Designing In Fungible Intangible Spaces
A systems breakdown for quality design practice in digital & hybrid services
My mind is swirling as I just came out of an amazing conference I helped produce, Joint Futures. This article isn’t about the conference though, but about something I’ve been trying to process for a long time now about the act of designing, its place within other activities that create experiences, and how to work within the emerging complexity of the space of design practice within the larger contexts of making the world better through my work and the work of all whom I help through coaching, teaching, and consulting.
Talking about design itself is hard—very hard. Its dictionary definition focuses on the word “plan”. Either the act of making a plan or the plan itself. Jared Spool calls it the “rendering of intent.” I personally find both of these to be too general, and pretty unhelpful when trying to achieve some semblance of clarity with people both inside and outside of the practice. It is definitely useless if you are trying to get people to understand the value proposition of design practice. For me …
Design is most valuable when thought of as a differentiated collection of activities for creating forms.
