Designing For Change
The only thing that remains constant in our life is change. However, not all change is growth, as all movement is not forward, and so not every change that occurs can or will be regarded as progress. In this way change is inevitable, but progression is merely a choice.
I ask you what is your response to change? Can you honestly say that you embrace change? Or alternatively, do you resist it?
As a critical practice of design the currency of what a “designer” deals in — is in essence about ‘change.’ However, what is not acknowledged or taught of enough is how to identify, explore and if necessary challenge the assumptions that underlie how we perceive change and the decisions we make because of it.
Designers or those using design methods should have an in-depth understanding of the mechanics and movements of change and link the methods and hard skills they need to use appropriate to a challenge set before as opposed to using cookie-cutter out-of-the-box methods.
What we need to do is change how we are using design because in truth there is no one way to innovate or design; therefore we should not prescribe to one methodology or one school of thought on the way to formulating a solution but rather adapt and harmonise a variety of design methods, skills and philosophies.
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete — Buckminster Fuller
Cue the ‘Emyrs Cycle of Change’ (ECC) which is conceptual process model I have been working on for some time that I have been using as a way to help try and teach how to ‘design for change’ whether you instigate it or react to a changing conditions.
The ECC shows what forces influence change, outlining the consciousness and movements of those changes, the modalities those changes go through and the types of change that will determine the magnitude of the kind of change that occurs.
What I am concerned with here is how a designer can shape change, influence it and harness it to make progress. It is a quest to analyse how ‘design’ and ‘change’ influences each other and mitigates a capacity to transform.
The ‘Emyrs Cycle of Change’ (ECC) shows what forces influence change, outlining the consciousness and movements of those changes, the modalities those changes can go through and the types of change that will determine the magnitude of change that occurs. Through it we can begin to identify all the elements of the ‘change’ paradigm and how it affects the system of progress by influencing the other constituent elements, particles and forces that create, shape and model it.
What I hoped that the ‘Emyrs Cycle of Change’ (ECC) would do would be much like what the ‘Krebs Cycle of Creativity’ does. In that, it elicits debate and revision in regards to connecting different perspectives around the same topic to illustrate a much more holistic view.
The future of design relies on us being able to have some accurate and carnal knowledge of all design disciplines as it pertains to making a change. So if designers are going to remain relevant in the future, we need to look at the mechanics of change through a design lens.
The ‘Emyrs Cycle of Change’ (ECC) is an example of how to best manage and reference this and the increasingly important role of the ‘designer’ in the age of disruption and transformation.
