3 search hits
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Design and Unsustainability (Design Exclusion) – Structuring sustainable design approaches for socially responsible practices (Design for equal usability and accessibility)
(2023)
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Rihan Hamdy Rihan Hussein
- The world exists in a socially unsustainable state. Conditions of social inequity in meeting human needs have exceeded the limit. This state has taken place in the same society and across different populations, and its results have become classic wicked problems. Such conditions ‘are a result of the assumptions of utilitarian philosophy underlying mainstream economics, which is indifferent to the risk of very bad outcomes for some individuals in the present or everyone in some alternative futures’ (Dresner, S.: 2008, p. 4).
This state has been inextricably linked to design. Simply, it could be acknowledged that there’s a correlation between the state of design (design paradigm, studies and research guiding design practices) and the state of the world through recognizing the role of design in meeting human needs. The foremost intent of design is the satisfaction of human needs (Margolin, V.: 2002, p. 25). Accordingly, the socially unsustainable state of the world implies that there’s a defect in the past and current design practices; and that the current various forms of design paradigm, studies and research don’t do a good job in guiding the practices to be sustainable.
Unfortunately, in the dominant system – production for the market, most professional design practices serve via commerce and commercialism (Chick, A.: 2011, p. 70) whose primary purpose of design for the market is creating designed things for profit (self-interest). Actually, design is shackled to other goals and values rather than its real ones; ‘increasingly design, as a service, acts on instructions rather than taking action in the original sense’ (Fry, T.: 2009, p. 25) or according to its own theory. It lost its free will and its ability to control. Driven by serving the commercial brief, it ‘serves an instrumental mode of making that brings things to being without knowing what the consequences will be’ (ibid.: p. 26).
This study has examined the phenomenon ‘the correlation between design and the social unsustainability state of the world’ to discover deficiencies in the past and current design practices behind this state, and accordingly, put forward suitable elaborative approaches for avoiding the recurrence of this phenomenon.
The study has proved and acknowledged that unequal design practices or not deeply considering the dynamic diversity of people’s contexts characteristics in design practices (design exclusion) is a verified main cause behind this phenomenon. This has been achieved via collectively evaluating the interaction effectiveness within individual-designed thing relations of access and use through which equitability could be achieved, or via evaluating how equitable accessibility and usability of designed things are across people.
The dominant design paradigm driven by serving the commercial brief is most fundamentally formulated as a reduction of variety. It adopts the average case model (the average user or the standard environment) or targets specific people, groups or societies. Inflexible design models lacking a variety of actions to fit the diversity and dynamism of interaction contexts in the system of meeting human needs create troubles in such a system. Treating all contexts as the same leads to excluding to varying degrees many people from benefiting from the mainstream designed things, and consequently, their needs aren’t partially or completely met. Exclusion by design ‘represents the extreme reaction to poor design which leaves many frustrated or facing difficulty, even if not excluded’ (Clarkson, J.: 2007, p. 178). Many individuals, groups and societies have been vulnerable to design exclusion regarding usability and accessibility, and consequently, their needs haven’t been met.
Evaluating (describing, analyzing and interpreting) the phenomenon according to the proposed cause has helped add new verified and generalized theoretical knowledge (knowing – what, how and why) to the body of knowledge. It may be of value and may contribute to the growth of scientific knowledge and thus achieve a more comprehensive and deeper understanding of the phenomenon. This knowledge is represented in the accurate anatomy of the individual-designed thing relations of use and access, the deep clarification of the dynamic diversity of people’s contexts, the accurate descripttion of the socially unsustainable results of our current design paradigm (design exclusion), and the confirmation of the proposed cause related to design practices behind the phenomenon.
In light of this knowledge, for projecting the phenomenon future and trying to control and adjust it, the study has worked on structuring and establishing new suitable elaborative approaches – the design for equal usability and design for equal accessibility approaches as main parts of the equitable design approach – for supporting the optimal model of sustainable design. Both approaches challenge the conventional design paradigm adopting the average case model or targeting specific people, groups or societies, and work to ensure inclusiveness and practicality. For each approach, diverse paths have been introduced to ensure that all people find what is useable and accessible for participating in daily life activities, achieving tasks and satisfying their human needs. Also, for each approach, some fundamental keys have been structured and established for raising awareness needed to promote its message within the design, business and decision-making communities.
This structured and established projective knowledge (knowing – what should be done, and how) may be of value and applicably useful in helping avoid design exclusion, and tackle the pressing and complex problems of a world made socially unsustainable. Also, it may contribute to the growth of scientific knowledge, which in turn guides the new design practices to address the agenda of sustainability regarding social equity in meeting human needs – equity within generations – and pave the way for shaping humans’ future in a socially sustainable fashion.
Together, the theoretical and the projective knowledge may provide effective knowledge that may be of value in refining the design theory, and enable us to think about design in new ways and guide the new design practices to produce socially sustainable design.
According to the applied procedural method, this study follows the descriptive, causal and projective normative studies. It can be classified according to its nature and underlying motivation (purpose of study) as a theoretical (basic) and projective study. For data collection, it has relied on the indirect observation tool; and for processing the data, it has used the qualitative analysis method inductively, deductively and abductively.
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Maschinen der Konkurrenz : eine Untersuchung von Kennzahlen als Praxis reflexiver Subjektivierung am Beispiel von Ökologischem Fußabdruck und Selbstvermessung
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Stefan Böhme
- Unsere Gesellschaft steht am vorläufigen ›Höhepunkt‹ einer langdauernden Entwicklung der zunehmenden Verdatung. Diskurse und Praktiken der Quantifizierung, Standardisierung, Optimierung, Objektivierung oder Evaluation durchdringen sie auf vielfältige und intensive Weise. Im engen Verbund mit Normalität sind sie eines der vorherrschenden Mittel zur Orientierung und (Selbst-)Regulierung der Subjekte geworden. Als ein zentrales Element dieser Felder werden in der vorliegenden Studie Kennzahlen beschrieben. Macht-Wissens-Komplexe des Dispositivs der Verdatung produzieren mithilfe von Kennzahlen eine kalkulierende und kalkulierbare Wirklichkeit, die sich in einer Vielzahl an Diskursen, Praktiken und Vergegenständlichungen ausdrückt und sich gleichermaßen in den Vorstellungen, Annahmen und Grundsätzen niederschlägt, welche Menschen prägen und ihre Handlungen bestimmen. Exemplarisch verdeutlichen lässt sich dies an Kennzahlen aus dem Themenfeld der Nachhaltigkeit wie dem »Ökologischen Fußabdruck« oder aktuellen Praktiken der Selbstvermessung aus dem Umfeld des »Quantified Self«. Kennzahlen stellen dabei vor allem Vergleichszusammenhänge her. Ihre grundlegende Konstruktion zielt darauf ab, Felder zu homogenisieren, zu kontinuieren und somit eine eindimensionale Struktur hervorzubringen. Sie vereinheitlichen Dinge, um sie besser voneinander unterscheiden zu können. In dieser Hinsicht sind Kennzahlen Voraussetzung jedes hierarchisierten Vergleichs. Die Verdatung unserer Gesellschaft läuft folglich eng gekoppelt mit ihrer Verwettbewerblichung. Kennzahlen sitzen an der Schnittstelle dieser beiden Entwicklungen. Der maßgebliche Effekt von Kennzahlen innerhalb des Ensembles der Verdatung ist demnach die Produktion von Konkurrenzen: Kennzahlen sind Maschinen der Konkurrenz.
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Sustainable Mobility System and Human wellbeing Design enquiry and case study of Bhutan
(2021)
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Hari Kumar Suberi
- Applying research through design methodology this study enquires mobility as a complete system, which is cybernetically oriented and contextual. For the mobility system to remain sustainable in future and to enable better quality of life is a systemic challenge. Therefore, the system enquiry has the potential to add substantial knowledge in science by defining systemic problem situation, which is often complex and is invisible to the researcher. Therefore, list of variables that potentially define rough image of mobility as a system is identified, which is negotiable keeping in mind the original cybernetic rather than reducing it to simplified object. The complete mobility system is defined by network of variables influencing effect called as effect system and their associated feedback effects are identified for further research work. Therefore, the variables influencing effects are considered as semantic building block of mobility system, which may be used as multiple research problem identification. 22 different global variables are identified for further analysis to describe mobility as a system and its image projection with the help of Vester Sensitivity Model and scenario logic for future decision support. The scenarios in this study are normative value proposition, which is used to position the contextual mobility system problem situation for policy design and innovative exploitation of the system in addressing sustainable development. To support the normative description of the mobility system, empirical re-conformation is further analysed by conducting the case study referring to historical and current mobility development trend of Bhutan, which is shown as an explorative system and its description in addressing the transition to sustainable system in future horizon. The detail analysis of system cybernetic and case study of Bhutan shows, behaviour correction of user and system re-orientation is necessary condition for sustainable development, which is very complex owing to multiple uncertainties. The current analysis recommends the service-oriented market development from the image projection of mobility system is more appropriate than product-oriented market growth for sustainable mobility system design.
