what extent wisdom of crowds can be regarded as a form or realization of collective intelligence and/or collective wisdom. The answer will turn out to depend on which variety of collective processes one is considering: wisdom of crowds in the sense which is central to Surowiecki's argument will qualify as collective intelligence, not as collective wisdom. I will argue, on the other hand, that there exists a more familiar kind of collective process which does meet the requirements on a reasonable extension of the concept of wisdom to the collective level, but is at best distantly related to what Surowiecki reports on and commends.

 It's one of the strange byproducts of the Obama era that many white people have begun to understand themselves in the explicit terms of identity politics, long the province of those on the margins.

waste/ byproduct

When to assist, and circumstances in stores and restaurants that "abled" persons may take for granted and not think of ahead of time. 

Transportation related challenges for the physically impaired, social exclusions and geographical access,

virtual devices for treating mental illnesses

samples videos of some VR technology for PTSD and Autism

another addition to the endless supply of cleverly designed daily assists -some may be relevant to the lesson theme