Design 21: Social Design Network

So, I posted this to my wordpress blog but I thought I would put it up here with a different spin....

The guy dancing here was dancing by himself pretty much for 10 minutes before this awesome dance party erupts around him. (it is in a different video)

He was a innovator. A visionary. A leader without followers. But he stuck to his guns and his principles. And eventually things really changed for the better.

Continuum Design did a worthy study of real consumers and their feelings about green products. First, I'm impressed with the reported size and extent of the study - 7,000 people online plus an ethnography component. I'm also impressed that they are giving away a portion of their insights to the design community. Basically, these are some ideas that we've kicked around at Ecco Design. Consumers all say they care about the environment when asked, but usually they act with their pocketbooks in mind. The environment is "out there" and easy easily forgotten. Connecting with ideas of immediate health, frugality and direct environmental benefit (less trash, easier recycling) connect more directly with consumers than mere energy efficiency, water usage or an abstract idea about "sustainability".

yep...it's true. We've been warned.

If you have tons of time, read all the posts on Core77 about this conference...Really eye opening stuff.

I especially liked Allan Chochinov's rules:

1. Acknowledge privilege: Being a designer does not give you the right to be a CRAP maker
2. Use the word "consequence": Talk about the implications of your actions
3. Question authority: Don't wait for permission
4. Surround yourself with the awesomest people you can: Go to parties, drink wine, make friends
5. Don't play fair: If making something gorgeous will get your clients on board, do it
6. Be intentionally dumb: Start with the most obvious and ridiculous solutions
7. Redistribute (then reduce reuse and recycle): Find materials that are already out there first
8. Broaden your market: Think beyond your audience
9. indulge discursive design: Do something that's wildly inappropriate 10 Talk to anyone who will listen: Get the word out

yes...so much to do...

Nathan Shedroff is clearly a powerhouse of Design. I enjoyed reading this post on Core77 today...but I don't think I like this idea:

And what does sustainability really mean? In 1987 it meant: "Use and development that meets today's needs without preventing those needs from being met by future generations." But today, Shedroff thinks it means "Don't do things today that make tomorrow worse." And if you have more stubborn people you have to convince, add "...for your kids."

If the bar is set to "don't make things worse" how will anything get better? It may be a fantasy of Cradle to Cradle that shoes can sow seeds as they break down, or concrete can clean the air, but we need to think of things that do more than keep the status quo. As Dr. Horrible said: the status is NOT quo.

I heard this on the BBC World Service this morning...the 2009 Landfill Awards are out!

The list is a lighthearted gathering of generally evil, wasteful devices. I take some issue at the Prius being on this list - it might not be as good as biking, but it's a step in the right direction for cars.

My firm has been working on the Bug Labs platform for some time now, and I'm glad to see it getting some of the attention it deserves. I think more focus can be given to the Green aspects of this design - you buy modules you want, instead of a whole new machine. This is similar to the drive to have universal cellphone chargers. When your cellphone breaks, the charger, while perfectly good, goes into the trash. Bug Labs allows to you to add or subtract functionality, or share with your friends, more easily. Many of my designer friends have resisted buying multifunction printers for this reason. The print heads die quickly - but the scanner still works...so you wind up with a choice - buy all new, keep a GIANT scanner with a useless printer or...? Some manufacturers let you replace the print heads more easily, but this is far from standard. Make electronics more modular and people can upgrade, replace and grow their tech while staying more environmentally friendly and economical.

Short notice, I know...but Paul Polak is giving the keynote address at Pratt's Higgins Hall on Thursday the 27th at 6pm.

Mr. Polak founded International Development Enterprises which is a great organization that designs solutions that address root causes of poverty. His products include a $25 treadle pump and small farm drip-irrigation systems priced as low as $3 which helped increase poor farmers' net income by $288 million annually. IDE received a $14 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation in 2006, and in 2004 it received Ernst & Young's "Entrepreneur of the Year" award in the social responsibility category.

check out the rest of pratt's green week at http://www.sustainablepratt.org/greenweek.

If you haven't already, read this article. It's a sobering, thoughtful critique of designdom's optimism. I was taught in school that designers could design anything. Once we learned "design thinking" we could approach and solve any problem. Research, user ethnography, brainstorming, mapping, prototyping, testing, validation, second prototypes, etc...it's a pretty powerful paradigm, to be sure. It sounds a lot like the scientific method in many ways...and makes us think we can solve the world's problems.

"In particular, design metaphors obscure the ideological—and political—decisions involved in tackling societal issues. Depending on your perspective, “drunk driving” can be a symptom of some broader systemic failure (from un-walkable suburbs to deficient public education), a lapse of individual responsibility, or a right to be defended. The solution to the problem is inseparable from its conception. Conceiving of global ills as design challenges may sometimes be in order, but only when a consensus exists on goals, budgets and relevant values. Such is rarely the case."

While I share the optimism of my time...that design can change the world, I think taking a moment to realize that great designs often fail to catch on is worthwhile. We can think great thoughts, design wonderful social systems and processes, but we can't make the horse drink. Maybe it wasn't really good design, then, if it didn't catch on...or the market got in the way, the time wasn't right,etc. In t...

There have been a few Design21 competitions that focus on "awareness campaigns" with the idea that if people don't know about a problem or issue, not much will happen. I saw this article in Wired which demonstrates, I guess, the converse argument. Some researchers from the Nature Conservancy found a correlation (which isn't causation) between the rise in video games and the internet with a drop in fishing and hunting permits. "Good!" some may say...."people are enjoying nature without killing it." But I think, sustainable use of natural resources creates a population of people inspired to preserve nature.

Along with the awareness campaigns we're building we should support causes that bring kids into the wilderness, building the next generation of Nature's protectors.