You might know what you’re doing, but do you have the means to put that knowledge into practice? Could the way you work be a means to know more about what it is you’re actually doing. And if you try to make a change and there’s no one there to see it or comment or …
Staying safe is about understanding systems that affect our choices, not just individuals. We need to design systems better if we want real change to take place.
In a world awash in content and the resulting complexity that comes when it all intersects the viable options for how to manage it remain few. The Dutch De Stijl art and design movement might offer some lessons on dealing with complexity that we can apply beyond products to creating beautiful, functional, and effective services, …
Reflective practice is the cornerstone of developmental evaluation and organizational learning and yet is one of the least discussed (and poorly supported) aspects of these processes. It’s time to reflect a little on reflection itself. The term reflective practice was popularized by the work of Donald Schön in his book The Reflective Practitioner, although …
If You Build it is documentary about a social innovation project aimed at cultivating design skills with youth to tackle education and social issues in a economically challenged community in North Carolina. The well-intentioned, well-developed story is not unfamiliar to those interested in social innovation, but while inspiring to some these stories mask bigger questions …
“If You Build It..”: A Reflection on A Social Innovation Story Read More »
A recent trip to baseball’s legendary Fenway Park provided the ideal example of understanding systems and how they can create public health problems like obesity through structural means. Being aware of these systems, their boundaries, and their activities can help us better find the causes of individual activity by looking at what encourages behaviour not just what people do.
In 2009 Censemaking was launched as a platform to explore issues in complexity and ways we can make sense of it to design for better futures and a sustainable world. After 300 posts it has become evident that there is much more to write as we see ever-new crises from complexity and ever-greater design opportunities …
300: Crises in Complexity, Opportunities in Design Read More »
If design is everywhere humans are and shapes our interactions in the built environment, which dictates how we interact with the world around us should it not be considered important enough to be a part of public health? I recently picked up a copy of the architecturally-inspired Arcade Magazine because of its theme on Science, …
Design’s relationship with space is complex and well documented in the literature on architecture, interior design, and product innovation. The relationship with time is much more complicated particularly with the rise in popularity of the concept of design thinking. The discourse on design thinking largely focuses on applying the cognitive patterns and creative techniques more …
Keith Sawyer’s latest post provides a terrific introduction to a new series coming on the design of learning that I’ll be doing on Censemaking in the coming weeks. The importance of the environments — social and physical — that support creativity cannot be understated and Dr Sawyer’s reflections, if taken seriously by educators and academic …
