Mark Rettig's talked about How to change the complicated stuff at IXDA NY event held at Razor fish on March 31st, 09. This is my learning.
- Create design brief that focuses on interests of people not of corporations such as how to create the new next thing that changes where food comes from
- Joanna Marcy talks about great turning (google this) - it's about shit of commerce, manufacturing and lifestyle. It is a value shift. Life sustaining civilization.
http://www.joannamacy.net/html/great.html
- Sustainability is behavior problem, behavior is our medium. Sustainability is our medium. (it goes something like this...) Understanding behavior through immersion techniques were mentioned here.
Cool immersion (or design research) techniques I learned
- Methodologies to help people how to express their feelings; card sorting exercise (each card will say certain issues such as "Using C-pap machine interferes the intimate moment with my partner" and people will look through about 40 of them until they pick 7-8) I found this interesting - it for sure stimulates people's mind yet I was wondering if this card sorting would limit exploration of new topics.
- Sticker exercise: you give a family a set of word stickers that describes feelings (frustrating, easy, surprised...etc) to each member and have them place it directly on consumer electronics around the house. Imagine a remote controller covered with bunch of stickers. A great conversation starter idea. A creative spin on participatory design research technique. I like this!
Opportunities
- Exciting insights from research is often found to be outside client's scope and gets killed. Why not act on it?
- Boundary objects http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boundary_object (google this)
- Stop waiting for permission to make changes. Establish change - make it to become a new norm.
What's been done already
- Theory U http://www.theoryu.com/bio.html
- Laurelee Alben http://www.albendesign.com/
- dott07.com
- http://www.sparkcon.com/
- ecodesigner's guild
- http://www.designersaccord.org/
- sustanable minds http://www.sustainableminds.com/ has great email updates
- http://architecture-of-life.blogspot.com/
- More bookmarks at http://delicious.com/mrettig
