How to Talk about Design
“But, aren’t you teaching me how to think?”
I paused. As a design researcher, I knew exactly where this was going.
Right after a fantastic traditional Tswana dinner by my girlfriend, her sister asked me a completely reasonable question about the field of design. This wasn’t my first rodeo; I knew this was the start of a long debate.
“No, not exactly. It’s more like taking you through a process of understanding issues around you, and then developing solutions to address them.”
“Hm. Sounds like you’re teaching me how to think.”
If I wasn’t careful, this conversation would go around in circles, and she’d end much more confused than we started.
“No, It also involves learning how to take data about the world, learning how to make things, and learning how to test those things you made to see if they address the problems you’re addressing.”
“I still don’t get it.”
Sigh. Let me give you a better example.
I’m used to this confusion.
Since I started researching innovation practice, a field that offers in-depth…
