RSD2: Emerging Contexts for Systemic Design
Relating Systems Thinking and Design 2013 Symposium Proceedings
Editors: Birger Sevaldson, Peter Jones
Published by The Oslo School of Architecture and Design
ISBN: 978-82-547-0263-5
The Second Symposium of Relating Systems Thinking and Design was held in Oslo, Norway at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design 9-11 October, 2013.
The second Oslo symposium engaged over 120 participants in the emerging renaissance of systems thinking in design. The emerging context is being revealed in transdisciplinary responses to increasing complexity in all challenges faced by designers, innovators, and decision makers everywhere. Our worlds have become too complex for linear and goal-driven management, as the modern world is experiencing in hopelessly complicated social, economic, and political institutions. The global demand for sustainability, democratic economies, and better education, employment, and development has resulted in new movements, but perhaps insufficient redesign. The emerging social arrangements have become too complex for conventional thinking.
Sociotechnical, service, and activity systems are characterized by highly complex and emergent human-system relationships, and benefit from nonlinear and creative design practices and engaged research perspectives. Design practices found effective in fields such as healthcare, governance, environmental stewardship, organizational management and social change, are of particular interest for cases and discussion in the conference.
The interrelationship between systems thinking and design action was the theme of last years RSD seminar at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. In re-examining the relationship of systems thinking to design we believe it possible for systems thinking and design praxis to develop the foundations for new, interrelated practices. This synergistic relationship will launch a new generation of systems-oriented thinkers empowered with the creativity and perspectives of design thinking. As educators and researchers, we also seek better theoretical foundations and rigor in design thinking.
Systemic Design has been suggested as a term for this emerging movement in design with its multiple expressions including e.g. Systems Oriented Design, Whole Systems Design, and is closely related to Dialogic Design. What binds systems related theories and practices together with design approaches may be the desire to reintroduce systems approaches with design toward a more effective integrated praxis, becoming more useful to designers (and stakeholders and clients) than evidenced by past performance. This implies the reshaping and design of systems approaches and the related practices so that they are better integrated into design processes.
Papers and presentations were organized for the following themes:
- New systemic practices in design
- Rethinking systems approaches from a design perspective
- Relating design praxis and systems thinking
- The role of systemic design when developing design practices in new areas
- Teaching (systemic design or), systems thinking in design. (or design in systems approaches)
- Relating systems and design theories, conceptually and pragmatically
The 2013 RSD2 proceedings are provided in abstracts and PDF files. Follow the links below or choose from the menus.
These proceedings are the result of a dialogue and discursive process within the community of practice, more than that of a traditional scientific publication process. For the RSD2 symposium we called for long abstracts which were properly peer reviewed. We received about 60 abstracts and accepted 40%.The accepted authors were asked to submit draft presentations which were commented on by the organizing committee. After the symposium we invited all authors to develop their abstracts further to submit working papers. This was an opportunity to include inspirations from the symposium. The working papers have not been peer reviewed, and should be regarded as works in progress.
Two special issues of the design research journal FORMakademisk were published from the submitted and reviewed RSD2 papers: Theory issue and Practice issue.
In addition to the originally submitted abstracts the proceedings contains the working papers, the presentations and in some cases additional material like videos. Special thanks to Patricia Kambitsch, Playthink for the sketchnotes.
December 2013
Editorial Board: Birger Sevaldson, Peter Jones, Harold Nelson, Alex Ryan, Linda Blaasvær, Manuela Aguirre
Content
Design Methods and Systems Thinking
Strategic Design and Social Systems
Systems Oriented Service Design
OVERVIEW
Keynotes and Plenaries
Opening Plenary: Birger Sevaldson
Thursday Keynote: Fred Collopy – Designing Large Systems: Five Stories; Five Lessons
Book Launch: Peter Jones – Design Research for Human-Centred Healthcare
Friday Plenary: Harold Nelson: Unblocking the design mind; looking for AND rather than EITHER-OR
Friday Keynote: Carlo Vezzoli – System design for sustainable energy systems in emerging an low-income contexts.
Wolfgang Jonas – The strengths / limits of Systems Thinking denote the strengths / limits of Practice-Based Design Research
David Ing – Design Flaws and Service System Breakdowns: Learning from Systems Thinking
Donald Harker, Andrew McCollough and Deaunne Denmark – Interliminal Design: Mitigating Cognitive Bias-Induced Design Distortion
Julio Cesar Rivera Pedroza, José Rafael González and Bernabé Hernandis Ortuño – Analysis of contexts and conceptual variables for a sustainable approach into systemic model
Alex Ryan – A Theory of Systemic Design
Gabriel Schaffzin and Zachary Kaiser – Designing systems for praxis and critical engagement in design education: the speculative design method and the revelation of theory through making
Design Methods and Systems Thinking
GK VanPatter – Innovation Methods Mapping
Alex Ryan and Mark Leung – Systemic Design: Two Canadian Case Studies
Michel de Blois – The “self-organizing” project”: a “systemic” view of the design and project processes
Jodi Forlizzi – An Ecological View of Systems Design
Seila Cibele, Sitta Preto Cibele, and Ana Luisa Biavista Lustosa Cavalcante – The importance of systemic thinking for mapping and development in design
Sigrun Lurås and Kjetil Nordby – Radical design processes for systemic change
Strategic Design and Social Systems
Jonathan Veale – The Civil Servant Systemic Designer: An emerging context for systemic design practice
Manuela Aguirre and Josina Vink – Transforming Health Care Systems through Design
Karianne Rygh, Marc de Droog and Danielle Arets – Systemic Design Interventions: Using systems thinking and design thinking to intervene in systems
Linda Blaasvær – Understanding cultural differences
Maggie Ollove and Diala Lteif – Integrating Storytelling into systems thinking to address conflict
Systems Oriented Service Design
Benedicte Wildhagen, Knut Bang and Adrian Paulsen – Attempting to fly: Deployment of system-oriented design methodology conducted by the Norwegian Design Council
John Darzentas & Jenny Darzentas – On the role of systems thinking in design and its application to public self-services
Eunki Chung – Designing Entanglement: Holistic approach to a new pattern of complexity in digital service design
Liliana Rodriguez and Carlos Peralta – From product to service design: A thinking paradigm shift
Ana Laura Rodrigues Santos and Linda S.G.L.Wauben – System Design Perspective of Healthcare Provision in Humanitarian Aid
Praveen Nahar – Teaching systems thinking in design at National Institute of Design (NID) India
Gordon Rowland – Teaching systemic design in the context of organizational communication
Andrea Resmini and Bertil Carlsson – Teaching Systems — Getting future IT entrepreneurs to see the full picture
Toni Kauppila – DesignerLearner, Acting on the Uncertainty
Dinesh Korjan – Plan D – Finding design solutions
Workshops
1. Doctoral Symposium Workshop, Alex Ryan, PhD
2. The experience of becoming a member of a systemic design team, Harold Nelson & Robert Sandusky
3. Language Patterns of Systemic Design: Designing with Dialogue, Peter Jones
4. Dancing with Complexity, Adrian Paulsen and Jonathan Romm
5. Systems Thinking + Design Thinking, Peter Coughlan and Colleen Ponto
6. Teaching Systems Thinking to Designers, Birger Sevaldson