Among other things

Ideas, even really great one's, aren't really worth all that much. What is of value is how, and for what purpose, an idea is applied. The ultimate value of an idea must be assessed with reference to the impact it has on those for whom a product, service, or system may have no value, but who are still affected by its presence in the world. Stakeholders, not users, not consumers, neither demographic segments, or constituents either... stakeholders are the unrecognized segments that we must pay more attention to. They are the people who live at the edge of your district, who work at the beginning of your supply chain or live at the end of your products' life-cycle. Most importantly, they are unrepresented and often have no clear advocates because they have no influence and are not a large enough or interesting enough cause. Stakeholders span economic, ethical, social, and intellectual segments making them hard to identify and even harder to satisfy.

If you design, plan, manage, or judge then you have stakeholders to consider. Start identifying them, make profiles, write narratives, talk to them, argue with them, and begin to consider them EARLY in the design process. The result will be more satisfying for both you and them.

I've just left CHI 2008 and while I have more to say, the most prevalent comment I can think of right now is 'wow, I've just met a majority of my literature review (and those of many others)!'. The amazing thing about CHI is that it is a community dedicated to sharing and interaction across MANY disciplines. This is the push/pull nature of conferences of this size. There is just so much being brought into this 'carnival' that it is always a rich and heady engagement. I am always a-buzz with optimism and possibility here.

To top things off, Bill Buxton gave a rousing closing plenary. It was fantastic, rich, and argumentative. ,and it challenged everyone to think more critically and realistically about the impact that the products they make, and the research they do, has on people beyond their market, research, or user constituencies.

I'm working with a group of students who are trying to replace the paper cups that they and their colleagues use with Reusable travel mugs. The effort is wonderful, the vision is clear and simple. So why won't one coffee shop in the area help them?

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Robert Kirkbride and Anna Slafer have led an interesting workshop titled "Design Charrette: Thinking and Making: Mindmapping and Worldmapping; Space & Place" that can be seen online here. The workshop was hosted by the National Design Museum and can be seen at their new online education resource site.  Just by looking at the work being done in the video, you can see a great example of guided creative thinking.  The use of silhouette to kick off the activity is elegant, simple, and accessible.  Nice job!!!


More to come as I dive in...

I agree with and appreciateBruce Nussbaum's assessment of the National Design Museum's online education resource center and Kudos to the NDL for recognizing the expansive value of 'design thinking' and of bringing the 'non-designers' in from the cold.

... design, politics, business, friendship, and family ...

Isolation and hegemony only begets backlash and revolt.


Technorati Tags: design thinking, pedagogy, design education, nussbaumondesign

I was asked to spend 15 minutes to consider what is interesting and novel in the context of Design and Management.


I now cast these ideas to the web...

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Mark Meagher of boldtoad repute has posted a neat project. I recommend reading Mark's thoughts as well as the project site as well.

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Two nights ago, I attended the Design With India strategy session at New York's Asia Society. The event was VERY well attended with some very significant voices in the global Design community, including some wonderful participants from India itself (ex-pats & travelers both).

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KET's EncycloMedia is an interesting venture.  I heard about it on a BBC News report and from the interviews and sound bytes, it seems to be a productive methodology for increasing active engagement.  I saw something similar in classrooms in Seoul, Korea when I visited. 

The thing that I appreciate about it, is that it doesn't seem to have false expectations that the media (content) can more effectively teach than an actual teacher.  That said, it gives the teachers the material that they need to teach without undermining their capacity to do so.  I think that this is critical not only because it keeps teachers part of the equation of learning in schools, but because it gives teachers the thing that they need MOST. 

Taking a hint from the past 50 years of television programming... BETTER CONTENT!  But wait... there's more... it's free (via streaming) for public school teachers in Kentucky through a collaboration with KET. 

I think that this is just the tip of the iceberg regarding what is possible with educational content. This is a good start, I'd say.