Design: A Paradigm Shift — I
Does the wheel need reinventing?
I hope this post to be my first in a (most probably) long series as an attempt to delineate the current state of design philosophies and their practical use in business and corporate environments.
I started writing the drafts for this series during 2018 (although it might have been in my head years before), a couple months after I moved to London and started to perceive first hand the general understanding of design and the changes of outlook that had been occurring.
I hope this not to be one more ‘Design thinking’ series, explaining the thought process behind being a designer. But I’d like to turn it around and invite you to…
Think about Design.
Sounds like a herculean task to do, too broad of a spectrum to start with when we consider that this discipline precedes the invention of written language. We are talking here about the year 30,000 BCE approximately, and perhaps even before that — I’m referring to the Lascaux cave paintings: one of the first human made visual abstractions as a means of communication. Im referring to the first tools made by humans hands, using wood, stone and mud.
As to establish an anchoring point for the journey, I propose myself the exercise of going from a present analysis of current design philosophy trends and mirror them with the past and also future possibilities.
A great philosopher once said:
“What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.”
But is this entirely true in the world of design?
A change of paradigm is in motion. But for what purpose and what is fueling this change? And also, if this is the case: Is this paradigm shift trying to build ex-nihilo or does it take into account the history and development of the discipline? Is this even possible?
I could very roughly describe the time map I propose as follows:
- Art & Crafts: The artist, the artisan, craftmanship — The work of art — The invention of the press
- Graphic Design / Product Design: The advent of publicity and marketing -The industrial revolution
- Customer Experience Design (CX) / User Experience Design (UX)* Computers and The Internet — Devices and Apps
- ‘-X’: The fourth industrial revolution. A copious amount of ‘X’ disciplines are on the horizon everyday. Notice that I left the word ‘design’ out of the name, and pay attention to this detail as you read design posts or watch videos on the internet.
*We are here now
An outlook on the word ‘Design’
If you had to describe what design means to you, what words would you use?
To analyse the here and now of Design is an immense task. Geopolitics, Finance, Psychology, Sociology, History, Linguistics, Semiotics, and a never ending list of disciplines, that one could feel tempted to consider disconnected with Design, affect it- define it- transform it.
Simply because what defines us as humans is Communication in the broadest sense of the word.
Based on multiple definitions of Design by numerous authors (that I will share in subsquent posts), I dare to formulate my own definition as follows:
Design is communication in action. The selection of an adapted medium and code through the application of techniques to convey messages effectively.
Please mind that the choice of words is intentional and perhaps each of them will evolve as I continue my work through these blogposts, and hopefully, contrast it with your feedback and outlooks.
‘Messages and communication’, you could perhaps think of a hundred ‘What ifs’?
For instance, is the product designer of a toaster ‘communicating’? Toasters should only serve a function, the function of ‘making toasts’.
When an architect designs a house, isn’t this person just working on achieving the function of ‘giving someone a place to live in’?
When someone designs the layout of an app, isn’t this for the purpose of helping the user achieve their objectives within the app?
Illustrations: aren’t they just a subjective representation that comes out the imagination of a 'creative' mind not taking into account anything else?
Or what about the X in this time map? There’s hundreds of those new distinctions coming up on the internet these days, as I previously mentioned, but the paradigm shift is getting increasingly interesting.
What about Experiences?
We are currently designing for humans but there’s a new kid on the block: AI.
What about not only Designing with AI... But for Artificial Intelligences?
Here are some definitions of design from other authors gathered from this post. They need further analysis from my side as I find some areas of agreement and disagreement:
Koss Looijesteijn: A design is a plan to make something new for people, that they precieve as beneficial.
Donald A. Schön: Design is a reflective conversation with the materials of a design solution.
Scott Berkum: It’s the difference between your favorite and least favorite thing you use.
Harold Nelson and Erik Stolterman: Design is its own culture of inquiry and action.
What a broad spectrum! In further posts I will analyse the previous examples I put on the table and definitions of Design by different authors and designers as to continue working with my hypothesis in this analysis of design.
I hope this serves as a short introduction to this series. Always welcome to feedback: share your thoughts, links, books and ideas.
Thank you and see you next time!
References
⬥ Four Definitions of Design — Sonja Sarah Porter
https://uxdesign.cc/four-definitions-of-design-9e107fb057c5
⬥ Charles Sanders Peirce: Logic
https://uxdesign.cc/four-definitions-of-design-9e107fb057c5
