• The computer is an extension of traditional tools and media

• Underlying principles of “good design” are universal

• Graduate education in design should follow the model of the fine arts and be about refining visual skills

Trend: Increasing complexity in the scale of design challenges Assumption: Students learn best through experiences that move from simple to complex

Design methodologist Christopher Jones wrote in the 1970s about a hierarchy of design problems ranging from components, through products and systems, to something he called “communities,” or interacting systems. Jones’s message was that the problems of contemporary post-industrial society reside at the level of systems and communities, not at the level of components and products. Implicit in this declaration is recognition of complexity, of an increasingly intricate web of interactions among people, objects, and settings.

We don’t have to look very hard to see that Jones is right. The accompanying chart shows accelerating complexity in the nature of problems tackled by emerging design practices. On the horizontal axis is a continuum of design outcomes, ranging from the design of single objects to the design of broader conditions for people’s experiences, which may or may not involve physical objects. The vertical axis is a continuum ranging from simple to complex problems, defined primarily in terms of the scale at which the problem must be addressed. We

can locate traditional and new project types on this matrix, recognizing that the contemporary context argues for work at scales of increasing complexity and the engagement of people in experiences. We understand, for example, that logos have little value if not nested within a larger branding strategy. The iPod, for instance, succeeds over other MP3 players not just because of its cool form but also because Apple invented i Tunes; it positioned the object within its own economic system. Amazon. com succeeds over other online booksellers not because of its display-screen appearance but because the company treats us as lifetime buyers; as researchers looking for related literature; as book critics; and so forth. As we move from designing dis-

crete objects to designing experiences, strategies, systems, and services, we expand the complexity of relationships to which we must attend.

I want to make clear that the type of work at the experience end of the continuum is not just that of big business and is not void of artifacts. Even the “social” projects that take up so much of designers’ discourse require this level of engagement. I’m reminded of an AIGA conference in which Milton Glaser and Nicholas Negroponte shared the stage, commemorating their pairing 20 years earlier at the first AIGA national conference. Glaser passed out copies of his most recent poster for ONE.org, which showed a dark-skinned hand with fingers of various skin colors and carried the

 Know-how model of practice

Strategy

Form-making

Technical production

 Know-that model of practice

Strategy

Form-making

September + October 2008

Technological development and management