Tractable patterns in the world can be identified, learned, and manipulated. Outliers will always exist and new patterns emerge—these can be tamed into recognized patterns

Tractable patterns in the world can be identified, learned, and manipulated. Outliers will always exist and new patterns will emerge—these are sources for innovation and discovery

Objective/Goal

Mirror reality and close the gap between reality and representation

Mirror the gap between reality as represented and reality as experienced

Method

Develop and refine abstract models. Codify the most accurate model

Develop and refine abstract models. Challenge static models

Assessment

Can the model predict or match reality? Can the model decrease the interpretation burden for humans and offload this onto the model?

Can the model anticipate or cause reflection on reality? Can the model give new resources for interpretation and share the load between humans and computers?

Consequence

Representations replace reality

Representations shape reality

not saying that one should abandon the search.

Marine biologists can read ringed sediments of a piece of coral to determine saline content and chemical composition of the ocean across centuries. The coral then is a kind of natural “black box” of information. Is this an example of representation as reality or response? Depends on what we do with the information. For our designed systems, our approach determines what and how we track, how we process it, what we do with the information, and how we determine (and define) whether the system is working or not.

A representation as response mindset takes as a given the limitations of representation as reality. But rather than correcting these, the gap between reality and the represented is something important to acknowledge. Due to this gap, the representation as response approach will shy away from systems that wrest authority from situated actors in place of an abstract computational model. This does not mean all systems should directly report only raw information collected. Instead, it is a call for making

models apparent as well as open to change. A representation as response mindset is about designing systems for engaging with and probing reality.

Strawmen Are Made of Straw.

Finally, in describing epistemologies, I’ve slipped into reifying abstract representations. Using terms such as “representation as reality” and “representation as response” divides them into neatly separated categories, whereas in practice, epistemologies are fluid and motley.

The table here highlights useful comparisons, not to rigidly classify one school from another, but instead to prompt reflection and discussion about how underlying values and beliefs influence design and evaluation. The table then is offered as a representation as response, not reality.

By comparing the approaches in this way, their similarities become evident. Yet their differences are profound. Instead of a spectrum, they are like adjacent positions on a circle— in one direction close, but in another, a vast distance separates them. Either approach could be employed in the Flight 447 case and like scenarios, but

the designs, assessments, and consequences would differ dramatically.

Making It Real

Through this reflective exercise, I compared methods with mindsets and revisited the imperative that epistemology matters. My desire for certainty in the face of inherent ambiguity in the world does not require a deterministic approach to design. I am not (necessarily) a closet positivist because I look for answers. Certainty and ambiguity have been presented as opposites but perhaps are better understood as forces in balance with each other.

What does this mean for practice? If epistemology matters, should designers become philosophers? Some would argue that they already are [ 9], whether they acknowledge it or not. And herein lies the essence of the idea: Acknowledging the assumptions and values at play provides a powerful lens on design at both a broad conceptual level and at the personal practice level.

Seek Out Shifting Ground. One fruitful way to draw out underlying values and assumptions is to experience the clash of

[ 9] Winograd, T. and Flores, F. Understanding Computers and Cognition: A New Foundation for Design. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1986.

November + December 2009