design not problem solving

Systemic design was mentioned recently in the British Design Council’s publication on Medium (https://medium.com/design-council/challenging-the-brief-tackling-the-climate-crisis-through-design-153da39babc8)

"An approach that tackles complex problems by considering all the interconnected parts of a system. "

Like Horst Rittel’s term ‘wicked problem” — taken in directions quite different from Horst’s original thinking — which is too often mischaracterized, I feel it is important to give an alternative approach to ‘systemic design’ from that proposed by the Design Council.

I don’t have a copyright on the term ‘systemic design’ but I do have a long personal history with the idea and the term. I have been developing and applying systemic design ideas over a very long period and want to offer a generable alternative to the ‘problem-focused’ definition of the Council.

Systemic design should be considered as ‘design’ and not ‘problem-solving’: The Reconstitution of Sophia-the Wise Hand https://www.academia.edu/47759411/Systemic_Design_Inquiry_The_Reconstitution_of_Sophia_The_Wise_Hand?sm=b

Comments

Design, Wicked Problems & Throwness

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Center for Systemic Design draft prospectus

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Accidental Vagrant

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