GLOSSARY OF TERMS LIST OF TOOLS
In this supplement you will find an archive of important parts of my methodology. In Glossary of Terms you will find the different theoretical words and phrases that defines my design practice. In Tools you can read about analyzing and process tools and methods I use in co-design processes. Some of them are adopted from the Metadesign and SRVDcourse at Veitvet. Some from my classmate Tabea. And some I have created myself.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS This glossary of terms does not have an academic approach, but is rather a collection, or archive, of various expressions and words I have come across and defined in my master and that I take with me further into my practice. Words marked with yellow in the four main books are found here, but you also find additional words that I have chosen to add to it. (DESIGN) ACTIVISM Activism is: doing an effort to direct change, wheather it is social, political, economical or environmental. «Design Activism» is established by Alastair Fuad-Luke to see design in a new way, as a philosophy that can work as a tool for change. It might be conceptual, participatory, social, systemic, critical, environmental, educational etc. It has no concrete methods, others than being an umbrella definition for other design diciplines and helps giving a broad picture of design playing new roles. REF: Fuad-Luke, A. (2009) Design Activism. London: Earthscan.
ACTOR An actor is someone or something involved and capable of performing an act in a process. An actor can, according to ANT, be both humans and non-humans. (see also ANT) REF: En.wikipedia.org (2007) Actor–network theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Actor-network_theory [Accessed: 26 Apr 2013].
ACTOR NETWORK THEORY (ANT) ANT is a social theory describing the roles and abilities of both human and non-human actors in society and in processes. It says something about how humans both shape and are affected by non-human actors. Two impor-
tant terms in ANT are «inscription» and «translation». Inscription emphazises non-human actors as capable of carrying messages, that human actors have left in the material. Translation is related to this, but is more goaloriented, and seeks to drive objects or networks towards a certain goal. REF: En.wikipedia.org (2007) Actor–network theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Actor-network_theory [Accessed: 26 Apr 2013].
AGENT An agency or an agent is someone or something capable of making choices, both for themselves and for others. In my design practice I take different roles and are therefore also taking different agencies in different situations. As an participant in society anyone can explore various agencies, they do not have to conflict with the established system or network. (see also ANT) REF: En.wikipedia.org (2007) Actor–network theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Actor-network_theory [Accessed: 26 Apr 2013].
BROTHER (FRATERNAL) I use the word fraternal to describe my relation to other participants in some design processes. It is a role that I take. Fraternal could also mean «brotherly», and is indicating that I as a designer is at the same level as the other participants. I do not control the process, everyone is able to explore the material/topic in the workshop/meeting. (see Maternal) REF: Thorpe, A. and Gamman, L. (2011) Design with society; why socially responsive design is good enough. London: Taylor & Francis. Codesign, Vol. 7. pp 217-231
BOUNDARY OBJECT A boundary object is an object that has different meanings in different social worlds. Identifying how an object is a
boundary object might be important in design and design processes to identify which social worlds it is relating to, and how they are percieved in the different ones. They create a connection between people or groups of people, because they have it in common. Especially in the theory of «communities of practice», boundary objects have been used. It might be similar to “cultural props” Etienne Wenger presents three categories of boundary objects: 1. Artifacts: tools, documents, models that are shared. 2. Discourses: a common language that can be shared. 3. Processes: shared processes, routines, procedures that facilitate coordination. REF: Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press. Star S.L. e Griesemer J.G. (1989) “Institutional Ecology, ‘Translations’ and Boundary Objects: Amateurs and Professionals in Berkeley’s Museum of Vertebrate Zoology,” 1907-39”; in Social Studies of Science, 19: 287-420.
BOTTOM-UP (AND TOP-DOWN) DESIGN (OR “GRASSROOT”) Bottom-up design is derived from information processing in the computer world. “The bottom” would mean all the separate entities in a system that together makes up the whole system. In design and Metadesign thinking it is used when talking about grassroot-working, and seeding as a strategy. CAPITAL “The five capitals” are: human, natural, social, financial and man-made. These are resources in a society. REF: Fuad-Luke, A. (2009) Design Activism. London: Earthscan.
CLIENT A client is the part in the design process who obtains a position of beneficial interest. The client might also be the end-user, and may also be the one that supports the design process economically because of its interests. In codesign we can use clients as active participants in and after the design process. CO-DESIGN Co-design is an umbrella definition on many design methodologies dealing with participation and collaboration in design processes. Participatory design is a term very similar to Co-design, but I find it more limiting, and choose to use the term Co-design the most. REF: Fuad-Luke, A. (2009) Design Activism. London: Earthscan.
CO-CREATION Co-creation is when several actors comes together and creates something of shared value. Co-creation might be non-intentional or pre-planned, but Co-design processes can facilitating Co-creation. To me it is as valuable as co-design, because it is emphasizes a more active user role (Participant). Co-creation might create a feeling of ownership in form of personalized, unique participant experiences. CONSTRAINTS In co-design processes I believe that constraints is important to identify and/or create a framework that participants can work within. They could be physical or not. COMMUNITY GARDEN A community garden is a single pieces of land shared within a community as a garden space.
COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE (CoP) When a community is self-evolving because the inherent knowledge and experiences can be exchanged and developed, the participants within the community learn from each other. They can be created online or in the real world, and exists across ordinary, formal communities like church, family and so on. REF: Lave, J. & Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp 98-100. Bowker, G. and Star, S. (1999) Sorting things out. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
COOPERATIVES Are not collaborative, memberbased non-profit organizations. Oslo Kooperativ is for instance one where the members work together to get food directly from farmers to the cooperative members. CROWDSOURCING Crowdsourcing is about using community, diversity, participation and selforganization instead of control and hierarchy to drive an innovation process. This could be called a fraternal model. It is a wordplay on «outsourcing» which creates non-collaborative processes. Crouwdsourcing is based on the principle that the people that can participate in a crowdsourcing process «relates to the size of the smallest-scale contribution necessary to produce a usable module.» REF: En.wikipedia.org (2013) Crowdsourcing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Crowdsourcing [Accessed: 26 Apr 2013].
CULTURAL PROBES A cultural probe is an object, or a collection of objects collected from actors/owners that might inspire and generate ideas in a design process. The idea was developed by
Gaver, Dunne and Pacenti in 1999 and is inspired by the Situationists (Debord). En.wikipedia.org (2011) Cultural probe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_ probe [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013].
CULTURAL PROPS A cultural prop is defined by metadesigners and inspired by the definition of a cultural probe and boundary objects. A prop is defined as: 1. An object placed beneath or against a structure to keep it from falling or shaking; a support. One that serves as a means of support or assistance. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com) Cultural props can create a discussion and generate new relations, and is therefore quite similar to a «boundary object», but does not contain its full potential. (see Boundary Object) The metadesign tool is defined for use in an early stage of a team work, as an “ice-breaker” and discussion ground. Metadesigners.org (2000) m21-Tool-Cultural-Props | Metadesigners Open Network. [online] Available at: http://metadesigners.org/tiki/ m21-Tool-Cultural-Props&highlight=cultural%20props [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013].
DESIGN Design is something meaningful for people. It is solving problems, but also finding problems. Design is facilitating processes in order to get desirable outcomes. Design is improving a situation, and helping, at the same time as being aestheticly and functionally pleasing. Design is understandable to people across time and culture, and sees to find opportunities. It is responsive to humans, environmental, social and economic needs and emotions. Design is process, and design thinking.
(DESIGN) DEVICES Output after a co-design process, a «vehicle» that enables participants to continue down the co-design journey by themselves. They might be design games, models, sketches, materials, but also more complex as discussion boards, enterprises, interest clubs, communities etc. It is defined by Enzio Manzini. REF: Manzini, E. (2007) The Scenario of a Multi-Local Society: Creative Communities, Active Networks and Enabling Solutions. Eds: Chapman, J. & Grant, N. London: Earthscan.
DESIGN THINKING Design thinking is how designers work in a design process – observing, analyzing, imagining, exploring, prototyping, iterating, testing, failing etc. in order to come up with an innovative idea. This “thinking” is tried transferred to other fields like business. En.wikipedia.org (2011) Design thinking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_ thinking [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013].
DIY - DO IT YOURSELF Do it yourself is a movement and ideology about making, modifying and repairing somethings without the aid of experts or professionals. DIY has also created online commons and some could be defined as open source platforms. Most DIY thinking aims for improving and customizing the home environment, but also other fields are possible to find. ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN Environmental design is design thinking adressing primarly environmental issues. F.ex. urban farming. ENABLER. This is the role where I give them tools to work with: ideas, tools, materials, concepts. In the end I am the designer,
and this is where the «old-fashioned» designer role is most present. Fuad-Luke, A. (2007) Redefining the Purpose of (Sustainable) Design: Enter the Design Enablers, Catalysts in Co-Design. Eds: Chapman, J. & Grant, N. London: Earthscan.
(DESIGN) FACILITATION/FACILITATOR Designers are seen more or more as triggers, as actors that are facilitating for situations where participants can take own actions instead of passively recieving/using a product or service. The word facilitate means «to make easier: help bring about» (Webster Dictionary). As a designer I do not necessarily create (or let manufacturers create) products I design, I rather facilitate situations all the way through a design process where participants can learn about, make and also design solutions for themselves. In a co-design process it is also important to create some kind of resistance through constraints. FREEWARE What I use to describe the part of a design that is distributed and offered to be free for anyone. It is adapted from the field of computer science, and is free software, but it is not the source code which is free. En.wikipedia.org (1980) Freeware - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeware [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013].
FURNITURE Furnitures are movable objects relating physically and 1:1 to the human body, surving various human needs and actvities, as tools. They can be seating, storing, lighting, tables. In my project it has been important to see that the skills required to design furniture is about understanding and shaping the relationship between humans and objects, functional, social, cultural and emotional. They are tools and not only products. How can I create objects or object
systems, that can better serve as functional, social, cultural and emotional tools for people, communities and society? INPUT/OUTPUT In computer interaction output is used to describe the developed content reacting with the user, and that supports and encourage user feedback to the design. It is nonconclusive and rathar an activating entity, starting new processes outside of itself. It could be a way of thinking about the kind of value design creates for its users. Input is in my view what participants bring into a design process, but can also be the output of one design process that feeds forward into another. (see also Trialogue) INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE See Spatial design INTERVENTION Intervention means to «appear between», and is used in both the art and design world. I see it as a way of tracing the audiences potential of use, knowledge, engagement and opinions. In art it is also defined as an art piece that is adressing and engaging with the public, as some sort of an art performance. It is derived from Neo-Dadaists and Situationists. This is again transferred to design work, and many designers has started to invade the public scene. En.wikipedia.org (2002) Art intervention - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_intervention [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013].
LEARNING EXPERIENCE A learning experience is when one or more learners are actively experiencing something of new meaning. It is built on the idea of «reflection in action». I use it in my work to describe learning situations the designer can facilitate for an audience. The reason why I believe a designer has great possibilities to do this is because of our skills to conceptualize and visualize information in order to help
the learners through the experience in such way that they can reflect, analyze and use the new ideas throughout and after the experiental situation. Learning Experience is based on what is called «Experiental learning» (Wikipedia). The reason I use this in my work is because I believe that knowledge about a problem can lead to taking action towards it. En.wikipedia.org (2012) Experiential learning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiential_learning [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013].
LOCALITY A locality is a local community, and has been defined as «a region, county, city or even neighborhood that frees itself from an overdependence on the global economy and invests in its own resources to produce a significant portion of the goods, services, food and energy it consumes from local endowent of financial, natural and human capital» (Transition Town Handbook). Manzini talks about “multi-local communities” as a phenomenon of our contemporary culture, when communities are not geographicly defined units as some traditional towns were. F.ex. we see this in the practice of Transition Towns. (see Placemaking and Resilience) Hopkins, R. (2008) The transition handbook. Totnes [England]: Green.
MAKER A maker is a term I have chosen that might replace «producer» and «manufacturer», also maybe «creator». To me everyone is able to produce something, and manufacturing might also be possible to source differently than today. In our highly developed society with all its advanced and specialized «stuff», maybe reducing just a little bit of our expectations and make it ourselves can free us from buying a lot of new «stuff» all the time. METADESIGN It is a strategic framework for design that seeks to use creative problem solving in larger scale systems and on
governmental and business levels. Metadesign wants to move away from the specialist designers to trace more creative solutions and possibilities by using collaborative approaches in interdiciplinary teams. Metadesigners.org (2000) Metadesign-Introduction | Metadesigners Open Network. [online] Available at: http://metadesigners.org/tiki/ Metadesign-Introduction [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013]. Wood, J. (2007) Design for Micro-Utopias. Hampshire: Gower Publishing Armstrong, H. & Stojmirovic, Z. (eds) (2011) Participate. Designing with User-Generated Content. New York: Princeton Architectural Press
METHOD(OLOGY) A method is what I see as «how I do design». A methodology is how different methods are connected together in a complete design thinking with specified methods and tools. A method is closely related to tool which for me is something concrete, that I can pick up from my methodology-toolbox to use in a design process. Ekroll, I. (2011) Innkalling til Dugnad. Master. Oslo: Oslo National Academy of the Arts.
MICRO-UTOPIA «Utopia» is a community or society working perfectly, in a way a place where there is no evil, an ideal. A Micro-utopia is in my view about trying to look for these «perfect», «non-evil» situations, in our lives. Not in society as a whole, but in micro-forms. The expression is created by Nicolas Bourriaud. He exemplifies it with the action of «shaking hands with somebody», a situation where there is no loser, no «give and take», only «give and give». It is therefore about trying to orchestrate optimistic moments. Wood, J. (2007) Design for Micro-Utopias. Hampshire: Gower Publishing
MOTHER (MATERNAL) «The mother» is a person (designer) who is «facilitating a transitional experience of her or his child» (Thorpe and
Gamman, 2011.) Which in design terms would be for the participants in a participatory design process. The «transition» is in my view about the transfer of knowledge (see Trialogue), but in a way described as «optimal frustrations» (T&G, 2011). A mother can not sit down and «talk the truth» to his or her child; the child has to learn through its own experience. (see Learning Experience) Thorpe, A. and Gamman, L. (2011) Design with society; why socially responsive design is good enough. London: Taylor & Francis. Codesign, Vol. 7. pp 217-231
MULTI-LOCAL COMMUNITIES (see LOCALITY) OPENSOURCE OpenSource Movement has its origin in the beginning of internet and computer programming. It means that the source code of a computer program is open for anyone to use, adapt and develop. En.wikipedia.org (2012) Open source - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013].
OPEN INNOVATION. Based on the OpenSource Movement, this way of thinking about design development is an emerging field. In product industries this would involves introducing a partially completed product together with a tool-kit or manual. Users can build, test and develop the product on their own, and feed back to the initiator or a sharing-platform with other users. En.wikipedia.org (2011) Open innovation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_innovation [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013].
OUTPUT See Input/Output.
PARTICIPANT A participant is a human part of a design process, it can be either users, stakeholders, shareholders, designers or others. A participant possesses resources; different kinds of skills, tools, and knowledge that can be used as input in a Co-design and Co-creation processes. PARTICIPATORY DESIGN Participatory design is to me a term very similar to Codesign, which I choose not to use in my work. (see Codesign) PEAK OIL Peak oil is the point in history where the use of oil extends the use of new findings. That means that it will from that point on only be less and less oil on each of us. Hopkins, R. (2008) The transition handbook. Totnes [England]: Green.
PLACEMAKING Placemaking is city planning from a local perspective, where the local community, local actors and their inspiration, resources and potential is harvested in order to create good public spaces. Health, happiness and well-being is essential. En.wikipedia.org (1960) Placemaking - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placemaking [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013].
PRODUCER See Maker. QUICK AND DIRTY - QUICK AND AWESOME Quick and Dirty is similiar to what many knows as paper prototyping, and is a method for testing out design
concept and ideas in the real world. The point is to use available materials to make a quick and simple resemblage of how the design would work, for instance a café, and then intervene in a real situation to track peoples reactions in order to adjust and change the idea in an iterative process. RELATIONAL AESTHETICS Relational aesthetics is invented by art critic Nicolas Bourriaud in the 1990s, and is art practices that encompasses the social world and its relations. It is «invisible» art, because human relations are not visible. But it is as likely there, and relational art tries to work with that as its material. The artist is therefore more a catalyst than the actual centre. Bourriaud, N. (2002) Relational aesthetics. [Dijon]: Les Presses du réel.
RELATIONAL DESIGN Relational design builds on relational aesthetics. To me it is design thinking that leads to situations that are immaterial and about human relations. Relational design can be enabled, created and facilitated with physical objects in space. The result of relational design could be synergies and output (f.ex ideas) that can feed into other processes. Ex1: invite specific people to a meeting in order to create new synergies. Ex2: building a community through meetings, interventions and workshops. RESILIENCE Is an ecological term that describes an «ecosystem capable of responding to a perturbation or disturbance by resisting damage and recovering quickly». (Wikipedia) Transition Towns and other social design-thinking is using the term to describe localities that has similar capabilities. In our global society with climate change and a fragile economy it is valuable to create robust communities that is not Hopkins, R. (2008) The transition handbook. Totnes [England]: Green.
ROLES (see Mother, Brother, Enabler, Maker, Trigger and Facilitator) SEEDING A method in bottom-up and Metadesign thinking. The actuall changes are small, but cwill grow into larger complexities and completeness. Instead of designing a big, complex system, one could start with a small entity that can evolve into something bigger by itself. In this way the design could perhaps become more manageable. SHAREHOLDER A shareholder is a stakeholder that gain or loose economical profit on a co-design or design process. SOCIAL DESIGN Social design adresses human and social capital in order to create profitable products, services and processes. The goal is social well-being and sustainability. Another commonly used term similar in thinking is «social entrepreneurship». Social design is also described as the design of the social world as a whole, which might cross over to Relational Design. Fuad-Luke, A. (2009) Design Activism. London: Earthscan.
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP Social entrepreneurs is described as change agents for society. They combine business, or entrepreneural skills with social thinking, to tackle major social change. SOCIALLY RESPONSIVE DESIGN (SRVD) Socially Responsive Design references the «responsible» designer, but wants to be more specific in its definition by using the word «responsive» instead. SRVD suggests a design practice that makes social impact, is driven by social issues and delivers social change as Adam Thorpe
and Lorraine Gamman explains. I see SRVD as a visionbased framework for design as a whole, that does not necessarily have very specific metodologies connected to it. Thorpe, A. and Gamman, L. (2011) Design with society; why socially responsive design is good enough. London: Taylor & Francis. Codesign, Vol. 7. pp 217-231
SPATIAL DESIGN Spatial design is the design of spatial situations. It is anywhere a space can exist. A space is created when two or more physical actors are put together (see Actors). Since actors can be both humans and non-humans, spaces can be purely social, emotional, cultural or physical, and a mix between them. If f.ex. two people are placed next to each other, a physical space is created, but at the same time it has social, cultural, and emotional qualities to it. Space affects the physical and non-physical state of humans through senses. A physical space is highly fragmented through all its elements, but at the same time comprenehsive through its emotional character. Traditionally design of space (interior architecture) has been seen as mostly physical. What I think we should consider more in the future as spatial designers is the value of the space between people, and how we can design good social, cultural, and emotional spaces, and in this way consider more human relations. (see Relational Aesthetics). STAKEHOLDER A stakeholder is someone that is influenced by a designed solution or output. They can be users, or maybe have economical interest. They might therefore be involved as participants in a Co-design process to influence the result. STRATEGIC DESIGN In order to solve a complex problem a strategic way of looking at the design process might be useful. In my view it does not have to be a pre-planned strategy. By simply being aware of that one solution is not enough, we have to start.
SUPERUSE Superuse is a philosophy concerning the flow of material resources. It is based on upsycling, customizing and DIY, as well as methods for sourcing materials with a superuse potential. I use the word because I think it says a lot about how we should think about reuse and recycling of materials; they’re not going to be just reused, they are going to be superused! Hinte, E. and Peeren, C., et al. (2007) Superuse. Rotterdam: 010 Publishers.
SUPPORT STRUCTURE (S.S.) The term support structure is developed by architect Celine Condorelli and artist-curator Gavin Wade. A s.s. aims to create a space that is constantly developed and reinvented by its users in relation to its context. (see Cultural Prop, Metadesign) Supportstructures.org (2003) About : S U P P O R T . S T R U C T U R E S. [online] Available at: http://www.supportstructures.org/ [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013].
SUSTAINABILITY Sustainable development is described by the Brundtland Commission as «development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs». Sustainability is descended from biology as a system that remains diverse and productive over time. It is therefore common to connect it with environmental issues, but in fact social and economical dimensions is also important in human society. (Tripple bottom line) Development, W. (1986) Our Common Future, Chapter 2: Towards Sustainable Development - A/42/427 Annex, Chapter 2 - UN Documents: Gathering a body of global agreements. [online] Available at: http://www.un-documents.net/ocf-02.htm [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013].
SYNERGY A synergy is when two or more actors are interacting in a situation. The synergy effects is impossible to foresee because the actors individually possesses such a large range of knowledge and skills. F.ex. when three different people meet and talk, it is impossible to plan how the conversation is going to end up. One commonly used description for Synergies is ÂŤthe whole is greater than the sum of its partÂť (Aristotle). Wood, J. (2007) Design for Micro-Utopias. Hampshire: Gower Publishing
TOOL (see Method) TRIALOGUE A trialogue is when there is an exchange situation where three actors participate. It can be various things f.ex. a discussion, a design process, a workshop etc. I
Participants
use & development
Design/ tools
R&D
learning
Knowledge (farming/ gardening)
input/output
have created what I call a «trialogue model» where I use the terms «participants, design and knowledge» to describe the input and output in a design process. They are not separated, because all participant may contribute both knowledge and design thinking into the process, it is just a matter of finding it. But I see design and knowledge as separate actors because they are gained and developed through the process; they are not something that the participants just possess and share with each other. The point with the trialogue situations is therefore to create synergies that allows the gained knowledge and developed design to feed forward to the actors that also fed into the process. With the trialogue model I try to define both communities of practice and open source situations, but I see this as a continuos exploration (see model). TRIGGER A trigger is a role we as designers can take. It has been defined by Manzini, and involves initiating processes and projects. Manzini, E and Rizzo, F (2011) Small projects/large changes: Participatory design as an open participatory process. London: Taylor & Francis. Codesign, Vol. 7. pp 169-183.
TRIPPLE BOTTOM LINE Tripple bottom line is describing sustainability in human society within three equal elements: social, environmental and economic. It suggests that to remain a sustainable development, all three has to be considered. If only one or two is taken care of, one of the others will suffer, because they are interdependent. What has happened in society up until today is that the economic dimension has been most considered in driving society forward, whilst the planets and peoples well-being has been damaged. We can see this in the food industry.
En.wikipedia.org (2012) Triple bottom line - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Triple_bottom_line [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013].
USER See Participant. VISUAL COMMUNICATION Graphic design, illustration, web-design, etc. is what originally is defined as visual communication in terms of design thinking. Communicating visually is something that is imporant in collaborative design processes to explain, communicate, engage and as tools. WICKED PROBLEMS A wicked problem is a complex issue that is impossible to solve with one single solution. It might contain ÂŤcontradictory, incomplete and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognizeÂť. F.ex. climate change could be one such challenge that has uncountable factors, are hard to analyze and reorganize in order to create a solution. The point is that no solution is right or wrong. A W.P. is maybe not understood before the solution is formed. En.wikipedia.org (1967) Wicked problem - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Wicked_problem [Accessed: 28 Apr 2013]. Thorpe, A. and Gamman, L. (2011) Design with society; why socially responsive design is good enough. London: Taylor & Francis. Codesign, Vol. 7. pp 217-231
LIST OF TOOLS Tools are in a way the same as methods, but methods can sometimes be invisible or hard to find. Tools are useful to classify and construct because they become like games, with a set of rules, but where the outcome is open and helpful in a process. And of course, it makes it more engaging when working with co-design processes.
GET TO KNOW/ICE BREAKERS These tools I used in the MESH workshop to break the ice and to make them start talking with and get to know each other. COLOURED GROUPS Materials: Coloured nametags, tape or safety pins. All the participants get each their random nametag in colours (e.g. put them out on their chairs before they come). On the desired moment, make them find the ones with matching colours. PARTICIPATION MAPPING. Materials: Participation model (with three circles) The group maps out in plenary: Participants: who’s the group members? What do they do? Knowledge: What the group members know? Are the experts in any field? Tools: What have they brought with them, and what do they have access to? Put on the table, write list. It can be anything from prototyping tools to sketch tools, ideas, books, your favourite pen, computers etc.
MAKING THE UNTHINKABLE POSSIBLE This series of tools I used at MESH in the first workshop. I have generalized them a bit more here to make them suitable also for later use. Making the unthinkable possible, involves being crazy and imaginative, but in the end force the participants to be creative and realize their ideas. It is nice to have shares in between the tasks if there is not too many participants. FUTURE SCENARIO Materials: big sheets of paper, colour pencils, markers, magazines, scrap paper, everything that can help you visualize two dimensionally and three dimensionally. Creative brains and active bodies. Re-imagine a design situation X years into the future. Let your fantasy flow, and be really crazy. How would it work? How could it look like? Where would it be? Tip from Tabea: You can choose constraints as time, location, person or a theme. TIME TRAVEL (adopted and hacked from Tabea) Materials: big sheets of paper, colour pencils, markers, magazines, scrap paper, everything that can help you visualize two dimensionally and three dimensionally. Creative brains and active bodies. Realize your crazy plans! How did you get there? Who did you meet? Did you travel? Did you win the lottery? What has to be done to make your vision come true? Make a simple, but crazy plan. Think year by year, step by step, what would realize it.
HERE AND NOW Materials: big sheets of paper, colour pencils, markers, magazines, scrap paper, everything that can help you visualize two dimensionally and three dimensionally. Creative brains and active bodies. What is the first realistic step that could lead you to your crazy vision through your imagined plan? Look around you and grab it before someone else does. Is it anyone you could call? A webpage that can help you? Be solution minded and creative. Remember: nothing is impossible.
PROTOTYPING Materials: anything available. Pre-organized? What have the participants brought with them? (participation mapping), what exists in the building? tools, wood, plastic tubes, fiberduk, soil, tape, presenning, markers, measuring tape, stapler, holemaker, glue, carton, rope, treplugger, borr, papir, plastposer, tekstil?, bottles, plastic packaging, buckets, Visualize and form a concept, service, anything that is the first step of realizing the vision. A prototype is not necessary a functioning thing, but is just meant to make the idea tangible. Be fast! There is no need of making it looking nice.
VISUALIZATION TOOLS
D-I-Y model Isometric drawing
Mesh roof terrace
1m
1:25
180 cm
Mesh roof terrace
1:50
These tools I created in front of the workshop to make it easier for them to work with the space – a DIY model, and an isometric illustration. Giving them these went both ways: it helped them, but also limited their ideas I think.
Mapping smaller groups TOOLS What have you brought with you? (sketching, prototyping, gardening, ideas, creativity, other)
GROUP MEMBERS Who are the members of your group? What do you do?
EKS: Mads Growlab (co-design and urban farming)
EKS: Ideas+ Building materials Some tools
KNOWLEDGE What are you good at? (gardening, building, designing, other) EKS: Design processes Basic building Basic gardening
PARTICIPATION MAPPING, MESH
GROUP NAME AND COLOUR: _________________________________________________
Mapping larger groups. PARTICIPANTS Who’s participating. What they do
Adam MeshMakers Kriszti Ă˜ystein Space/Prot.tools Mesh Velg Sunt Food/Space Visions/fav. pen Mads collaboration ++ Gr. design/ Growlab Idun Ideas/materials BioDyn Forening Urban g./design Testplante/drill Farming/global/local
KNOWLEDGE (gardening, building, designing, other)
TOOLS (sketching, prototyping, gardening, ideas, creativity, plants, seeds, other)
Stakeholder mapping
Inhouse stakeholders
External stakeholders
Users
External expertise e.g. designers.
OTHER TOOLS (METADESIGN TOOLS FROM THE SRVD COURSE) These tools we got introduced to by Sanneke Duijf, Hannah Jones and Anette Lundebye from Goldsmiths in London. They had a crash course in Metadesign with us the first week of the SRVD course. I also tested a couple of them together with my classmate Tabea on out scholarship to Iceland. SOLUTION OFFICE (By Sanneke Duijf) Materials: paper and pens Write a problem on a sheet of paper. Give it to another participant who has to write a possible solution. Go on with passing the problem to different people and present the solutions in the end. It is easier to find solutions when you think outside yourself! And there doesn’t have to be experts finding these solutions, anyone can. OBSERVATIONAL WALK Materials: yourself, other participants Go for an observational walk in an area where your design will take place! Explore and survey the area. You can also try a slow-motion-walk: just walk very, very slowly. Thus, all your senses will become much more attentive. This can be a good starting point for the diversiy mapping.
DIVERSITY MAPPING (Jones & Lundebye) Materials: 24 empty small pieces of paper, pencils, glue, scissors, anything to illustrate and visualize the diversities. Map the diversities of the actual area: 1. social diversities (who? where from? what different age groups?...) 2. cultural diversities (languages, religions, art vs craft, tradition vs modern…) 3. ecological diversities (variety of biological communities or ecosystems) 4. economic diversities (systems for transaction and exchange/ who is your emerging market? Is there an alternative currency?…) find 6 diversities for each of these 4 groups. Design/illustrate a set of 24 cards and keep in mind that you have 4 suits with 6 cards each. SYNERGIES Materials: Diversity cards, big sheet of karton, thread, tap, pens, other materials. Make a game with your diversity cards, or just place them randomly on paper to see what synergies are created.. Mark the synergies with a thread and highlight those who are of special interest for you. This is a way of getting to new ideas, synergies and combinations of stakeholders and actors that wasn’t thought of. Gives a good starting point in a process.
CULTURAL PROPS Materials: all participants bring an object to share around a specified theme. These objects can enhance a discussion because they bridge personal and professional values. They can work to define a common ground between people of diverse backgrounds.