Design as A Discipline of Integrative Thinking: A Review
At Indiana University, 12.14.2018
Introduction
Adopted and taught in the world leading business companies and universities, design thinking has gained a large population of audience and practitioners in both academia and industry. However, looking back to the concept “Design Thinking” itself, chances are that people’s definition and interpretation towards it may vary. The discussion about the foundations of design and design thinking has lasted for decades and yet the variety of design’s definition as well as the range and connections of design are still expanding. Traditionally, the focus of design in on the visual representation and functionality. Bauhaus[1], for instance, is the iconic representative of bringing functionality to design and bridge the gap between industry and art. Design also further grow to be seen as problem- solving methodologies for complex and systematic problems. Furthermore, it is also defined as “a new liberal art of technical culture” and a discipline of integrative thinking.[2]
Design as a discipline of integrative thinking
Identifying design as a new liberal art[2], Richard Buchanan depicts this concept from Dewey’s exploration of science, art, and practice. Dewey suggests a new viewpoint where he sees science as an art. Instead of seeing science seizing the gist of ultimate reality by understanding nature’s fixed arrangement, he points that knowledge, i.e. the result as scientific research is gained through manipulation of natural energies which instead is “the orders of changing”. And if we can see the intelligence embedded in the practice of art and science, as well as the underlying experimental properties and enjoyed meanings of them, science in this sense is an art which “is now the product of operations deliberately undertaken in conformity with a plan or project that has the properties of a working hypothesis”[3]. Moreover, based on the notion of science as an art, Dewey further defines technology as the art of experimental thinking. On the other hand, liberal arts have the origin in the Renaissance and continued to progress till the nineteenth century. Including natural science, philosophy, social science, art etc. the subject matters of liberal arts have developed their own methodology and “provided an integrated understanding of human experience…”[2]. In this case, according to the discussion above about art, science, and technology, it’s fairly easy for us to recognize design as the new liberal art which provides the integrative thinking and understanding which combines different subject matters of human experience.
Based on the definition as a discipline of integrative thinking, design can be further categorized into four areas including visual communications, material objects, activities and organized services, and complex system and environments. These areas can be mapped into specific practices or fields of study, from graphic design and typography, product design, service design and business strategy, and urban planning and system engineering etc. Actually, those subject matters are not separate. An example from the present day is the current smartphone. The product design for both software and hardware of it serve as the foundations of its functionality, while material objects (including both the virtual and physical materiality) in turn also influence our way of communication which is a subject of visual design. In addition, the intellectual thinking of how smartphones can organize social activities was embodied within its creation at the beginning. Moreover, nowadays smartphones have already formed the base of online infrastructure which serves as the environment for entertainment, learning, working etc. All these areas are closely interconnected, coordinated, and integrated to form a multi-fold human experience which fully embodies the integrative thinking.
Design thinking: the integrated problem-solving approach
True, nowadays design as a discipline has been developed far beyond just fulfilling the needs of aesthetics and functionality of products. People turn to design for answers to problems that are more complex and systematic. In face of these challenges, design develops its own approach, i.e. design thinking, which embody the core of integrative thinking.
Unlike its name suggests, design thinking is the methodology, process or a set of tools to address emerging and increasing complex problems (e.g. how to provide easily accessible and low-cost online education). It generally contains three main spaces: Inspiration, ideation, and implementation. [4]
Inspiration is the phase which starts with a design brief. The brief depicts and somehow constrains the problem, or say design space. Research in the problem space is then carried out. By synthesizing insights from the research, one or more new frames are proposed, each of them points to an opportunity to intervene in the problem.
After the frame is created, it comes to ideation where designers are encouraged to come up with various solutions to the problem frames. Here divergent thinking is of the highest priority. Divergent thinking facilitates exploration which expands the vision of the design intervention. Only by this can we figure out the most compelling solutions by comparing them to each other. To facilitate divergent thinking, judgment is ought to be avoided. The design team should build on each others’ idea to enrich the cluster of possible solutions. Increasing the diversity of staff composition is usually highly recommended since interdisciplinary environment tends to open up discussion.
By testing the results of ideation, the best idea gets the chance to be further developed and refined, which comes to the third space of design thinking, i.e. implementation. Prototyping is at the core of implementation. The idea goes through several iterations according to the feedback from testing. Implementation gives designers the chance to see the unpredictable challenges in real application.
Although intuitively inspiration, ideation, and implementation are orderly steps in sequence, they are not always carried out in the order we discuss above. Furthermore, even though the spaces of design thinking process are somehow fixed, the execution of design thinking could be achieved flexibly. That is to say, one can choose different methods to achieve the exploration of the three main design thinking spaces. For instance, either contextual inquiry or observation could be used as the research method for inspiration, only if the implementation of that method has a rationale for how it can open up our understanding towards the design space. In other words, the gist of design thinking is to identify patterns and through a human-centered integrated approach.
The core of design thinking is problem framing. [5] An example from myself is how we assist IxDA to address the food insecurity problem in Indiana State, US. At the very beginning of the project, what was given by IxDA is the brief introduction of the problem — one in seven people in Indiana are food insecure — as well as the definition of food insecurity: “the state of being without reliable access to sufficient quantity of affordable and nutritious food”. Through design thinking process, we investigated the stakeholders and the corresponding artifacts ecologies through a set of combined user research methods (observation, diary study, interview, and focus group) to depict a systematic view of food insecurity. Serving as the very back-end of food support system, government connects with food banks and food pantries to reach out to food insecure people. Commonly what you can see from the research is the low efficiency of the organization of food management and team management in the food assistance program. The transportation of food supplies, as well as the accessibility of food pantries to food insecure population, also reduce the efficiency of the whole system. However, a deep dive into food insecurity helped us to realize that the stigma towards the food insecure is deeply embedded in the whole system which is easy to be ignored. In fact, the whole food assistance program is sort of established based on the stigma. People who join the food assistance program often feel embarrassed when they use food stamps. The strict verification of qualification in receiving food assistance also discomforts them. Once the word food insecure is implemented, labels and groups are created. But most food insecure people are actually average people who are experiencing a certain period of a hard time during which intermittent support is needed. Stigma intimidates people and blocks them from receiving the help they need. According to this insight, we decide to intervene to eliminates the stigma.
Problem framing here is at the core of design practice. By proposing a frame through which we construct value and meaning, we open up the opportunity to destruct the crux of the previous frame. More interestingly, nowadays Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) in the field of psychological therapy also holds the same mindset. By taking a look at one’s belief, usually deeply rooted since his/her traumatic experiences, therapist reframes the belief to point at a new viewpoint. The correlated emotions and behaviors probably will be changed under the new frame. A simple example could be that one might see his/her anxiety as a problem that leads to worse performance in a presentation. Instead of giving instructions on how to calm down, which is an adjustment on emotions or behaviors, REBT therapist might propose that anxiety actually is a sign of excellent performance. Since anxiety is the way to relax. Once you start to panic, that means you are moving towards calmness. He then might say: Keep on panicking and be more anxious, you are on the way! By reframing anxiety as a way that must be passed to reach calmness, the negative belief and emotions are eliminated, chances are the correlated behaviors are then automatically adjusted, i.e. the subject handle the presentation more easily than before.
In this sense, a good design suggests new frames which creates new value and leads to revolutionary change.
Why do design and design thinking matter?
Seeing design as a discipline of integrative thinking and design thinking as a human- centered approach to figure out complex problematic situation naturally, lead us to think about why do design and design thinking matter?
Proposed by Xiaoping Deng in 1988, the paramount leader of the People’s Republic of China, the theory “science and technology are the primary production forces” is deeply rooted in Chinese people’s mindset since then. Science and technology have long been esteemed in a higher rank in contemporary society, compared to which design rarely receive equal regard. However, just because nowadays science and technology bring the productivity to a higher level, design’s role becomes even more significant at present.
Comparison of the form of reasoning in the fields of science and design further shed light on present-day design’s role. In the science field, especially in the “context of discovery”, there are two prevailing forms of analytical reasoning: Induction and Deduction (Figure 2) [5].
Commonly executed in scientific experiment settings, deductive reasoning allows us to predict the result when a subject is presented and the working principles are fully studied. Similarly, inductive reasoning happens when we observe a result, a phenomenon, a change of status, and we know the situation and object but the working principle, i.e. how it happens, is missing. In scientific experiment settings where research subject and variables are limited and linearized (e.g. economists simplify the market behavior and variables to present demand and supply curve model), deductive and inductive yields well-organized theories and justification. However, when it comes to a complex situation, or say, “wicked problem” where variables are indefinite, ever-changing and even contradictory such as urban planning, environmental or political issues, there is no single right solution to the problematic situation. Hence another kind of reasoning is needed, which is Abduction (Figure 3). [5]
In face of “wicked problems”, instead of pursuing certain results, people aspire after values. In other words, the complexity of the problem makes it hard to be addressed through analytical reasoning. Similar to the mindset in REBT, to move forward new values are desired and new frames for us to see through the problem are needed. Here, design as a new liberal art which provides integrative thinking from interdisciplinary viewpoints comes to the rescue.
In the era where globalization is enormously boosted by current scientific and technological progress, no matter in industry or academia, subject matters of studies tend to become complex, interlocked and multi-fold. Design as a discipline of integrative thinking in this background plays an increasingly important role.
