T H E S I S // Pamela Schiff Napier
Process of Integration: Integrating Designers, Values and Process
Published May 2009
MFA degree, Department of Visual Communication Design
Indiana University, Herron School of Art and Design
>>> download adaptation of thesis as delivered at
Response_Ability: Ethics and Sustainability in Design Education,
Toledo, Ohio, May 16, 2010
A B S T R A C T
With shifts in society, technology and our environment causing complex challenges in our world today, designers are being called upon to transition from individual creators of things, to facilitators of innovation and transformation.
Today’s systems-level wicked problems require skills and tools that allow designers to collaborate throughout the process of designing, and to make socially, environmentally and economically responsible design decisions.
This participatory design research explores conceptual, generative and evaluative tools for identifying, managing and evaluating design decisions throughout the process of designing, for the purpose of integrating the holistic values of Environmental Stewardship, Economic Prosperity and Social Responsibility into the design process. A series of investigations informed the design of an integrative toolkit, containing a sequential scaffolding of experiences engaging tools and activities. The toolkit enables designers to individually or collaboratively shape a holistic systems-perspective through which to view design problems, opportunities, ideas and solutions.
The conceptual design of the tools and activities is informed by the imperative consideration and inclusion of holistic design values, as well as personal and systematic connections of values to the process of designing. In addition, human-centered, participatory design research allows for engaging the complexity of understanding what designers need to work in an integrative manner.
Although an understanding of holistic values and their implications through the lens of sustainability guide the design research, it is the experience of designers engaging with tools such as structured and collaborative visualization, make-tools and conceptual tools for generation and evaluation that truly explores a process of integrating those values. Tools allow designers to be aware, intentional, visual and reflective-in-action throughout their process of designing.
Central to the design research position is the possibility of developing a holistic worldview through which to view design challenges. It is the metadesign of our vaue systems, worldviews, perspectives and conscious awareness that ultimately shape why, how and what we design. By embracing the different values and perspectives that inform design decisions, designers will develop an individual and/or shared understanding of how their own personal values connect to a design process and the larger social, economic and environmental contexts in which design decisions are made.
By identifying and managing the values each individual brings to the design process, teams can collectively shape how they view and develop a problem space to work within. Participants learn to make sense of their values within a larger framework, and connect to the context in which designing will take place.
The integrative toolkit allows designers to engage in a process of discovery, and see how integrating holistic values into the design process transforms the dimensions of problem spaces, design decisions and solutions, how we view contexts, and the ability to manage complexity at a systems level.
Published May 2009
MFA degree, Department of Visual Communication Design
Indiana University, Herron School of Art and Design
pcnapier@iupui dot edu
>>> download adaptation of thesis as delivered at
Response_Ability: Ethics and Sustainability in Design Education,
Toledo, Ohio, May 16, 2010
A B S T R A C T
With shifts in society, technology and our environment causing complex challenges in our world today, designers are being called upon to transition from individual creators of things, to facilitators of innovation and transformation.
Today’s systems-level wicked problems require skills and tools that allow designers to collaborate throughout the process of designing, and to make socially, environmentally and economically responsible design decisions.
This participatory design research explores conceptual, generative and evaluative tools for identifying, managing and evaluating design decisions throughout the process of designing, for the purpose of integrating the holistic values of Environmental Stewardship, Economic Prosperity and Social Responsibility into the design process. A series of investigations informed the design of an integrative toolkit, containing a sequential scaffolding of experiences engaging tools and activities. The toolkit enables designers to individually or collaboratively shape a holistic systems-perspective through which to view design problems, opportunities, ideas and solutions.
Although an understanding of holistic values and their implications through the lens of sustainability guide the design research, it is the experience of designers engaging with tools such as structured and collaborative visualization, make-tools and conceptual tools for generation and evaluation that truly explores a process of integrating those values. Tools allow designers to be aware, intentional, visual and reflective-in-action throughout their process of designing.
Central to the design research position is the possibility of developing a holistic worldview through which to view design challenges. It is the metadesign of our vaue systems, worldviews, perspectives and conscious awareness that ultimately shape why, how and what we design. By embracing the different values and perspectives that inform design decisions, designers will develop an individual and/or shared understanding of how their own personal values connect to a design process and the larger social, economic and environmental contexts in which design decisions are made.
By identifying and managing the values each individual brings to the design process, teams can collectively shape how they view and develop a problem space to work within. Participants learn to make sense of their values within a larger framework, and connect to the context in which designing will take place.
The integrative toolkit allows designers to engage in a process of discovery, and see how integrating holistic values into the design process transforms the dimensions of problem spaces, design decisions and solutions, how we view contexts, and the ability to manage complexity at a systems level.