Predicting Design's Path: What Comes After?
In the evolving world of design, the role of designers has expanded far beyond aesthetics. They are now at the forefront of tackling complex societal challenges, adopting a humanity-centered and systems thinking approach.
Designers in the 21st century play a crucial role in addressing intricate societal issues. By understanding the needs and lived experiences of diverse populations, including vulnerable groups, they design ethical, sustainable, and inclusive solutions that consider long-term impacts on society and the planet [1][4].
Key responsibilities of designers include applying systems thinking to map and interpret complex socio-technical systems, engaging with people-centered design to deeply understand users’ needs and contexts, prototyping responsibly and iteratively, driving sustainability, and helping institutions and governments become more creative and responsive [1][2][3][4].
Because many societal problems are deeply complex with delayed or diffuse effects, designers adopt incremental, pragmatic interventions rather than attempting overly large or disruptive solutions [4]. Their role is both to zoom out for systemic perspectives and zoom in for human-centered insights, working at multiple scales to improve societal wellbeing sustainably and ethically [1][3][4].
Collaboration is essential for solving complex societal problems, as no specialist can do it alone. Designers, as generalists, have the ability to talk to many specialists and facilitate successful collaboration [5]. They can collaborate with those working on challenges to frame problems and tackle their root causes, not just symptoms.
The practice of Humanity-centered design (HCD) prioritizes addressing complex, deep-rooted problems in societies. To further a career as a designer and tackle complex societal issues, learning cross-disciplinary skills is necessary. Including cross-disciplinary collaboration as a core element of design education can significantly improve its quality and impact [6]. Design education needs to change to focus on cross-disciplinary skills, such as business, engineering, economics, and psychology [6].
To have a greater impact, designers should learn the fundamentals of finance, accounting, marketing, supply chain, psychology, and administration. Don Norman, co-founder of Nielsen Norman Group, explains the impact of HCD in a video [7]. Learning these fundamentals can lead to strategic thinking and position designers to influence business decisions and societal challenges.
Design is a field of action that can transform theoretical approaches into practical solutions with tangible impact. By adopting a humanity-centered and systems thinking approach, designers can steer their career path and shape the future of design, contributing to inclusive, ethical, and sustainable innovation.
References:
[1] Brown, T. (2009). Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation. HarperCollins Publishers.
[2] Dunne, A., & Raby, F. (2013). Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. MIT Press.
[3] IDEO.org. (n.d.). Human-Centered Design. Retrieved from https://www.ideo.org/human-centered-design
[4] Norman, D. A. (2019). The Design of Everyday Things, 40th Anniversary Edition. Basic Books.
[5] Polman, M. (2018). Winner Takes All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. Penguin Books.
[6] Schön, D. A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books.
[7] Don Norman's 21st Century Design Course. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://21stcenturydesign.org/
Designers, in their 21st century role, incorporate education-and-self-development to tackle complex societal issues by learning cross-disciplinary skills such as business, engineering, economics, and psychology. By adopting a lifestyle that prioritizes learning and adapting, designers can employ these skills in ui design, helping create ethical, sustainable, and inclusive solutions that consider long-term impacts on society and the planet.
To maximize their impact, designers delve into understanding finance, accounting, marketing, supply chain, and psychology, refining their strategic thinking ability and positioning themselves to influence business decisions and societal challenges. This pursuit of knowledge, and the application of it in design, fosters innovation that shapes the future with an emphasis on inclusivity, ethics, and sustainability.
