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An interpreted conceptual framework of the evolution
of design methodologies to more democratized forms
of design.

users themselves through web languages
such as HTML, Css, and Javascript. This

is more than user-generated content; users
are developing the programs themselves
through everything from beta-testing

to writing in code snippets that build out
greater capabilities, using everyday lan-
guage and leveraging existing mash-up
applications to make for more efficient
user-experiences and communications.
Most of these mash-up applications them-
selves are meta-design projects. Facebook,
for example, provides add-ons, exten-
sions, and other services that have been
developed by users; the content itself is
all user-generated, and is often drawn
from another mash-up application such as
YouTube or WordPress. WordPress, too, is
a meta-design project, with users design-
ing page templates called themes, devel-
oping extensible add-on applications for
embedding in blogs, and linking to data
from other mash-ups such as Twitter or
Instagram. There are hundreds, if not
thousands, of these new Web 2.0 technol-
ogies and applications in various stages
of ongoing development, most of which
would not exist ifit were not for the princi-
ples and methodologies of meta-design.
What makes this environment so intrig-
uing is that these open design systems

are all interacting with and feeding one
another. This network is so organic,
dynamic, and complex that it couldn’t
ever be effectively mapped, but it might
be analogous to a garden where plants,
insects, soil, sun, and water all interact in
ahighly complex eco-system. Through
meta-design, designers and users gain the
benefits of a complex system with multi-
ple inputs, where users are encouraged to
create not just content, but to adjust the
system itself, creating systems that evolve
in response to user demands.

The emphasis on multi-disciplinary
collaboration that exists within meta-
design embraces the notion that the
required knowledge to solve complex
problems is beyond the scope of one indi-
vidual or discipline and that in true col-
laborative and co-creative environments,
participants teach and instruct each other.
In this case, the role of the designer is one
of facilitator and co-designer of systems
that will enable access by user-designers