Systems Design

Small design actions can have unintended consequences on the systems of the world, so we need new tools to visualize these systems and new skills to facilitate collective action upon them.

Imagine every product as having a “weight” of environmental impact, arising from its production, transport, use, and disposal. The principle of “lightness” says a sustainable approach needs to addresses all these relationships, not just the “end-of-pipe” product.

Designers should use a diversity of models when understanding users in order to get a holistic view on what they are designing.

Any industrialized institution will go through two watershed moments. At first, its progress provides clear and substantial benefits to society. But second, its overdevelopment begins to run counter to its original goal and in fact becomes destructive to society.