"Book Review"

Breaking the Bronze Ceiling; Women, Memory, and Public Space
Co Edited by Valentina Rozas-Krause and Andrew M. Shanken
Fordham University Press
2024
9781531506414
https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.12865306
Review by Rukmini Swaminathan

Breaking the Bronze Ceiling; Women, Memory, and Public Space pays homage to a 2020 political campaign in Kentucky. The campaign prompted the construction of a memorial to mark the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage. Such a campaign indicates the sparse existence of commemorative structures dedicated to women by women. Breaking the Bronze Ceiling addresses the underrepresentation of women in the physical landscape of cultural memory and encourages readers to engage with analyses of existing monuments. Through the course of eight chapters and eleven case studies from North America, South America, Africa and Europe, the book draws our attention to the myth of equality using the subject of representation in public spaces.

Monuments of women fall short of  “breaking the glass ceiling” as they continue to perpetuate stereotypes of gender. The book highlights this through its structure, which is framed using sculptural tropes: ‘patronized women, public women, women warriors, and allegorical women’. Working through these categories, the authors observe how representations are ‘fixed’ but also co-opted to suit different contexts. Officials and planners are often seconded by the public in the commissioning of work that ‘fixes’ identities. However, every monument discussed in the book also highlights how these ‘fixities’ are contested amongst the public. The monument then becomes a site that initiates the breaking of narratives to include more representations of cultural memory.

On the theme of “patronized women,” Amanda Su’s ‘George Eliot at Nuneaton and Trans Monumentality’ (chapter 2), investigates how anti-BLM (Black Lives Matter) protesters choose to protect the statue of George Eliot, a central monument in the town of Nuneaton in Warwickshire, England. The statue of Eliot depicts her as a docile Victorian woman seated on a bench, looking downcast. It is a precise symbol of women’s domestic roles and the importance of this labor within the mining town. Under the Thatcher government, the coal industry faced severe financial constraints leading to unemployment of white working-class men and redirecting of women's labor to the home. These experiences have since influenced the support for Brexit and anti-BLM protests in Nuneaton. Eliot’s statue has been used to symbolize notions of ‘conformity’ in these political protests. However, Su’s analysis of the statue stresses Eliot’s trangender identity that is suppressed in the narratives of working-class rights. Eliot reflects the co-existence of several identities and several competing narratives; while she was trans and a sympathizer of the Civil war, people who endorse different values from Eliot use her as a symbol of their cause by constraining themselves in their representation of her.

A similar case is seen in the next section, “public women”, where partial lives of certain figures have been incorporated into the ‘public’ imagination. ‘“We Shall Beg No More”: Helen Keller, Politics, and Commemorations in the National Statuary Hall’ (chapter 4) by Sierra Rooney discusses the insertion of a statute of Helen Keller on behalf of the state of Alabama to the National Statuary Hall, Washington D.C. The statue freezes Keller in the body of a young girl next to a water pump, a famous instance in her life when she learned to associate words with images. While the insertion of Keller in the space of primarily male statues demonstrates Alabama’s  “progressive” thinking, Rooney brings us back to the ‘fixing’ of Keller’s identity. The infantilization of Keller glorifies her as an icon of disability, while also disassociating her from the liberal values Keller fought for as an adult. The memorialization of figures like Keller and Eliot have placed them in singular molds when in fact, their lives were multifaceted.

In section 3 and 4, ‘women warriors’ and ‘allegorical women’, the gendered subjects resist the freezing of bodies without their consent. The chapters elucidate the gap between the histories sanctioned through monuments and narratives that are inherited and remembered by ‘living’ subjects. By placing material and immaterial actors in conversation with one another, the fissures between the two provide scope for resistance. In ‘The Myth of the Passive Woman in Confederate Monuments’ (chapter 5), Nathaniel Robert Walker discusses the ‘Warrior Queen’ as a symbol of Charleston, South Carolina. Some of Charleston’s statues portray her being protected by a man. During the Civil War, to protect the women and children of the town from ‘outsiders’, the men of Charleston incarcerated them. Drawing on this event, Walker rereads the monuments of the ‘Warrior Queen’ statues as a memory of the women who resisted ‘their own’ people. She argues the women of Charleston protected the city from its own people who wanted to modify the landscape for the sake of progress. These women also campaigned to memorialize the work of confederate women. The confederate sculptures build on the allegory of Patience. They depict women kneeling, thereby submitting to ideals of womanhood envisioned by women of Charleston as the preservation of culture and devotion to family. The artifacts present the women as protectors of the city, taking history into their own hands. However, Walker is critical of what history is being memorialized. While the confederate monuments of Charleston honor women, the representation of ‘black’ women as the ‘mammy’ reifies the ‘fixing’ racial hierarchies. The book underscores the complicacy of women in maintaining racial and class hierarchies while also advocating for gender rights. In another case study, the Antimonumenta collective in Mexico reinscribes the soldaderas monuments that commemorate Mexican women in the revolution. While they acknowledge the ‘indigenous’ woman, she is yet to rewrite her own story like the ‘mammy’.

Despite the Antimonumenta collective’s blindspots, in ‘Firearms, Flowers, and Barricades: Women’s Reinscriptions in the Mexican Landscape of Monuments’ (chapter 6), Tania Gutirrez-Monroy comments on the shared relationship between the commemorated and activists today. She analyzes the Soldaderas statues in Mexico and their inability to suggest the dual role of women as mothers and fighters in the revolution. Shawls worn by the women were used to carry bread and messages between homes bridging the private and public as they moved in these spaces. Though the shawl is cemented on the statues, their adaptive quality between the public/private divide is not comprehended on the statue. The depiction of the Soldaderas women as fighters forgets the other identities she embodies as a mother and a woman, which allow her to move between the public and private worlds so seamlessly. Today, the Antimonumenta collective uses the Soldaderas statues and public spaces to reawaken issues of the ‘home’ and bring them out in the open. They draw inspiration from the past to rewrite their own histories.

The book fittingly concludes with an allegory of Patience who signifies preservation, virtues of care while awaiting change. Daniel Herwitz’s ‘Patience on a Monument: A History Painting’ studies Penny Siopis’s rendition of Patience as black woman sitting on a rock while her surroundings depict the end of the Apartheid in South Africa. It comments on the passive role of women as she patiently accepts her fate of bearing the brunt of violence. Is she sitting on gold? Is she sitting on waste? As she sits on the ‘pile’, Hertwitz’s argues her act of waiting, can be understood as a form of agency.  It is finally her turn to speak, assuring readers that the future of memorialization is in the midst of change. As it breaks the “Bronze Ceiling”, we are left with many possibilities of what the future of remembering could look like. The book uses an array of examples from different parts of the world to show the simultaneous “breaking” of “gender equality” in monuments as a global concern. However, in placing these case studies together, there is fear of flattening histories of gender and race which are significantly shaped by their regional contexts.

Rukmini Swaminathan is a PhD student at the department of History, University of Michigan. Her research focuses on postcolonial public housing in India. She is particularly interested in the intersections between design history, material culture and the aesthetics of public culture.

Design Thinking and Other Approaches
Nathan Crilly
Cambridge University Press
2024
I978-1-009-49867-8
Reviewed by: Maithili Mishra

Practitioners from different disciplines tend to view the world through unique lenses, shaped by their specific knowledge, methodologies, and values. The intersection of design thinking (DT) and different disciplinary approaches can lead to innovative solutions and cross-pollination of ideas. Design Thinking and Other Approaches—How Different Disciplines See, Think and Act, by Nathan Crilly, thoughtfully maps relationships between design thinking and other approaches like ‘evolutionary thinking’, ‘mathematical thinking’, ‘statistical thinking’, ‘geographical thinking’, ‘historical thinking’, ‘anthropological thinking’, among others. This mapping is done via qualitative visualizations, allowing for a deeper understanding of the similarities, differences, and potential synergies between these approaches. Key chapters review components of disciplinary approaches and examine claims about these approaches, revealing how they evolve as contrasting or complementary. The possibility of connecting design thinking with such an extensive set of disciplinary approaches is an asset for the design community looking to embrace new perspectives and ideas. The central approach of “design thinking” is portrayed as a set of components labelled as – ‘creativity and innovation’, ‘user-centeredness and involvement’, ‘problem solving’, ‘iteration and experimentation’, ‘interdisciplinary collaboration’, ‘ability to visualize’, ‘gestalt view’, ‘abductive reasoning’, ‘tolerance of ambiguity and failure’, and ‘blending analysis and intuition’. 

A section examining the principal attributes of design thinking relative to the myriad disciplinary approaches is illustrated in a scientifically organized manner, citing broad-ranging published work. Related literature includes work on generating creative ideas across individual disciplinary approaches and turning them into innovation propellers for competitive advantage. Works on extracting geographical applicability spring from ideas on promoting a stronger African design identity that can inform relevant solutions for African societies. For deriving relevance to the future of work, literature on adopting historical thinking is appreciated for changing the fundamental mental structures for grasping the meaning of the past. The author emphasizes that “a consequence of abstracting from the specifics of disciplinary practices is that the resulting descriptions are no longer tied so closely to those disciplines’ traditional domains of application. As such, it [describing disciplinary approaches] is a feature of many projects that they advocate for the wide-ranging applicability of the disciplinary approaches that they are describing. These are approaches that can ostensibly be learnt by many people outside the originating discipline and implemented by them in many contexts or domains.”

A deep theoretical characterization of every approach follows. The disciplinary approaches are considered as “a set of components, which can be identified as ways of thinking, objects of thought, thinking skills, cognitive styles, habits of mind, mindsets, craft knowledge, attitudes, logic, perspectives, inclinations, dispositions, personal traits, values, and perspectives (as distinct from subject matter knowledge, processes, actions, techniques, tools, and outputs).” The author studies "subtle, complex and shifting things” (i.e. the actual disciplines) and works to provide definite, simple, and static descriptions of them (i.e. the specified approaches).

The section on ‘Collecting Disciplinary Approaches’ tabulates an expansive set of components providing a detailed understanding of the elements of twelve disciplinary approaches.  The author introduces ‘variants’ to refer to the different proposals of definitions of ‘components’ that refer to the different parts or ingredients that make up any disciplinary approach, allowing for a more nuanced analysis. Systematic tabulation details one variant of each approach, including the original name provided by the authors, a full list of its components, the definition of each component and anything that the components are explicitly contrasted against. There is also a summary of the main methods used to identify the components, and any associated notes of clarification. This organized and consistent tabulation permits comparison within and across disciplines. 

Examining the table, it is interesting to see how concepts of design thinking maps to those of entrepreneurial thinking, for example; (be empathetic and user-centered) → (develop empathy for customers), (welcome ambiguity and complexity) → (tolerate ambiguity), (seek collaboration and co-creation) → (enlist others in your venture), (be creative and change oriented) → (be creative within constraints). Similar mappings involving design thinking and systems thinking, for example; (adopt an integrative perspective) → (adopt a holistic view). Design thinking also blends well with computational thinking for example; (engage in problem solving) → (decompose and solve problems), (be experimental and iterative) → (work iteratively and incrementally), (demonstrate design process) → (plan and design solutions). Future work in the field of design involves design thinking-led-experimentation for boosting the quality and relevance of the tapestry of design artifacts. The author mentions that “central to design is the practice of conceiving plans for enabling goal-directed change. When described at this level of abstraction, aspects of design thinking will clearly be employed in other disciplines, such as when scientists plan experiments to test hypotheses (‘experiment design’).”

"Design Thinking and Other Approaches" is a valuable resource for understanding the interplay between design thinking and various disciplinary perspectives. The book reinforces the general notions of approaches of ‘design thinking’ that includes empathy, visualisation, and creativity, and provides a solid foundation for further research and exploration in this area. The insightful exploration thus facilitates cross-disciplinary learning and sets the stage for further theoretical development and practical application to emerging collaborative design environments.

Maithili Mishra is a designer from Clemson University. A  budding researcher, she specializes in the research areas of Human-Centered Computing (HCC), specifically virtual humans (VH). She is also interested in the development, critique, evaluation, and characterization of UX and visualization systems. 

Visual Methods for Digital Research: An Introduction
By Sabine Niederer and Gabriele Colombo
July 2024
256 pages
216 x 138 mm / 9 x 5 in
Polity Press

Reviewed by Gerry Derksen

In an era dominated by visual communication, “Visual Methods for Digital Research: An Introduction” by Niederer and Colombo emerges as a timely and comprehensive guide to navigating the complexities of image-based research. This book offers multiple approaches to understanding, analyzing, and utilizing digitized and generated images in academic and practical research contexts, making it an invaluable resource for scholars, data scientists, and visual communication professionals.

The authors begin by introducing readers to various image types, including non-human, soft, glitch, and networked images. This taxonomy sets the stage for a deeper exploration of how different image categories function in research and communication. Particularly intriguing is the discussion of networked images, which considers the evolution and spread of memes, highlighting the dynamic nature of visual communication in digital contexts.

One of the book’s strengths lies in its presentation of five strategies for studying groups of images: source-based, expert-curated, query-based, snowballing keywords, and image-based collection building. These methodologies provide researchers with a robust toolkit for approaching image analysis from multiple angles. The authors’ explanation in Chapters 2, “Distance Images: Reading Large Collections,” and Chapter 3, “Networked Images: Platform Image Analysis,” describe how these strategies can be applied in various contexts, such as distant and close reading, demonstrating the book’s practical value.

The concept of “distant reading” of images is particularly prescient given the increase in user-generated visual content and collections of large data sets. By discussing how extensive collections of images can be analyzed based on formal similarities, what Lev Manovich calls ‘cultural analytics’ (2012) is applied initially to art and magazine covers and, more recently, used on social media images. The authors introduce readers to powerful organizational techniques using computer vision, or structuring data around timestamps, or digital features such that a hierarchy is formed based on top-level searches to links and sub-linked items. Their example of using clustered data to study images related to the Paris Climate Agreement and subsequent US withdrawal illustrates how these methods can yield insights into complex social issues. What is not mentioned, however, are cautionary tales of user-generated images or tagged associated data that include biases, which the authors only discuss in the final chapter on AI-generated content. Here, Niederer and Colombo highlight the relationship of clustered images, examining the associations between clusters using sentiment from keyword descriptions, for example. The edges of adjacent clusters form new contexts defined by publics who assigned the keywords on a given platform.

Equally important is the book’s treatment of “close reading” of images. The authors advocate for a nuanced approach that considers not just the content of individual images but also their context within metadata, such as ranking, hash terms, search hierarchies, and keyword use, for grouping and overlaying images across smaller collections. This multi-dimensional analysis framework encourages researchers to look beyond surface-level interpretations and consider the broader sociocultural implications of the collection.

Chapter 4, “Critical Images: Exposing Inequalities with Visual Research,” stands out for its engagement with pressing social issues. By examining how images can reveal or perpetuate inequalities, the authors demonstrate how visual research used for social critique can uncover messaging that borders on stereotyping. The discussion of pregnancy vs. unwanted pregnancy imagery and the analysis of Getty’s “Lean In” collection offer compelling examples of how visual representation intersects with social justice issues, even when conscientious efforts are taken to lessen hegemonic influences.

The book takes a significant turn in Chapter 5, “Participatory Images: Talking Back to Maps,” exploring the potential for more inclusive and reflexive research methodologies. By introducing concepts like “matters of care” used by data feminists, the authors challenge traditional power dynamics in research and advocate for approaches that include participants’ perspectives. This section raises crucial questions about authorship and bias in data collection, explicitly encouraging readers to examine their methodologies while advocating for participatory research designs critically. Niederer and Colombo challenge earlier research methods’ inequity as a bias but call for a shift in perspective from power and dominance to emotion and embodiment. This shift localizes the relationship between participant and data visualizations rather than attempting to stress ‘one single loud, or technical, or magical’ voice (D’Ignazio and Klein, 2020). Using current digital visualization techniques, the authors illustrate how images can be seen both as networked and as individual contributions within a participatory research framework.

One of the more topical chapters of the book is Chapter 6, “Machine Images: Generative Visual AI for Research,” which discusses methods of image generation and analysis methods. The distinction between prompt engineering and prompt design offers a nuanced understanding of how to leverage AI in visual research. The discussion of negative prompts, generic prompts, and abstract prompting provides valuable insights into the potential and limitations of AI in image generation and model insights as a focus of study.

While the book covers an impressive range of topics, some readers might find certain sections overly brief. For instance, the two paragraphs on Forensic Architecture leave the reader wanting more about this intriguing approach to crisis analysis. Additionally, while the book raises important ethical considerations, case studies describing their outcomes, from ethical implications of AI-generated imagery to participatory research methods, would have been welcome. Understandably, methods are used differently in studies; however, these examples provide hints as to when and for what purpose they can be applied.

Despite these minor limitations, Visual Methods for Digital Research succeeds in providing a comprehensive and thought-provoking overview of contemporary visual research methodologies. Its interdisciplinary approach, combining elements of data science, social science, and media studies, makes it relevant to a broad audience. The authors’ emphasis on critical thinking and ethical considerations ensures that readers are equipped not just with methodological frameworks but also with the ability to reflect on the broader implications of their research.

Niederer and Colombo have produced a valuable resource that will undoubtedly shape the process of visual research. By encouraging researchers to consider various approaches, engage with emerging technologies, and remain mindful of the social impact of their work, Visual Methods for Digital Research starts a valuable conversation for scholars in the use of these methods and the perspective position from where they originate. It is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand and harness the power of images in academic and applied research contexts.

Teaching Graphic Design: Approaches, Insights, the Role of Listening, and 24 Interviews with Inspirational Educators, edited by Sven Ingmar Thies, is a thoughtful and practical resource for graphic design educators. The book prioritizes questioning, listening, and communication as fundamental to the growth of teachers, learners, and the design field. The introductory chapters reflect on the nature of design education, while perspectives are broadened in the second half of the book, which shares twenty-four interviews with design educators and twelve project briefs from varied university courses.

The structure of the book unfolds from the theoretical to the granular, and the central topics are explored with refreshing humility and clarity. Front matter spotlights the featured educators with a photo and key idea or question in the form of a pull quote. From this initial highlighting of the multiple voices and perspectives featured within, the book moves on to an introduction and then four key chapters: graphic design, teaching, interviews, and sample assignments.                                                            

The book’s introduction preemptively answers many of the potential readers’ questions about what they will next encounter. The pedagogical tactic of encouraging students to consider the who, what, why, and how of each research topic is fore fronted, as the introduction is carefully arranged to answer each of these questions regarding the project itself. The following four goals for the book are introduced: 1) to create an overview of potential teaching parameters 2) to listen more consciously in class 3) to receive feedback for one’s own teaching and 4) to foster more spatial variety. Ten years on and reflecting back on his first year of teaching, Thies notes that in this first year as an educator what would be taught (subject and goals) was immediately clear, but how it would be taught was less clear.

The graphic design chapter focuses on the question “what is it we are teaching?” and consists of three subsections: in search of a definition, design practice, and design education. This preliminary content considers the broader roles of graphic design as a changing field in evolving societies. Here, Thies argues that graphic design aims to change, understand, ideate, and realize, and that each of these activities is fundamental to the nature of design. The situational context for graphic design connects what occurs in the classroom with what occurs beyond classroom walls. By embracing new perspectives and ideas, we change the discipline as the discipline changes us as designers, educators, individuals, and communities.

After this broader theoretical consideration of graphic design as a discipline, the teaching section explores the theory and practice of design education, asking the question “how do we enable learning?” Here, Thies encourages shifting perspective to that of the learner, and explicitly including teachers within this category of learners. Again, the organization of this chapter demonstrates clarity of intent, with subsections asking key questions such as “Who am I?” and “Who am I Teaching?” Within the latter section, acknowledged differences of classroom learners include social background, age, basic education, personality, learning experience, motives, goals, and convictions. Discussion of classroom diversity tends to imply a classroom demographic similar to that at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, where Thies teaches, and socioeconomic, cultural, and ethnic diversity could be more explicitly discussed to make this discussion relevant to broader campuses. The subsection “How do I Teach?” is organized around the ideas of acting consciously, asking, listening, speaking, rethinking, letting do, and variety. Inquiry and development are embraced; and listening to others’ perspectives in order to learn, grow, and better collaborate is always prioritized. Thies writes “if asking questions is looking into the future, listening is acting in the present” with listening here meaning a focusing of attention, with the example of a productive feedback session given. The typical expected course of action for both educators and students is noted here as beginning with the same two verbs: 1) asking and 2) listening, but Thies argues that listening should instead be placed at the central role within a matrix of other pedagogical actions (asking, speaking, rethinking, and letting do) as it ought to be practiced more consciously as a central tenet, as a method of transferring responsibility to students and motivating them to think, decide, and act.

The subsequent section of the book, educator interviews, asks how others teach. This section consists of 24 interviews with educators in Austria, China, Germany, Japan, the UK, and the USA, including well-known practitioners such as Erik Spiekermann and Stefan Sagmeister. These interviews were collected over the course of four years between 2019 to 2023 and were primarily conducted face-to-face—not a small task considering the broadly dispersed geographic locations of the featured educators. Thies acknowledges major shifts, including the pandemic impact on teaching modalities, within design education over the course of the project, and projects exploring contemporary topics such as artificial intelligence are deftly woven into broader book themes. Rather than providing a set list of questions for each educator, Thies tailors each interview to that educator. Questions asked within each interview reflect knowledge of each individual’s background, approaches, and specialties to tease out the most useful insights for other educators. These insights are both practical as well as theoretical. Again, the importance of listening is discussed with a variety of educators, with LeeAnn Renninger commenting that listening means creating both a habit of curiosity and a habit of questioning, as well as the ability to perceive underlying beliefs, motivations, and foundations beneath surface rhetoric. Takeshi Sunaga ties real listening to genuine interest and wholehearted attention to students.

The final sample assignments section asks what other educators’ project briefs might offer and provides twelve selected project briefs. This section provides specificity that is neatly linked to many of the abstract discussions in the preceding chapter, and grounds the discussion in specific assignments. The brevity of this section indicates an initial collection of briefs that could justifiably be fleshed out into a more expansive collection of project briefs in the future. A valuable companion volume might include additional student insights into the briefs, activities, topics, or pedagogical methods discussed.

Throughout Teaching Graphic Design: Approaches, Insights, the Role of Listening, and 24 Interviews with Inspirational Educators, the writing is succinct, intentional, and considered. The importance of listening and reflection is reinforced throughout the book, shifting focus from the singular designed outcome or artifact to the shared experience of classroom collaboration and inquiry. The emphasis on classroom communities as collaborators for change is practically supported by varied educator interviews, and ultimately the book provides an engaging collaborative discourse and nuanced inquiry into the nature of design education.

Teaching Graphic Design: Approaches, Insights, the Role of Listening and 24 Interviews with Inspirational Educators (Edition Angewandte)
Sven Ingmar Thies 
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Birkhäuser (31 Dec. 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Perfect Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 3035626006
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-3035626001

About the Reviewer

Ellen Christensen is an Assistant Professor of Visual Communication Design in the School of Design at San Francisco State University. She completed an M.F.A. in Graphic Design at the Rhode Island School of Design, where was the recipient of a RISD Research Grant, a Graduate Division Fellowship, and a RISD Fellowship. Her graduate thesis at RISD, Placefulness, researched design strategies of care and community placemaking. She received a B.A. in American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, where she graduated with High Honors, Phi Beta Kappa, and Magna Cum Laude. At Berkeley, she formed her own concentration within the American Studies major, “Ethnicity and Visual Representation,” and was the recipient of the William Stout Award. Her work explores collaborative methods of physical and virtual community building.

Title: Meaningful Stuff. Design That Lasts.

Author: Jonathan Chapman

Publisher: MIT Press

Year: 2021

ISBN: 9780262045728

Reviewed by: Niklas Hermann Henke (Information and Communication Science, Ph.D.), Scientific Work Package Leader at Capgemini Engineering (Toulouse, France) and Research Member of the GRESEC laboratory (University of Grenoble, France).

‘Never have capitalist societies owned so much, wanted so much, and wasted so much’ (p. 1). In Meaningful Stuff. Design That Lasts, Jonathan Chapman makes a profound argumentation for a sustainable design ethos. Although the book was published in 2021, its importance to current design practice is relevant as recent technological developments (particularly in relation to generative AI) make a long-term ecological design ethos essential. Chapman's book remains one of the most powerful ones on the subject for several reasons. Chapman mobilises a variety of data to analyse today's design culture and its impact on society and the environment, revealing the facts on questions such as: What rare materials are required to make digital devices? What social and environmental (hidden) externalities are associated with them? How long is the average life cycle of modern consumer goods compared to the time it takes to create the exploited resources? The facts associated with these questions are downright scandalous and point to weaknesses in design professions, such as their focus on producing short-lived products that are programmed to fail quickly (#planned obsolescence) or to be outlived by newer versions,

“In manufacturing consumer electronics-arguably one of the most socially and ecologically significant areas of design activity today-we produce forty tons of waste to manufacture one ton of products. Of that ton of products, 98 percent are discarded within just six months of purchase. In the use of energy and material alone, this sequence of events is less than 1 percent efficient. Or to put it another way, our prevailing system of production and consumption is over 99 percent inefficient.” (p. 47).

As a result of today’s non-sustainable economic system, it is expected that the oceans will contain more plastic than fish in 2050. The ecological catastrophe is compounded by social injustices and the worrying circumstances surrounding the extraction of conflict materials such as cassiterite, wolframite, coltan and gold ore. Based on a such a diverse range of data from different disciplines, Chapman criticises modern throw-away culture, planned obsolescence, stock-piling of just-in-case-possessions, mindless use of resources, and proposes perspectives for more sustainable design practices. He criticizes the fact that many modern consumer goods are produced in a way that make it impossible to repair them – as for example the glued interior of Apple’s AirPods. Consequently, in suburbs lies more valuable resources than in mines, as the percentage of gold in smartphones is higher than in rocks and earth extracted from a gold mine. However, it is less costly to extract gold from a gold mine, then to recycle smartphones. This represents a system failure. For companies, it is more profitable to make throw away products then repairable and lasting ones. Therefore, Chapman pledges for making the unseen social and ecological externalities of products (resources, pollution, social injustices) part of the design process. The design process should not only address the conception, production, and use of a product, but also its disposal. Too many designers are focused on too few touchpoints between users and products, leaving aside the supply-chain and disposal. Chapmans propositions are close to known approaches such as Cradle-to-Cradle, which have not found their implementation in most industrial design practices yet. Chapman proposes an understanding of how such an approach could be realized systematically.

The ecological consequences of modern consumerism are grounded in socio-psychological mechanisms that make an individual's consumption behaviour incredibly complex: “People buy things because of what they can do with them, what they can tell others about them, and what having them says about themselves.” (p. 6). To understand this complexity, Chapman mobilises the anthropological framework of fundamental philosophers such as Heidegger, Adorno and Weber, which he links to recent empirical findings in the field of design research and ecological economics. He examines in detail aspects of emotion, aesthetics, meaning, ideology, and even supernatural beliefs, all of which have an impact on our relationship with objects. The emerging complexity creates certain challenges for design professions, as it becomes increasingly difficult to address such a complexity in daily design practices (partly due to institutional restrictions or budgetary, political or time constraints). At the same time, designers can have a positive impact, as many aspects of a product need to be 'designed' - potentially in an environmentally sustainable way. As you read, bear in mind that the term "design" is used very broadly and that the book is aimed at, for example, product designers, UX designers, marketing specialists or communications consultants alike. It is not limited to design professions but a valuable source of reflection for everyone. The challenge for designers today is to design products with meaning. Not just superficial meaning, but a deep connection and emotional value. Chapman's book is not a blind critique of modern throwaway culture, but a detailed analysis of it, offering practical recommendations, such as incorporating more repair options into products. Repairing a product makes the user a co-creator, creating a more meaningful and lasting bond between the user and the product. “(…) we must design material things to last longer through their innate ability to change over time: things that are not finished and can be repaired and altered. This goal requires a new design philosophy of things that are deliberately incomplete, and things that stay in motion.” (p. 114). Chapman proposes an insightful pledge for a sustainable design ethos. It is a passionate argumentation for maintenance, repair, and care - a sustainable design approach for creating meaningful products that are transformative, eventually imperfect, and modifiable by users. This implies a use-culture based on collaboration, sharing, and repairing. It represents a more natural approach, opposed to the artificial focus on industrial perfection, which can be summarized with Chapman’s observation, referring to the Japanese worldview focused on imperfection, “Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, nothing is perfect.”

About the Reviewer: Niklas Henke is Scientific Work Package Leader at Capgemini Engineering in Toulouse and part of the research team Future of People@Work / Comm@Work since July 2023. He works at the intersection of Design and Communication Research, combining artistic with scientific perspectives. He worked for innovation- and design / advertising agencies based in France and Germany, as Creative Strategist, User Interface Designer, and as a Freelance User Experience Researcher. His research focuses on the role of creativity and the human body in the context of modern technological transformations. He teaches theoretical and practical design and communication courses in Grenoble, Paris, Cologne and Duesseldorf.

Title: Bioprotopia: Designing the Built Environment with Living Organisms
Author(s): Ruth Morrow, Ben Bridgens, Louise Mackenzie (editors)
Publisher: Birkhäuser
Year: 2023
ISBN: 9783035625806; 3035625808; 9783035625790; 3035625794

Reviewed by Gozde Damla TURHAN-HASKARA (Architect, Ph.D.), Asst. Prof. Dr., Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design, Izmir/Türkiye.

Bioprotopia: Designing the Built Environment with Living Organisms by Ruth Morrow, Ben Bridgens, and Louise Mackenzie (eds.) offers an insightful exploration into the intersection of biology and architecture. The book challenges conventional architectural practices by introducing the concept of Bioprotopia, a perspective that sees places as living environments shaped by biological processes and our coexistence with organisms.

The authors emphasize the transformative potential of biotechnology in building design, highlighting innovative projects across macro and micro scales such as the BioKnit that explores the possibility of growing buildings using biological materials, challenging traditional design methods, or Healing Masonry that investigates introducing bacteria to traditional construction materials to enable self-healing properties, or Bacterial Sculpting that investigates microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICCP) as a biomineralization process, or the Photosynthetic Biocomposites that explores the integration of living microalgae within minimal moisture environments.

What sets Bioprotopia apart from other literature on biodesign is its emphasis on real-world application and interdisciplinary collaboration. Unlike the previous publications of the editors and authors of the book, and others in the literature on material studies, prototyping, and the theoretical possibilities of biological architecture, Bioprotopia provides concrete examples of biotechnological innovations and their implementation in architectural design projects. This practical approach, coupled with its ethical considerations and social equity framework, distinguishes this particular book as a valuable resource for designers and students seeking to create more ecological and inclusive built environments.

The introduction of the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment (HBBE) can be the most integral part of the book in which this collaborative research initiative is showcased, aiming to develop life-sustaining buildings responsive to their natural environment. It is effectively argued for a paradigm shift in architectural practice. These micro and macro projects serve as practical demonstrations of how biological innovations can contribute to creating sustainable and adaptable built environments, through a concrete example of OME building. Conceived as an experimental building, the design was guided by a comprehensive workshop involving the founding members of the HBBE and led by FaulknerBrowns Architects. Despite its experimental nature, the OME was envisioned as a stepping stone to the next level of testing and prototyping. The spatial concept of the building centered around a small, self-contained domestic space (studio apartment) on the first floor. This space was designed for microbiome studies, exploring the role of ventilation, material surfaces, and other interventions in microbial communities. Additionally, the studio apartment serves as a space to engage with the public and explore attitudes towards biotechnology in a domestic context. The OME features prototyping and exhibition spaces designed for flexibility. Wall lining boards, services, and structural elements were designed to accommodate the integration of new biomaterials and technologies as they develop.

One of the other key strengths of Bioprotopia lies in its emphasis on collaboration between architects, biologists, and engineers. By bringing together experts from diverse fields, the book fosters a holistic understanding of biodesign and its potential impact on architectural practice. This collaborative ethos distinguishes Bioprotopia from other literature on biodesign, which may fall short in demonstrating a real-world application scenario with the proper expertise.

In the context of the current climate crisis, Bioprotopia emerges as a timely and impactful contribution to environmental impact of archtectural design discourse. The book confronts the urgent need for sustainable solutions in architecture, offering practical strategies for mitigating the ecological footprint of the built environment. By promoting self-sufficiency, resilience, and regenerative design principles, Bioprotopia inspires designers to rethink their approach to architectural practice and to adopt more ecologically sensitive methodologies.

Last but not least, Bioprotopia seeks to influence design practice by advocating for ethical considerations and social equity in architectural decision-making. The book reflects on the disparities followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and calls for a more inclusive and compassionate approach to architectural design. By foregrounding issues of vulnerability and care, Bioprotopia challenges designers to prioritize the well-being of communities and ecosystems in their projects. The book references environmental artist Agnes Denes's “Book of Dust” to illustrate the interconnectedness of human and non-human agencies in shaping planetary life-worlds. It emphasizes the ethical responsibilities and response-abilities required to address the environmental crises we face, advocating for a more compassionate and sustainable approach to living with human and non-human worlds.

In conclusion, Bioprotopia presents a compelling vision for the future of architecture, one that is deeply rooted in biological principles and informed by ethical imperatives. By offering practical insights and critical reflections, the book empowers designers to embrace biotechnology as a tool for creating regenerative and resilient built environments. It is very mind-opening for the readers to see two implementation routes clearly. On one hand, there seem to be substitutional strategies using biomaterials like mycelium for insulation, while the other route embraces radical approaches in reimagining construction norms. Of course, while the extent of the impact of both ways may vary depending on factors such as industry adoption and policy support, Bioprotopia lays the groundwork for a paradigm shift in architectural discourse towards greater sustainability and resilience. Therefore, both paths require careful consideration of sustainability, avoiding potential harmful impacts from large-scale biotechnological production and transportation practices.

Its interdisciplinary approach, timely insights, ethical considerations, and most importantly, positioning itself beyond a mere prototype mark, Bioprotopia is a powerful seminal text at the intersection of biology and architectural design, demonstrating an actual operation of a bio-building, led by diverse voices, including marginalized communities and policy-makers. Ultimately, the realization of Bioprotopia depends on a collective intelligence, derived from these voices in the service of environmental justice.

About the Reviewer: Dr. Turhan-Haskara studied Architecture (B.Sc-hons.), and completed Master in Advanced Architectural Design (M.Arch.) program with a focus on scripting languages in architectural design processes, natural algorithms and interactive cities; and Master of Science in Architecture (M.Sc.) program with a focus on time-space compression and its effects on global urban space. She is a graduate of Design Studies Ph.D. program with a specific focus on biobased material studies, computational design and digital fabrication. Her current interests also include machine learning (ML), diffusion models (DMs) and large language models (LLMs) for design applications. She works as an Assistant Professor at the Izmir University of Economics, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Department of Interior Architecture and Environmental Design.

Annapaola Vacanti is a Ph.D research fellow at Università Iuav di Venezia, Italy. Her research focuses on Human - Technology Interaction, exploring the intersection between human factors, technological development and the latter's social and ecological impact. She is also the organizer and art director of TEDxGenova.

Achieving gender and sex equity in design is a process that requires awareness, sensitivity, data, and dialogue with practitioners from (many) other disciplines and the people for whom we are designing. Isabel Prochner, an assistant professor of industrial design at Virginia Tech University, paves the way for achieving such equity through an insightful and pragmatic book. The book provides real-world examples of projects that already aim to address inequality and injustice from the disciplinary framework of gender studies. Such information comes from original interviews conducted by the author, representing a unique research approach for gathering insight into the field of designing for diversity.

Prochner begins the book reminding us that ‘all design is biased’. Before diving into the applied design cases, the introductory chapter provides an overview of the concepts of sex and gender – which are still too often confused and misused – and how they relate to other intersecting identity systems such as race, class, ability, age, etc., causing many people to be subjected to unique forms of oppression. Queer and feminist theories are then proposed as the main theoretical frameworks for the research work. From such premises, the following chapters thoroughly describe how diverse design practices can be leveraged to achieve more equitable conditions for different groups.

Several chapters are focused on those who have female bodies and struggle to find products suitable for them. For example, female users are often overlooked when designing personal protective equipment (Chapter 2), because that kind of gear is usually modelled on male measurements, resulting in fitting issues and less effective protection from hazard. The chapter highlights the potentially deadly implications of these design gaps, explaining how anthropometric data and standard regulations need to evolve and adapt. Intersectionality is pivotal in such matters, and a positive case history is presented through the experience of a company providing masks that are specifically designed for different ethnicities and faces.

Another relevant matter regarding female users is discussed in Chapter 5, where the focus is on the role of design in overcoming existing norms surrounding sex and female pleasure. In this context, socio-sexual taboos make it hard for designers to have a striking impact. Nevertheless, relevant case studies such as inclusive dating apps and sexual education apps are spreading in an effort to support female, transgender, and disabled people’s pleasure. Chapter 6 delves into the complex relation between design and female bodies by focusing on sportswear. The paradox that women get criticism both for wearing too much and too little is especially evident in sport, and the matter gets even more complicated when it involves women of faith, who struggle to find modest sportswear that can allow them to compete in their preferred disciplines without renouncing their religious beliefs. Prochner describes the design process of modest swim clothes and sport hijabs, highlighting the need for careful user research and thoughtful reflection.

The focus switches on male identifying users in Chapter 4, which brings to light through data evidence on depression and suicide in high-income countries how men's struggles with mental health are often overlooked and untreated. Men show different symptoms than women and are culturally less prone to look for professional support. Although noting that masculinities are plural and socially constructed – the same as femininities – Prochner discusses how a gender-specific design is needed in this case, and how the matter is being approached through e-mental health services and interior design for in-person treatment.

Other chapters move away from gender-specific areas of intervention and describe a multifaceted scenario where the design practice emerges as a valuable support for overcoming gender binarism and allowing everyone to equitably develop their uniqueness. This matter is especially evident in the discussion around the design of toys (Chapter 3), which has a great and long-lasting impact on the development of children identities. Design should offer a wide range of toys, avoid representing extremes like hyper-femininity and hyper-masculinity, and offer playthings that encourage children to explore and learn new skills. Another key takeaway from this chapter is the need to give representation to transgender and gender-diverse identities, which can be done easily – for example – in video games.

Another area in which design can be incredibly inequitable, or have a great potential for positive change, is digital technology. In the era of AI, the anthropomorphised technology is as strong as ever, and, intentionally or not, it draws on gender stereotypes (Chapter 7). Prochner gives an insightful overview of the development of virtual assistants, highlighting how strongly biased their responses were in the past, and how big companies had to take responsibility and more accurately design their synthetic reactions. Equitable change is possible and is being led by independent projects (such as a gender-neutral AI voice) and feminist hackerspaces.

Chapter 8 highlights how beauty and personal care products are among the most sexed and gendered products on the market, depicting a complex, intersectional scenario in which sex and gender are deeply intertwined with beauty norms and cultural representation. Design that embeds gender expectations, racism, colonialism, ageism, and ableism is no longer acceptable, as it has a devastating impact on anyone whose body is farthest from the supposed ‘ideal’. 

The last chapter aims to draw a synthesis of the overall body of work, clarifying that designers should address sex and gender in many ways, as it makes most sense in their specific context. Effective strategies include both deaccentuating and accentuating diversities. Prochner brings more examples and case studies, discussing how unisex and gender-neutral approaches may not be successful in certain situations, particularly because they suffer from a hard-to-root-out masculine bias. Therefore, multi-sex and multi-gender approaches could offer more tools for designers who aim to increase representation, education and social support, and gender-affirmation through their practice.

Designing for Sex and Gender Equity serves as a practical guide that brings the extensive insights of feminist and queer studies to application in design. It leverages empirical research and the teachings from Prochner's many interviews to present readers with the necessary tools to act. It can also be an effective entry text for designers to deepen their studies on specific areas such as technology, safety, beauty, etc., from the lenses of equity and inclusivity.

Designing for Sex and Gender Equity
by Isabel Prochner
Routledge
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003306320

Michael Kibedi is a design researcher and writer. He holds a Master's in Human-Computer Interaction Design from City, University of London. Michael has interdisciplinary interests across academic and artistic research that address human-computer interaction, conceptual art, Black studies, and data justice.

Design Social Change started life as a cookbook. Before writing the book, the author, Lesley-Ann Noel often asked her class 'Can we cook up change?' to visualise how design contributes to making change happen. The metaphor of cookery speaks to our shared understanding of preparing a favourite meal. Design relies on many methods (or ingredients) that must be applied in a controlled manner so we end up with an outcome that matches our vision (or dish). In Design Social Change, we are invited to accompany the author on a journey to rethink not only how we design, but also why we design — and how we strive towards equitable social change.

Lesley Ann-Noel, an assistant professor in Design Studies at North Carolina State University, draws on her scholarly research, teaching and lived experience to question the status quo that stubbornly refuses to budge within design — how white supremacy fixes normative standards; how patriarchy upholds structural inequality; how ableism frames disability as a personal rather than social inequity; how heteronormativity produces data injustice and exclusion. We have undoubtedly witnessed discriminatory outcomes occurring from many “magical” solutions that promise impartiality, efficiency and fairness. Noel not only asks us to consider how design should evolve to counter these scenarios — but, more importantly, she challenges us as practitioners to define our positionalities, so we are more critically aware of the scenarios in which we labour, and the structural changes we plan to make. Achieving social change means dreaming differently about alternative futures. In Design Social Change, Noel gives us a guidebook in taking our first steps towards reaching this goal. 

Design Social Change is a compact volume split into three sections. In addition to the essays, each section contains practical steps for applying theory (Your Turn) and a space for deeper reflection (Take Note). Noel has also chosen the accompanying art with care, using the work of Trinidadian artist Che Lovelace. His paintings echo the teaching in each section, while also providing a visual reminder of the richness of Trinidad’s culture and history. The compact dimensions (and make no mistake, the compact size should not belie the richness of the lessons in this book!) and vibrant artwork used throughout communicate that this is not a text to be left on a shelf, or forgotten once read.

The first section “What’s Wrong?” is concerned with helping the reader establish critical awareness and identify their positionality. Feminist theory is utilised to show us how to critically look at ourselves and question our personal, cultural, social and political selves. We can then map out our combined advantages and disadvantages, and recognise how they might show up in our work or bias our thinking. This rich lineage of feminist scholarship — including Donna Haraway, bell hooks and Patricia Hill Collins — helps the reader perceive structures, power and how they interact with our person. Adapting the work of Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator, we are guided towards achieving a newfound clarity so we can become more critically self-aware. We are not individual contributors working on that shiny new design in isolation — but rather, our labour occurs within a structural system which advantages and disadvantages us differently across many facets of our ever-changing identities.

The second section “What Does It Feel Like?” seeks to help us deepen our emotional intelligence. For an industry laser-focused on defining success by metrics and scores, we are invited to consider how the entangled, messy reality of social change needs us to pay more attention to our emotions. An immediate emotional response may be to feel anger when first confronted with the realisation that structural injustice and oppression persist. Possessing a deepened emotional intelligence means we become more confident within ourselves to adopt an oppositional viewpoint and challenge the status quo. One of the first skills we learn as researchers is to always ask “Why?” — whether of our participants or research subjects. However, it is much harder to take this approach when contending with decades of ingrained cultural norms that have shaped design practice or confronting exclusionary citational practices that have excluded Black or Indigenous knowledge.

Design Social Change culminates in the third and final section “What World Do You Want to Design?” Possessing a heightened self-awareness and deeper emotional intelligence, we are now ready to take tentative steps towards imagining social change. Starting from the historical example of the abolishment of chattel slavery, we are taught that an abolitionist mindset seeks emancipation, liberation and abolition together, to begin dismantling the interlocking structural oppression of white supremacy, patriarchy, ableism and heteronormativity — it is by breaking free from our existing and structurally oppressive landscape that lasting, meaningful change can begin to be realised. Creative world-building has a long history across many cultures. Examples across many Afrofuturisms have speculatively imagined and worked outside the bounds of oppressive environments that have historically curtailed minoritised communities — a small act of resistance that reaps creative rewards. Noel introduces an adapted framework, Critical Utopian Action Research (CUAR), to show how we can take our first steps in speculative design work to step closer to similar abolitionist futures.

Design Social Change is an accessible handbook that makes years of feminist and decolonial scholarship of immediate and practical use. Empirical research and the learnings from Noel’s taught experience are the basis for making an immediate and compelling call to action. Design Social Change rewards repeat readings, and provides valuable resources to assist in workshops or discussion groups.

Despite these favourable reflections, it should also be recognised that Design Social Change enters an increasingly hostile professional environment; one where some institutions — academic and corporate — are passively, or in some cases, actively undermining advocacy for structural reform and equitable change for minoritised scholars, practitioners and their allies. Designers and researchers who are motivated to challenge the status quo will find a worthy companion contained in the lessons from Design Social Change. However, the uncomfortable truth that some may be forced to confront is that by striving for the abolitionist futures imagined in this book, there may be personal, financial, or career sacrifices in making these dreams a reality.

Design Social Change: Take Action, Work toward Equity, and Challenge the Status Quo (Stanford d.school Library)

146 pp., 6 x 7 in, colour illus.

Paperback

9781984858146

Paperback: November 2023

Publisher: Ten Speed Press

Shriyash Shete is currently working as a Senior User Experience Designer at Zscaler, a cybersecurity firm based in Silicon Valley. He holds a Master's in Human-Computer Interaction Design from Indiana University Bloomington. His work integrates a broad interest in design, technology, and innovation, informed by his unique background in data analytics, industrial engineering and social work. Committed to practicing sustainable and inclusive design, Shriyash engages with ongoing developments in design research, data visualization and emerging technologies.

In Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered, Don Norman once again proves why he is revered as a visionary in the world of design. The renowned design thinker, whose earlier works, like The Design of Everyday Things, have become seminal texts in design research, uses his new book to address broader and more urgent ecological and societal issues, such as climate change, inequality and global wellbeing. Norman collectively terms them as the ‘21st century’ design problems. Design for a Better World urges the design community to steer humanity towards a more sustainable, meaningful, and humane future by working with people, not for them.

In the beginning, Norman clarifies that the scope of this book diverges significantly from his previous works. While his earlier writings primarily focused on usability and human-centered design, Design for a Better World takes a macroscopic view. Norman stresses the responsibility of designers not just to users, but to society and the environment at large. He extends the concept of design beyond aesthetics and functionality, portraying it as a pivotal tool for systemic change.

The central thesis of Design for a Better World is that many of the issues facing modern society are fundamentally design problems that can be addressed through intelligent, systemic design thinking. Norman makes a compelling case that designers have a crucial role to play in tackling systemic challenges like climate change, poverty and more. He points out that while scientists provide key insights about the nature of problems, designers are uniquely skilled at finding actionable solutions.

Herbert Simon’s definition of design is well-known: To design is to devise courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones. Norman’s argument throughout the book complements this definition by emphasizing the importance of change in human behavior to drive the course of action as it also envisions the preferred situation for a better world. Through this book, Norman highlights the significance of participatory design with various disciplines such as science, technology, economics, politics and design approach to expand its focus from human-centered design to humanity-centered design.

The book consists of a total of thirty eight short chapters organized into six parts that stem from three overarching themes: 1. Meaningful, 2. Sustainable and 3. Humanity-centered. The author outlines them as three critical causal factors that need to be priortitized and reconstructed with the help of design thinking to reduce many of the planet’s ecological ailments.

In the first part, the author introduces the notion of artificiality to explain the root of the many crises facing contemporary society. He takes the course of history into account that he then holds responsible for bringing us all in this crisis situation. He then adeptly categorizes problems into societal, environmental, and technological realms, stressing the interconnectedness and artificiality of these domains. 

Part 2, 3 and 4 examine the current issues and gradually unfold the main themes of the book where the author discusses how we can transform our lives so that we achieve the goal of producing a meaningful, sustainable and humanity-centered world. Parts 5 and 6 focus on actions that must be taken and why they are not easy to achieve.

One of the highlights of Design for a Better World is how Norman moves fluidly between big picture ideas and pragmatic details. While he presents compelling arguments about design's role in shaping society, he also offers specific suggestions for how designers can incorporate social responsibility into their work. For example, he advocates for the use of design principles like co-creation and democratization to give people more agency over the systems that govern their lives. Norman provides actionable advice for designers, from emphasizing user needs over stylistic trends, to diversifying teams to include more perspectives.

Technology, a recurrent theme in Norman's earlier works, gets a nuanced treatment here. He acknowledges the power of technology in enabling innovative solutions but warns against tech-centric approaches that overlook human and environmental costs. The discussion on AI and automation is particularly insightful, balancing the potential benefits with ethical and societal implications.

A vital chapter of the book is dedicated to education. Norman proposes a radical overhaul of design education, advocating for curricula that foster systemic thinking, empathy, and ethical responsibility. He suggests that design education should not be confined to design schools but should be integrated into various fields, reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the challenges we face.

In the concluding sections, Norman paints a picture of what the future could look like if his principles are embraced. He envisions a world where design contributes to solving pressing global issues like climate change, poverty, and inequality. This vision is optimistic but grounded in realism, acknowledging the challenges and complexities involved.

While the book offers plenty of optimism about design's potential, Norman balances this with thoughtful critiques of the field. He points out that designers frequently focus on incrementally improving existing products for individual gain, rather than addressing root causes of larger societal problems. For design to live up to its promise, the field needs more socially-conscious practitioners who prioritize public good over profit. Norman offers insights into how design education and practice could be reformed to nurture these types of designers. He also asserts that truly effective design requires collaboration across disciplines, since few problems can be solved through design alone.

Through this book, Norman has done a profound work of framing the complex, ill-defined and wicked global crises that our world is facing today, by keeping human behavior and humanity-centered design at its core. Norman’s thesis lies in his formulation of principles for impactful and humanity-centered design. These principles are not just guidelines but are articulated as moral imperatives for the design community. For instance, he advocates for ‘Inclusivity’, urging designers to consider the broad spectrum of human diversity in their solutions. Another principle, ‘Sustainable Design’, goes beyond the typical environmental focus, encompassing the need for designs that are economically and socially sustainable.

While Design for a Better World is a monumental work, it is not without its shortcomings. Some critics may argue that Norman's principles, though well-intentioned, could be seen as overly idealistic, particularly when confronting entrenched corporate and political interests. Additionally, while the book excels in breadth, certain areas could benefit from deeper exploration, particularly regarding the practical implementation of these design principles in resistant industries and governments.

Through this work, Norman reasserts himself as a guiding light in the design community, offering not just critique but a path forward. Design for a Better World is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in the power of design to drive social change. This book is an urgent call to action, a blueprint for using design as a force for positive change in an increasingly complex and troubled world. Norman’s visionary perspective combined with pragmatic insights makes this work an essential read not only for designers but for anyone interested in the betterment of our global society. 

Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered
376 pp., 6 x 9 in, 8 b&w illus.
Paperback
9780262548304
Published in Hardcover: March 2023
Paperback: April 2024
Publisher: The MIT Press

Review of Ilpo Koskinen’s Design, Empathy, Interpretation
Review by Jules Rochielle Sievert

Jules Rochielle Sievert has been with NuLawLab since 2013. Jules is currently pursuing an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. at the College Of Art, Media, and Design. Jules was an Ambassador for Health Equity at Policy Link. From 2017-2019, Jules was Creative Placemaking Policy Fellow at Arizona State University through the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. 

Ilpo Koskinen is a respected figure in the world of design research, known mainly for his contributions from a Finnish perspective. In his previous work, Koskinen has explored a wide range of design research topics, including the relationship between design and social responsibility, the role of empathy and interpretation in design, the importance of user-centered design, and the use of participatory design and action research in design.

In his new book, Design, Empathy, Interpretation, Koskinen brings together elements of Finnish design history to explore the relationship between empathetic and interpretive design with the more grounded methodologies of participatory design and action research. He does this to show how these methodologies have been used to create products and environments that are both functional and meaningful, and to highlight the importance of user-centered design, social responsibility, and environmental sustainability.

Koskinen presents a perspective on interpretive design research by examining the historical development of an empathetic design research team based in Helsinki, Finland. He unveils a framework comprising four sensitivities central to interpretive design research: human sensitivity, technique awareness, collaboration acumen, and design proficiency. Koskinen underscores the capacity of empathic design to showcase the potency of interpretive ideas within the design realm. He also emphasizes that this approach complements scientific and artistic methodologies, resonating with the broader design research landscape. In the latter portion of the book, Koskinen broadens his focus to assess the wider implications of the empathic design practices. He explores its impact on research communities that have shifted away from their initial technological emphasis, probing how an interpretive framework can be applied to diverse topics.

Koskinen's approach in this book is to focus on one of these recurring themes, known as the interpretive framework. He scrutinizes how this framework has influenced individual studies and how it continues to impact research in different situations. The key strength of this book's methodology is its meticulous tracking of how this framework has evolved while staying sensitive to the unique contextual factors involved. This method enriches the book's analysis compared to earlier studies, including Koskinen's previous work, which might have missed the contextual aspects when examining research under similar conditions. Design, Empathy, Interpretation, builds on his previous work by providing a more in-depth exploration of the relationship between empathetic and interpretive design, participatory design, and action research. It also offers new insights into how designers can use these methodologies to create products and environments that are both functional and meaningful in the 21st century. Koskinen uses design history to provide a rich and nuanced understanding of the evolution of empathetic and interpretive design, participatory design, and action research. By tracing the development of these methodologies over time, he illustrates how they have been used to create products and environments that are both functional and meaningful. Empathetic design in Finland, characterized by its user-centric focus, dovetails with the ethos of participatory design. Its adaptive nature, informed by continuous user feedback and ecological considerations, mirrors the responsive approach of action research. 

In this new book, Koskinen writes that by 2010, codesign had become the predominant approach for the Finnish empathic group, building on the foundations of user-centered design while evolving into a more collaborative research process. This shift involved relinquishing the traditional authority of the designer and adopting a more egalitarian process. The group began seeing itself as a facilitator of change rather than a driver, emphasizing a democratic methodology that downplayed the notion of designers as experts. Codesign also became more seamlessly integrated into various contexts, such as government agencies, medical settings, or global corporations. Unlike action research, it resonated well with designers, offering powerful tools for managing stakeholders, even though the exact reasons for its effectiveness remained unclear. Koskinen exemplifies the codesign approach with Katja Soini's Living Cycles of People and Buildings project (IKE; 2004–2005). Funded by the Ministry of Environment, this initiative aimed to transform major apartment renovations into a resident-centered process. Soini led a series of 17 workshops that brought together diverse stakeholders to innovate less invasive and costly renovation methods. The workshops effectively bridged industry and government collaboration, expanding the scope of stakeholders involved. Soini's innovative approach involved creating a community of stakeholders with disparate backgrounds and often conflicting interests. She achieved this through a series of workshops, reminiscent of user-centered design, where user data served as foundational material. Participants included inhabitants and their organizations, city and government officials, and builders. Over the subsequent two years, the project instigated changes in national renovation statutes. Government ministers adopted several ideas from the report, leading to 51 government-funded renovation projects and experiments.

Two additional influences emerge from the book: the profound impacts of the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California and the visionary contributions of Grant Kester. 
Grant Kester commands a prominent position in contemporary art theory, specializing in relational aesthetics, socially engaged art, dialogical art, and community-based practices. His particular interest lies in art forms that actively engage in direct dialogue and collaboration with specific communities or interest groups. His book, "Conversation Pieces: Community and Communication in Modern Art" (2004), meticulously dissects various interactive and community-based art practices. Kester asserts that these participatory art forms herald a novel, more inclusive model of aesthetic experiences, fundamentally shifting the perception of art away from conventional object-based analysis toward one firmly rooted in shared dialogues and collective experiences.

Koskinen describes how a research trip to the ArtCenter College of Design (ACCD) was instrumental in breaking away from the constraints of user-centered design. The ACCD is a revered institution that has consistently nurtured exceptionally talented individuals who have ascended to leadership positions across a spectrum of creative fields. Its unwavering commitment to a rigorous curriculum and the cultivation of innovation has yielded a cadre of graduates who have left an indelible mark on the realms of art, design, and associated industries.

Koskinen and his colleague, Tuuli Mattelmäki were particularly impressed by the Super Studio, a yearlong research class that emphasized design imagination over social science methods. Moreover, the ACCD's emphasis on fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and exploration has sent ripples throughout the creative world. Koskinen and Mattelmäki were particularly intrigued by the Super Studio's distinctive approach, which diverged from conventional social science methods and instead hinged on the power of design imagination. This unconventional pedagogy is evident in one project aimed at uncovering how people perceive nature in the urban sprawl of Los Angeles. In a departure from the ordinary, students undertook an ingenious experiment: they adorned the windows of select homes with transparent film and equipped participants with markers, tasking them with capturing the essence of the natural sounds they encountered. The results were a symphony of diverse observations, ranging from the soft cries of babies and the playful barks of dogs to the rustle of the wind and the presence of coyotes in the distant foothills. This compelling example provides profound insights into how the Super Studio boldly challenged the conventional demarcations between design and research. It underscored that these students were not confined to the use of conventional social science methods for mere data collection; instead, they leveraged their design acumen to forge innovative pathways for comprehending the intricacies of the world around them.

Ultimately, Koskinen argues that design interpretation is about understanding the meanings that users associate with products and environments. He believes that every product or space tells a story, shaped by cultural, social, and individual narratives. His interpretive design methodology takes a deep dive into these narratives to understand how users interact with products and environments and what they mean to them. He defines design empathy as the ability to understand and share the feelings and experiences of users, arguing that empathy is essential for design interpretation, as it allows designers to see the world from the user's perspective and to understand the meanings that users associate with products and environments. For Koskinen, empathy in design is a deeper engagement with the user’s world, encompassing the immediate needs and the cultural, emotional, and social contexts that shape those needs. It’s about immersing oneself in the user’s environment, experiencing their world, and translating that experience into design solutions.

Building on Koskinen's definition and application of design empathy, which highlights the reciprocal nature of interpretation in design, it becomes evident that this approach lays the foundation for a more profound connection between designers and users. This connection extends beyond the initial design phase, permeating the entire product lifecycle. Designers, armed with a profound understanding of how users engage with their creations, are better equipped to iterate and refine their designs to align more closely with evolving user needs and desires. For Koskinen, interpretation is a two-way street. On the one hand, designers interpret the world of users, trying to understand the stories, values, and meanings that users attach to objects and spaces. On the other hand, once a product is out in the world, users interpret it, creating their own meanings, stories, and emotions. Koskinen emphasizes the importance of this cyclical interpretive process in design. By understanding how users interpret products, designers can create solutions that are more aligned with user narratives, leading to products that are not just functional but also meaningful. In Koskinen’s view, empathy bridges the gap between designers and users. It facilitates a dialogue where designers become active listeners, absorbing nuances that might be lost in traditional design processes. This empathetic approach ensures that the final design outcomes are functional and emotionally and culturally resonant.

In Design, Empathy, Interpretation, Koskinen presents a captivating and thought-provoking book that taps into a wealth of historical knowledge and research. This book not only fills gaps in what we know but also weaves a compelling story, making a significant contribution to the field of design research. If you're interested in gaining a deeper understanding of Finnish design philosophy, this book is both insightful and essential. What sets it apart is that it seems to be the first publication entirely dedicated to thoroughly exploring the evolution of design research. It does this by conducting a deep dive into a single, user-centered design research program. Providing a pressing, contemporary application of his methodology to current crises, Koskinen highlights that we are at the precipice of an environmental disaster and urges that it is urgent to address ecological concerns, stating that interpretive and empathetic design are now challenged to expand their focus to include post-humanism. This approach in design research aims to understand human identity in its intricate web of relations with technology and nature, inviting us to think beyond traditional anthropocentric views and consider broader ecologies and non-human entities. Koskinen concludes the book with an impassioned plea for the enduring relevance of interpretive design research, highlighting its critical role in the ever-evolving landscape of design and research.

Design, Empathy, Interpretation: Toward Interpretive Design Research
By Ilpo Koskinen 
MIT Press
Open Access and $35.00 in Paperback