I appreciate Ken's post on design as more than making physical
artifacts--and Owain's post on the same matter.
This has been one of the most amusing aspects of the phd list to
me--that the discussions seem to exist primarily around physical
artifacts and analog products. While amusing, it is also a problem,
since many of the arguments presented seem somewhat constrained by this
particular species of design. In my own work, I deal with communication
design and interaction design as well as industrial design--and I also
venture into what I call 'fourth-order' design in the design of
institutions and organizations--a variation of "environmental" design.
I hope we will see more discussions of the other important species of
design. Taken together, the various species-specific forms of design do
help with the development of a general theory of design as a human
activity. But I like bicycles, too!
Dick
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|