How Might We Help Designers Understand Systems?

Abstract

The Future of Design Education working group on systems outlines the growth of professional practice from a focus on designing artifacts to also include designing systems and designing in the context of systems. They describe a holistic approach to design, one grounded in systems theory and recognition that systems intersect with all aspects of design. They acknowledge that systems are social constructions and can be framed in many ways. They assert that systems exhibit structural and behavioral patterns across instances, and they advocate for the development of models (proxies) that forefront these patterns and make it possible to align views of situations and possible future ways of being with teams and stakeholders under participatory design processes. The working group also notes that systems are never complete and that even small changes may have large effects. This article lists a series of recommendations aimed at design students regarding the knowledge that they should have and the actions that they should take when working around systems, and it provides an overview through which to consider more specific recommendations related to natural, social, and technical systems by other Future of Design Education working groups.

Keywords

• Complex adaptive systems
• Designing for systems
• Models
• Product-service ecologies
• User agency
• Ethics