Design 21: Social Design Network

By Jennifer Leonard

Shhh… don’t tell: I have a crush on my butcher.

Yes, part-time vegetarian me, I’ve a newfound respect for the meat slinger down the street. Avedano's Holly Park Market (San Francisco, California) is a butcher shop and specialty market with great food and quality service. They are true-blue devoted to the sustainability rally cry “local food for local people.” And they curate their shop with cheeky humor and panache.

Each of the owners brings her unique skills to the block. Tia, an Executive Chef, is the in-house butcher. In addition to trimming meats, she creates the rotating menu of seasonal prepared foods that are available for nightly take-out. Fellow “restaurantrice,” Melanie, is responsible for procuring many of the hard-to-find items offered in the market. And entrepreneur and former cook Angela brings bookkeeping and management experience to the day-to-day operations of the business.

Cicero’s Meats formerly occupied the space itself, a family-owned market that opened in 1901 and served the neighborhood for nearly a century. Many of the antique furnishings and equipment live on and have been incorporated into the refreshed design. Even Cicero's original neon sign glows to see another century.

And like a fulfillment of my Alice in Wonderland childhood fantasies of secret passageways, I recently discovered Avedano’s private dining space in back, The Udder Room. Available for intimate events, It’s warm and welcoming, long and narrow...

Mark,

Hey! Sorry it has taken me so long to get feedback to you - for some reason your project wasn't listed in the invitation I originally received from Parsons. Anyway, here I am, and I'm happy to respond to your fun project...

It's refreshing to read something that addresses "we" versus "me"; and I agree with you about the individualism and disconnection from community we feel as a result of behaviors that have grown out of consumer electronic designs. Podditties, as intervention, and Podditties, as tool to support spontaneous placemaking, are very appealing ideas. I think it could be quite easily implemented as well. You've clearly thought this through.

It allows for delight among listeners and discovery of new sounds, too. The metaphor of the symphony is nice, tying into music of course but also reminding individuals that beautiful music is often made even more beautiful when a community of people come together and share their talents, passions and personal creativity.

Thanks for considering the technical requirements. Try to also think of cost and how you might get this prototyped somewhere soon. Good luck!

J.

Yoonj,

I've been invited to give feedback to all Parsons students, regarding your thesis projects.

Great idea to find a design concept to link deaf children with hearing peers. It's very important to enhance communication in every way possible between those who have a full range of senses and those who do not. Especially at a young age.

I wonder, however, how this puzzle has unique benefits? What exactly does it do different from other tools available right now?

It's very unclear just by looking at your image attached what the puzzle is meant to do. Is it meant to simply introduce sign language among hearing and deaf children? If so, how does it do this exactly? Can you give more detailed description about this game as a learning tool?

Your intention is admirable. Push it further and think of how to describe how it might be developed and distributed among nursery or elementary schools nation-wide.

Thanks, and good luck! J.

Yinan,

I've been invited to give feedback to all Parsons students, regarding your thesis projects.

It's commendable that you've acknowledged LEED certified building standards and sustainable-speak, such as "triple bottom line", but the rest of your project description lacks support of this. If you mention these standards you must also back it up by showing how you're designing to meet these standards.

I like that you've done interviews with fellow students as part of your research methodology, but from what I've seen here, you've limited your examination to only a handful of folks. Also, from hearing their answers, it seems that you've asked them general question about New School residences instead of getting at the root of "building green." Lighting and heating and noise and smell are all very important considerations but you fail to connect this qualitative data to the LEED rating systems and triple-bottom-line methodology.

Why not introduce to your audience what these are from the get go, and then do your user research, with the goal of finding ways to link your findings to your framework?

There is an overall disconnect from your wishing to adhere to sustainable standards and the ultimate execution of your project findings. Try to find a way to strengthen the connection.

Good luck! J.

Victoriya,

I've been invited to give feedback to all Parsons students, regarding your thesis projects.

Thanks for suggesting such a fun and physically interactive design tool for children as part of your thesis project. You've done a great job of addressing several issues simultaneously with Lekkees. You are encouraging the physical involvement of kids while playing and you are inspiring imaginative play. Kids need, love and appreciate this.

What I'm missing, however, is a comparative analysis of what else exists in the landscape of institutional toy offerings. Compare and contrast Lekkees against what else currently exists. Prove to your audience that this is a revolutionary solution for children. Tell us how they'll benefit from playing with this sort of design, and explain how this will be introduced into the institutional setting, i.e. who will pay for its development and distribution?

It's a wonderful idea. Great work! J.

Tomoko,

I've been invited to give feedback to all Parsons students, regarding your thesis projects.

There is a lot of poetry and complexity to your idea here but the overall description of the problem/solution is lacking detail. In addition, be very careful with sweeping generalizations, such as "people who live in industrial countries are not aware of..."

Plenty of citizens living in industrialized countries are VERY aware of global warming and are working on solutions to address this. Where there is a disconnect is in turning this awareness into action. Perhaps this is what you're really saying. If so, make this clear.

I like how you've suggested a "conversational installation" for the hourglass piece, but where is it installed? Is this an art show type of event? Or is it a retail product? And the widget: how do people get it? Are the two items sold as a unit? At the moment, the two pieces do not seem to integrate well together, despite the fact they both address raising awareness about global warming. How do they work together? How do people actually use these designs? How does the changing global scenery (before and after) actually work?

Think about the context in which your design concepts live and provide more detail with respect to their implementation in the daily lives of the end users.

Good luck! J.

Tao,

I've been invited to give feedback to all Parsons students, regarding your thesis projects.

I like how you're thinking about a social issue, and how dialogue among Asian teens and parents might help things overall. But I have to wonder if a piece of furniture is really the right solution? If a teen is already feeling intense pressure, how would working across from his or her parent lessen that pressure? I fear that it might intensify it.

Perhaps a social solution to a social problem is the first step to solving this design challenge? I wonder if step one might be setting up facilitated dialogue sessions between Asian teens and parents at schools or community centers, so that the pressure is alleviated a little bit before they sit down to work together? In addition to dialogue, perhaps shared activities, like outdoor sports or conflict resolution workshops could help.

Also, would each family have to buy this Share Station? Or would some cultural organization be subsidizing the purchase?

I think there are seeds of great thinking in this product design concept but I also think you need to look at the underlying roots of the problem and address these before introducing a piece of furniture.

Good luck! J.

Takeshi,

I've been invited to give feedback to all Parsons students, regarding your thesis projects.

Your idea is super-creative, and I like how it combines furniture design with urban renewal. Be sure to give a clear problem statement and solution, however, as right now the project description is lacking this. You write about "the desire to have mini-gardens and parks" along city streets, but you do not express where this desire is coming from. Additionally, who will make this happen? CENYC? Or would you maybe work with one neighborhood at a time and city council to collaboratively raise funds and create urban garden furniture together? Could this also be placed in areas where public furniture is already, such as bus shelters and along the water, where running and biking paths live?

Be sure to get quantitative with your claims about protecting trees from traffic (I've never heard of this before) and attempts to reduce carbon footprints. Also, maybe suggest some prototyping ideas and even get out there and make something with your own hands and watch how passers-by take notice of it and use it (or not). It would make for a very interesting user-centered research video!

Great idea. Just beef up the data and make the overall story more clear. Thanks! J.

Tae-yun,

I've been invited to give feedback to all Parsons students, regarding your thesis projects.

You've done a great job of laying out the design problem and solution, and you've provided a good amount of detail with respect to how this concept would function in the real world, considering the larger system in which it lives.

The issues associated with food are very interesting as they involve human nutrition and environmental inputs AND consequences. It's great when you can see the cycle of it all and then find a method of growing fresh food for human consumption, which then goes back to the earth for fuel (via compost magic) to grow more food, etc etc.

Taking this ecological perspective to school food programs is a wonderful idea, especially when the students can get involved in the composting and growing processes themselves. Being accountable here results in responsibility for something larger than self. As a result, I believe the students would feel a well-earned sense of self-worth, and would voluntarily eat more healthfully too. Bonus!

Good luck getting this rolling, J.

Sophia,

I've been invited to give feedback to all Parsons students, regarding your thesis projects.

Solari is a great idea at a time when whole food nutrition for both our bodies and our environment is critically important. I like that you suggest implementing this into elementary schools, for starters. (Get 'em while they're young!) Look into the case studies from Curitiba, Brazil, where Jaime Lerner implemented a recycling program that started with the young children, who then went on to teach their parents. Like your project, this is far more effective than doing it the other way around. Bottom-up environmental education has the potential to bring about greater, lasting impact than top-down enviro-education.

You've also hit the nail on the head with the accessibility issue. We tend as a culture to eat "junk food" because it's all around and far more available than healthy, whole food. Once this gets turned around - when the good stuff becomes just as available as junk - then we'll be more empowered to choose the real food solutions. Finally, partnering with local farms is great. As is getting the students involved in working the cart at school. Perhaps the students could alternate shifts and be accountable for certain crops?

Good luck testing your prototype. Yum! J.