CONCLUSION Hong Kong’s sociopolitical future is a wicked problem. Even at this degree of tactical disruption, the problem continues to unfold today. However uncertain and problematic, the success disruptive change has achieved is still being felt: upon writing this conclusion, thousands of Hong Kong youths are rushing to apply for UK citizenship (Tian & James, 2021). The extradition bill remains withdrawn. The pro-democracy camp won its first landslide victory at the District Council elections, with a record-breaking voter turnout in the year of the protests (p.27; Lam, Sum & Ng, 2019). Undoubtedly, disruption has navigated change to this extent.
To clarify, disruptive design has been presented as a multi-faceted approach in this dissertation, and precisely how these varying approaches have changed Hong Kong’s sociopolitical landscape were evaluated. One approach to disruption looked at attitudes, actions and behaviours (Brett, 2018). It deliberates how simply by thinking ‘disruptively’, one can alter their ways of perceiving and resolving certain issues, particularly the sociopolitical kind. Through my survey findings, Hong Kong youths demonstrated similar mindsets, in relation to internal authority and change adaptation. How these mindsets played roles in justifying their sociopolitical decisions were then analysed through the leaderless nature in protest tactics, as well as the escalation in violent clashes between police and protestors. Although tactics are based on logic, disruptive thinking realises the human rationale behind radical decisions, demonstrated by the youth generation of Hong Kong.
Cognitive mindsets, of course, cannot explain disruption entirely. Meadows’ systems thinking approach (1997), supplements the understanding of disruptive design in problem theory. It reveals how disruptive change can be leveraged in seeing a problem as a system, rather than a linear view. Leverage points within the system, such as “the ability to self-organise”, is recognised through the disruptive examples like iterative user experience features and other prototypes emerged in light of activism protection. Disruptive tactics that account for the wider system implicate a much more holistic view of the problem, and can play a major role in the longevity of sustained change. To this day, disruptively designed online platform LIHKG, is still widely used amongst pro-democracy users now unable to participate in physical demonstrations.
Moreover, disruptive design is explored as a structured method, according to Acaroglu’s “Disruptive Design Method Handbook” (2017). Although this process is detailed thoroughly in sequential order, only certain parts of it have been reflected by Hong Kong’s sociopolitical activism, such as the formulation of the Five Demands. The method promotes a more thorough and feasible understanding towards sociopolitical objectives, through both a local and international scale, aligning with Acaroglu’s problem-solving philosophies. This scope of influence has therefore achieved safe foreign passage for compromised youths, helping to relieve a significant number of young protestors from harsh prison sentences. As mentioned, these 30
