Empowering Design Scope
Posted on December 16, 2016The world is constantly changing, reshaping, building itself, but most importantly, it is always merging across the different cultures and systems that composes it. As Arjun Appadurai proposes in his article “Disjuncture and difference in the global economy”, we are in this constant tense interaction between cultural homogenization and heterogenization. We are a global village, where economy, culture and politics are the systems that struggle in this merging.
We are reaching a breaking point where this fusing, if not shifted in the right way, will destroy us. This movement between systems and exchange of information, is not always moving towards equality, freedom and respect. Design has a role here: which is to seek solutions for problems, or system problems in the words of Donella Meadows.
We can envision the tip of the iceberg of how nowaday circumstances are shaping the future: the values that rule our society, the shape of our identity in social media, the illusion of freedom given by big corporations, the way we consume and distribute information. Nothing is completely predictable. In this new world, design has a unique opportunity to improve people’s lives, but it must be developed in an ethical way. We have to change the way we are observing and constructing the world, because it’s not sustainable to keep the current one.
This change demands a new shift in design’s mission. It must address the new wicked problems and figure out the rest of the iceberg before it’s too late to make a change; to intervene for improvement. It is our responsibility as professionals to develop the skills and open mindedness to shape the future. I don’t believe there must be a completely new design discipline -because it is never truly new-, but it has to transform some aspects from what it is today and reformulate the basics from where design stands. These changes would help push forward and reshape the world as we know it, using empathy as it’s main pilar.
We must change this culture, burn it to the ground, redesign it completely. Maybe has something to do with what Rittel and Webber point out in “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning”, that the ultimate goal of planning–aka change this culture– should be anarchy. Our individuality and self-absorption will destroy us; it’s already transforming the world in an unhealthy environment to live in. Radical solutions come from radical situations, and when we realize that we are living in a society where things have already gotten out of control, change will come. And we, as designers, are responsible for this change.
To achieve this, there are four main areas that Design must work on.
First, every living being must be the central focus of Design. Not only human lives will matter, but all types of life forms, from nature to all kind of insects and animals (understanding that humans are animals). There will be the Universal Declaration of Living Being Rights. We will shift from the humans rights to all living being rights, changing a human centered design for a living being centered design. Nowadays it is becoming more popular to apply a user centered design approach in projects, which is the first step to understand that placing yourself in another’s position has significantly better outcomes. Empathy is the main weapon in this change. On the other hand, animals and plants can’t fight against us, at least not completely. Society doesn’t give them a voice nor the right to live in a healthy and free environment. Like children, they must possess the rights of those who cannot speak for themselves. Design must become an advocate of this new way of embracing and protecting life and incorporate these new rules; creating and projecting ideas for a living being centered design.
Second, Design will be feminist. It will respond accordingly to all it’s ideologies and principles. Design can’t be parted from the political, economic, personal and social rights for women and men equally. Women and men must have equal access and rights for the same job, have the same work opportunities, research projects, publications, teaching jobs, managing positions, creative expression and participation in building our common future. Feminist Design has to introduce itself as an emergent behavior that starts from the base of different systems, like education and information. In its planning it will incorporate the true freedom of self identity, without any prejudice, without any stigma.
Third, design must be responsible with technology. The future will seamlessly incorporate daily technology, that is why our systems are shifting to be part of the technological era. Blockchain the main decentralized approach to exchange value, online communities will become a stronger channel to engage with people all around the world, open source will be more commonly use as a business model. We must use them in our favor by drawing a limit that no designer shall ever cross, because as humans we can’t continue to separate ourselves from each other through the service that technology offers. It must be used as a platform that unites us, to reduce the borders between people and improve the empathy connection towards the world. May our interaction with technology move forward to enhance and promote these interactions, improve communication and decrease selfishness.
Fourth, many of the problems the world has today, and the root of all the principles I stated previously, are the result of the political system that is ruling our dominant societies: neoliberal capitalism. Design have to analyze the system as the source of its own problems, and find the courage and wisdom to restructure it (Donella Meadows). We must take part in changing this unsustainable system. Design should be an active part of the public sector, always. Capitalism is destroying us through the incentive of a market that only wants to produce more, sell more, without really caring why and how this massive production is actually happening. Today, efficiency is targeted as something desirable, when in reality it is part of the lack of empathy in the economic system that neoliberal capitalism implies. Women and men work in ships in international waters so no law can interfere with the companies they work for, automatically erasing the laws that also protect them as a workforce. People living in their workplace, without access to clean water or basic sanitary conditions, exposing them to infestations and disease. Climate change was caused by capitalism, and continues to do so. It demands the use of carbon resources to promote economic activity. The principal economic politics are based in the exploitation of nonrenewable energy; systems that are known to destroy our planet Earth. This horrible insatiable need to produce more and more, has also started many terrible and inhumane wars over oil. USA has used unsubstantiated claims of foreign nuclear energy possession as an excuse to invade territory overseas, destroying everything, everyone. There must be a stop to this, and it is in design’s transformative essence to make changes happen.
Even though social problems may never be truly solved, they may be re-solved over and over again. Design must keep working towards that future. Being empathetic is a core part of the discipline. We must address these foundations as a whole, not only as ideas or dreams of what should be ideal to envision, but real projects that are within our reach, outlined by a set of principles that form the baseline of the Design discipline. We cannot blind ourselves of reality and the days to come; is our duty as designers to continue our field of work, our research, our ideals towards this common aim.