It is clear that Design is going through the same transformational process that Rahul Mehrotra describes as attributes of a kinetic city: elasticity, incrementalism and soft boundaries. Everywhere Design is taking on bigger and more complex challenges. Finding ways to solve some of the world's most wicked problems.
The more I looked at the talks and listened to the speakers however, the more I got a sense that the debate was demonstrating strong signs of a bounded rationality where Designers have a unique monopoly on the truth of transformation. I got the feeling that the agents of change were always cast as Designers, leading the way and finding clever solutions. We live in an ever more systemically dependent world, the individual no longer has the capacity or the ability to "solve" a problem and solutions in one part of the system invariably lead to unintended consequences somewhere else.
The act of design needs to be released from an individual truth charge to a systemic imperative. We need to usher in an era of ego-less design where the act of designing is not really intended to validate or dependent on a Designer id-entity. Why? Because the id-entity of the designers need to be fed on repeat business and new clients and the way to achieve this is by closely aligning with their visible contribution to change and transition. The object and "shiny new thing" becomes the lowest common denominator of debate about transformation. The subject and effect somehow get lost through a lack of longitudinal understanding, participation and appreciation.
Increasingly, real solutions are shaped by the invisible agents of emergent design. The evolution of ideas over time, once they have been set free and taken on a life ex-studio. Who is designing to empower, accelerate and support these agents of emergent design? The people who are designing, yet not classed or invited as "Designers?"
As I checked out of the after party I was struck by a sign posted by some unknown interaction designer. "Please take a photo of your wardrobe card (claim ticket)" What insight, what amazing progress from the piles of torn and lost claim tags. I am pretty sure this can soon become the norm. Everyone has a phone/camera and looks after it so much better than they would a claim ticket. So why not save the paper and just take a photo instead?
For me this is what design can do, reframe the obvious to bring a simpler and more delightful new. In essence an inverse "Nudge" that prompts and shifts the system rather than the other way around. No-one owns this kind of design and it becomes accessible to all. You can call it thoughtless acts of design but I see a thoughtful understanding of human interaction. So, how do we empower and promote this thoughtful engagement with our environment, deliver a culture of design that is understood without the id-entities? Who is designing for this?
Who are the designers reaching outside the disciple-inn to lead with optimism and empathy. Who are the designers that promote a belief that you can change the environment you live in and it is best done by deeply understanding the needs and emotions of those affected. Kiran Sethi is showing the way, and as always we learn most when we see the world as children do. Release design from the tyranny of Design and we'll shift into a more conscious, designing society.
