Resources to be more Systemic in your design process
The future of the planet relies on our responsibility to be more just, equitable, and sustainable. The first step is to access the research and resources available for us to leverage.
Systemic Design is typically viewed from an idealistic and often intangible lens, thought of as largely theoretical and difficult to put into practice.
In addition to the concept being challenging to grasp due to its broad and all-encompassing nature, there is also not one agreed upon definition or title. For example, ‘Systemic by Design’, ‘systemic design’, ‘systems design’, ‘systems-led design’, ‘system-oriented design’, ‘systems thinking in design’, ‘sustainable system design’, and the list goes on…[those titles] are all essentially referencing the same concept.
Systemic Design, understood from my point of view, simply means having the necessary context needed to make decisions and the ability to switch between a holistic understanding of the system, stakeholder, user needs, and the needs of those not directly involved in the system yet still affected by the decision made within the system.
By contrast, the Design Thinking process is typically seen as a means of innovating new solutions through a human-centered, or, “bottom-up” approach. However, Systems Thinking is typically thought of as a “top-down” and big picture view of the ecosystem (Tjendra, 2018).
With a systems thinking mindset, the designer starts to view products and services as not the ‘end goal’ but as different leverage points within the system. With a systems thinking mindset the idea of “solutions” doesn’t exist. Things are constantly changing and evolving and it [systemic design] refutes the idea of a “solution” or end-state. There are only interventions, which may have positive or negative effects.
Leverage points are places within a complex system, a corporation, an economy, a living body, a city, an ecosystem, and so forth, where an incremental and slight shift in one area can produce significant changes in everything (Donella Meadows, 1999).
However, if you are not satisfied with that summation *and you should NOT be*, here is a thorough, yet not exhaustive, list of resources for you to determine your own definition and point of view on Systemic Design!
Ethics & Responsibilities
Resilience by Design — Alexandra Jayeun Lee
Society Centered Design — Projects by if
Ruined by Design — Mike Monteiro
Sustainable Development Goals — United Nations
Circular Economy — Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Ethics of Design — Sylvain Julé
Reading
Thinking in Systems: A Primer — Donella Meadows
The Fifth Discipline — Peter M. Senge
Leverage Points — Donella Meadows
Systems Thinking for Social Change — David Peter Stroh
The Waters of Systems Change — John Kania, Mark Kramer, Peter M. Senge
Soft Systems Methodology — Peter Checkland
Five Principles for Enacting Equity by Design — Estela Mara Bensimon, Alicia C. Dowd and Keith Witham
Designing Freedom — Stafford Beer
Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design — Kat Holmes, John Maeda
Tools for Systems Thinkers — Leyla Acaroglu
Systems Thinking 101 — Artefact Group
A case for Systemic Design — Allison Bouganim
Club of Rome — [List of Publications]
Systems thinking for designers — Fjord; Firat Toroglu and Michelle Mulvey
10 principles for designers on how to not fuck up our future — Fabian Gampp
Academic Reading
Systems Thinking and Design Thinking — Richard Buchanan
DesignX: Complex Sociotechnical Systems — Donald A. Norman; Pieter Jan Strappers
System Dynamics: Foundation Under Systems Thinking — Jay W. Forrester, Sloan School of Management
Systemic Design Principles for Complex Social Systems — Peter H. Jones
The Web of Life: A New Understanding of Living Systems — Fritjof Capra
Handling Societal Complexity — Dorien J Detombe
Creative Holism: A Critical Systems Approach to Complex Problem Situations — Michael C Jackson
Transition Design: A Proposal for a New Area of Design Practice, Study, and Research — Terry Irwin
Design For Common Good: Systemic Design — Allison Bouganim
Of Clouds and Clocks — Karl Popper
Mapping disciplinary mobility for tackling complex problems — Luis Marines
Videos
Powers of Ten™ — Easmes Office
If Russ Ackoff had given a TED Talk… — Russell Ackoff
How Designers Destroyed the World — Mike Monteiro
Systems Thinking for a Better World — Peter M. Senge
Idealized Design, Systems Thinking, and a Model for Outlier Innovation — Russell Ackoff
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace — Richard Brautigan
Collapse of Complex Societies — Joseph A. Tainter
Transition Design — Terry Irwin
Ego-system to Ecosystem — Allison Bouganim
Courses
Systems Practice — Acumen Academy
Systems Thinking — UnSchool
Tools and Frameworks
The Tarot Cards of Tech — Artefact Group
Equity-Centered Design Framework — Tania Anaissie, Stanford d.school
Equity-Centered Community Design — Creative Reaction Lab
Systems Thinking Toolkit — FSG
Biomimicry Toolbox — Biomimicry Institute
Circular Systems Design Handbook — UnSchool
Circular Design Guide — IDEO, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Data Ethics Canvas — Open Data Institute
Anti-Racist Design Justice Index — Design as Protest
Connecting Systems Thinking and Action — Ed Cunliff
Systems Thinking Resources — Donella Meadows
Iceberg Model — Ecochallenge
Systemic by Design Process & Playbook — Allison Bouganim
How to Begin Designing for Diversity — Project Inkblot
Systemic Design Framework — Design Council
Sustainable Development Goals — United Nations
Take your time with these resources because this is definitely a case of information overload.
You can reference an earlier article I wrote here, which describes my framing for systemic design, starting from adding systems thinking into the design thinking process to account for unintended consequences.
I hope this is a helpful foundation for your further inquiry!
