Making Better Design Decisions (11/15)
A Wide Sustainability Lens to Design
Today we welcomed Tom Ainsworth from the University of Brighton to speak on sustainable design, the dimensions that this could include and how to conceive of our design practices and research in relation to how we shape the world.
Decision Making and Sustainability
To kick off, Tom offered his understanding of sustainability and the types of decisions we make through a triad of:
Motivation/Identity: Guiding moral and ethical frameworks that you can refer to when informing your designs
Beneficiary/User: What impacts your ideas have on them, to what extent are their voices heard? Does this look very design-led or more participatory?
Harm: While we cannot eliminate all harm, identifying where harm might occur is the first step in driving a sense of accountability
From this understanding, he outlined a series of points to keep in mind when tending to issues in accessibility and sustainability:
- Nurturing the idea of constructive debate and positive resistance. Rather than an antagonistic stance, an agonistic take invites critique and discussion as ways to fill in our own blind spots.
- Thinking beyond the outcome- the moment you release work into the world, it will change in unexpected and unintended ways. What implications might you monitor and reflect on; how might your ideas go on to seed other ideas?
- Considering a pluralized way of design- everything we do is relational. When you work within complexity, you will uncover new opportunities.
Moving on, Tom reminded us to look at the framing of issues and our decisions about them. The way we frame our practice is a conscious choice. How can we step beyond pre-determined ideas of design? In evaluating the edges of this frame, you can ensure the things you respond to, and design, align with your ethical and moral frameworks.
How does this apply to practice?
Example projects from Sustainable Design Masters students
Tom shared with us a few examples of past student projects from the MA in Sustainable Design at Brighton, which are briefly summarized below– in each, a distinct approach, topic, medium and focus is highlighted, which shows the expansive space and shape that design projects can take:
Feminisms and the Oceans, Bea Maggipinto
Commoning the oceans as a shared resource, rather than something to be extracted and exploited.
Systemic Complexity, Suzanne Smulders
Theoretical framing and taking a philosophical approach to sustainable design.
Inter-Species Relations, Madeleine Rogers
Rethinking an anthropocentric lens and examining the often sinister relationships we have with other living species.
Data Ethics, Kirsten Chen
Designing for current needs without compromising the wellbeing and needs of the future.
Bio-Matters, Hannah Hansell
Implications of new biomaterials emerging from technologies and textile futures.
Block Builders, Joe Palmer
Using Minecraft in participatory design to inform the use and design of communal spaces.
Questions
Engaging in conversation, a Q&A with students:
What was your path in design leading you to your current interests and “designing design”?
Tom got his start in craft and making. As he started to think about the different opportunities and affordances for materials, he began to imagine how they can act as analogies for our interactions in everyday life.
Now, as somewhat of a nomadic scholar, he meanders through different projects and opportunities that give different ways of thinking about design.
In design, especially when challenging a status quo, it’s difficult to witness the implementation or longevity of a design- any advice on how to address this?
One of the attributes of design as a discipline is the ability to tell stories. Many times, futures-oriented and speculative design is centered around discourse, but right now things need to be commercially viable. This can be challenging if you’re attempting to fight against economic norms. Your argument needs to be compelling, and in balancing scale and longevity people will be able to buy in to your ideas.
Zooming out for a bit, if we were able to move away from a “solution-centric” mindset towards an “alternatives-generating” perspective, we would create a more realistic expectation around a suite of solutions, rather than a singular “cure all”.
What to do when client or company values seem inherently unsustainable?
Where do you place your personal priorities? Are you prepared to sacrifice your own values in order to satisfy the values of a client/company, or are you willing to turn down jobs?
We aim to equip people with the ability to ask these questions and call out such practices. As a designer, you’re not just there to enact others’ wills- rather than seeing yourself only as “doers”, imagine yourself as “thinkers”.
How do we teach people to design for the future, keeping sustainability in mind- what’s the most important thing you would communicate or teach?
Future-focused design can become utopian and idealistic- a helpful way to think about it is to think about the mundane. How do we actually live? Holding on to the everyday and seeing opportunities to be radical should be prioritized.
At the end of the day, specific skills and technologies will evolve. Nurturing your personal moral and ethical framework will allow you to adapt and keep up with the demands of the future.
A Design Research Model
For the second part of the lecture, Tom reviewed his understanding and definition of the design research process, as both a practitioner and an instructor who guides students through this process.
Consider how you frame where research is most dominant in your project or philosophy
You might:
- Research into what’s already out there, making comparisons and conducting contextual reviews
- Research through, using design to explore the world in different ways
- Research for, utilizing findings for direct application
I. Descriptive Processes — The way you use and work with materials to identify a series of ideas
Source: Reaching out to find what’s already out there and engaging with existing materials
Summary: Extracting and editing what is useful and interesting to you
Themes: Identifying themes that emerge from what interests you. To produce interesting, exciting work, you should expect to immerse in interesting, exciting work.
Question Seeking: Generating new questions and ideas, then circling back to existing materials and resources
II. Critical/Analytical Processes — Making sense of ideas to identify your positionality
Discussion: Identifying critique and friction points, making sense and organizing themes, and making judgements of what you align with.
Opportunities: Identifying opportunities to demonstrate your design skills, and creating a roadmap that leads you into your design proposition and actions.
III. Statements — Declaring your positionality through design outcomes
Insights: Committing to a particular direction, and allowing your voice to shape a particular design outcome.
