Peter, nice post! I've added one embedded comment below.
Cheers.
Fil
2009/9/13 Peter Jones <[log in to unmask]>
> Klaus and all - I feel compelled to add something to this conversation.
> [...]
>
> For better or worse, it seems we all must clarify our language, especially
> in transdisciplinary discussions. The article I'm writing refers early to
> Simon's (1969) definition of design as a universal activity, wherein
> "everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing
> situations into preferred ones." Social systems and social design should
> not
> be discounted in the current discussion. While perhaps technically
> human-centered, there are multiple streams of practice in social design
> that
> have nothing to do with artifacts, technologies, or immediate human
> interaction. It is essentially planning for human social betterment by
> dialogic means.
>
I've often wondered about what I perceive as some kind of important
difference between professional designers and non-designers who still
design, per Simon's definition. The nearest I can come to is rather similar
to Alexander's difference between self-conscious and non-self-conscious
societies. The professional designers are the self-conscious ones: they
know they're designing. Everyone else who designs doesn't necessarily know
they're designing. I think this may change how they design, but not that
they are, in fact, designing.
>
> [...]
>
>
> Peter H. Jones, Ph.D.
>
>
> Founder, Redesign Research
>
>
>
> Visiting Scholar, University of Toronto
>
> Adjunct Faculty, Ontario College of Art and Design
>
>
>
> http://designdialogues.com
>
>
>
>
>
--
Filippo A. Salustri, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Ryerson University
350 Victoria St, Toronto, ON
M5B 2K3, Canada
Tel: 416/979-5000 ext 7749
Fax: 416/979-5265
Email: [log in to unmask]
http://deseng.ryerson.ca/~fil/
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