14

CURRENT ¢ DESIGN PROCESS

Insight
Knowledge -— DESIGN =
— WISDOM =
Information
Data

O

O
Qo
O

O
O

The world as it is today

design fiction (e.g., Dunne and Raby [2]). Here, designers make
things (e.g., objects, prototypes, events, etc.) in order to make
people think. To make them think about, for example, the prevail-
ing and failing approaches to the tactical application of new
technology.

Or we could work both sides simultaneously. Let’s look more
closely at the large space between the left and the right sides.
Think of that space as a fabric that weaves the results of analytical
activities together with the results of generative activities. If we
can work both sides simultaneously we can see the emergence
of a new fabric. We can see that the generative side stirs and
provokes the body of knowledge that grows on the left. From the
generative side we can see doodles, sketches, probes, provocations,
prototypes and provotypes that weave into the fabric. And we can
see that the analytical side raises questions and challenges that
perturb the generative activities taking place on the right. From
the analytical side we can see patterns, principles, themes and
insights that weave into the fabric.

So how will we work together to weave the new fabric of design
wisdom? There are certain to be different types of people on the
two sides who are out of their comfort zone when trying to adapt
to each other’s ways of working. I propose that the iterative cycle of
making, telling and enacting can be used to facilitate the weaving
[4]. This is a design language that everyone understands and can
use. It is simultaneously visual, verbal and enacted. The iterative
cycle of making, telling and enacting can be put into action by:

REFERENCES
Ackoff, R. L. From data to wisdom. Journal of Applied Systems Analysis,
16. 1989. 3-9. Dunne, A., and Raby, F. Speculative Everything: Design,
Fiction and Social Dreaming. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2013.
Lombardo, T. The future evolution of consciousness. World Future
Review: A Journal of Strategic Foresight, 6.2014. 322-335. Sanders, E. B.-
N., and Stappers, P. J. Convivial Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front

The world in the future

» Making, telling and enacting new kinds of stories,

» Using people’s stories about their futures to evoke their making
of new stuff,

- Telling about and sharing ideas about future stuff, and

- Putting the stuff that people make back inside their future
stories, etc.

BENEFITS OF EXPLORING THE NEW FABRIC

On the bridge between research and design in the future we will
see the transdisciplinary collaboration of people with very differ-
ent world views. We will see people who seek to understand the
world as it is today, others who strive to make sense of the future as
well as people who are driven to give shape to the future.

The framework for design wisdom reveals that the role of
designers and design researchers is continuing to grow in scope
and relevance for our collective futures. They are becoming the
facilitators of participation, provocateurs and activists. They will
continue to be the makers of stuff for the future.

In the near future practitioners, including designers, will be
seen on equal but different standing with the academics. Both
perspectives will need to be intertwined in weaving the new fabric
on the bridge between academics and practice. The bridge/gap
will serve asa place for the remixing of ideas from both sides. The
bridge is the fabric upon which we make sense of and give shape to
the future. The fabric of design wisdom.

End of Design. BIS Publishers, 2012. [5] Taleb, N. N. Antifragile: Things That
Gain from Disorder. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2014.
Wisdom. In Merriam-Webster online dictionary. http://www.merriam-web-
ster.com/dictionary/wisdom. [7] Wisdom. In Urban Dictionary. http://www.
urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Wisdom. Wisdom. In Wikipedia:
The Free Encyclopedia, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisdom.