mediation implies finding a balance between conflicting parties. that is what mediators do. their aim is to make everyone happy, not to innovate, lead, propose something previously unimaginable.
klaus

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 9, 2014, at 20:15, "Toni Roberts" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Hi.
> I find the term mediation more useful than translation, as the designer
> mediates between what is possible or financially viable or a whole range of
> other constraints including those expressed in a brief and the user's
> articulated and unarticulated needs or desires, that is, both what they can
> imagine and what they can't imagine but which will benefit them. In this way
> the designer advocates for the user's interests, sometimes more effectively
> than the user can, sometimes less so. This is only one aspect though. There
> is another aspect of creative, imaginative activity, of generating something
> that goes beyond the brief or systematic planning and specification. The
> combination and balancing of these two can lead to more novel designs
> unanticipated by their users.
> Toni
>
> Toni Roberts
> Hatchling Studio
> +61 (0)413 455 414
> www.hatchlingstudio.com.au
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related
> research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Klaus
> Krippendorff
> Sent: Friday, 10 January 2014 11:26 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Specifying something to be made or done
>
> as i suggested,
> stefanie
>
> the metaphor of translation is too narrow, at least for me and my
> experiences. even with your more liberal interpretation of "translation," it
> always starts from a given, from something that justifies its translation.
> in engineering, when you are given a design brief that spells out a
> function, translation that design brief into a specification might well
> work. i would agree with you if you were to say that designers' ability to
> listen is important, but i would add, not to what someone says he or she
> wants, but to the environment in which a design is to be used with novel,
> unanticipated, and varied benefits to its stakeholders. i guess your
> emphasis is on the articulations of wants or needs, mine would be on
> innovations that allow people to move where they may not have thought they
> could travel.
>
> think about the iphone. had steve jobs ask people what they wanted from a
> phone and translated their articulated desires into a design, there would
> not have been much of a change. his contribution was not a translation of
> what telephone users desired rather a radical reframing of what could be
> done and it enabled very beneficial uses not imagined before.
>
> klaus
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: PhD-Design - This list is for discussion of PhD studies and related
> research in Design [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of stefanie
> di russo
> Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2014 6:45 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Specifying something to be made or done
>
> Hi Klaus,
>
> Thank you for your comment. There are a few points id like to respond to
>
> *but metaphorically including someone's conceptions, during a process of
> expressing it in another language*
>
> - Is there not an element of this embedded in design practice? Whether the
> conception comes from a brief, or from human/user centered research, there
> is a process of obtaining information (conceptions) and translating this
> into a viable outcome to satisfy the need or problem at hand. These
> conceptions are often 'translated' and expressed in a visual language
>
> *translator wants to be accurate, omit little or nothing, and would be
> considered a bad translator if he or she would add something of his or her
> own.*
> *-*This is perhaps a little too literal for what i am clumsily trying to
> communicate. A quick definition from Google reflects what i mean:
>
> "the conversion of something from one form or medium into another.
> "the translation of research findings into clinical practice"
> synonyms:change<https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=active&biw=1682&bih=89
> 2&q=define+change&sa=X&ei=VzHPUuboIMq3kgW57YGYBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEAQ_SowAA>
> ,
> conversion<https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=active&biw=1682&bih=892&q=d
> efine+conversion&sa=X&ei=VzHPUuboIMq3kgW57YGYBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEEQ_SowAA>
> ,
> transformation<https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=active&biw=1682&bih=892
> &q=define+transformation&sa=X&ei=VzHPUuboIMq3kgW57YGYBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEIQ_SowA
> A>
> ,
> alteration<https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=active&biw=1682&bih=892&q=d
> efine+alteration&sa=X&ei=VzHPUuboIMq3kgW57YGYBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEMQ_SowAA>
> ,
> adaptation<https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=active&biw=1682&bih=892&q=d
> efine+adaptation&sa=X&ei=VzHPUuboIMq3kgW57YGYBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEQQ_SowAA>
> ,
> turning<https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=active&biw=1682&bih=892&q=defi
> ne+turning&sa=X&ei=VzHPUuboIMq3kgW57YGYBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEUQ_SowAA>
> ,metamorphosis<https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=active&biw=1682&bih=892
> &q=define+metamorphosis&sa=X&ei=VzHPUuboIMq3kgW57YGYBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEYQ_SowAA
> ,
> transmutation<https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=active&biw=1682&bih=892&
> q=define+transmutation&sa=X&ei=VzHPUuboIMq3kgW57YGYBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEcQ_SowAA>
> ,
> transfiguration<https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=active&biw=1682&bih=89
> 2&q=define+transfiguration&sa=X&ei=VzHPUuboIMq3kgW57YGYBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEgQ_So
> wAA>
> ,
> rendering<https://www.google.com.au/search?safe=active&biw=1682&bih=892&q=de
> fine+rendering&sa=X&ei=VzHPUuboIMq3kgW57YGYBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CEkQ_SowAA>
> ; "
>
> You also add
>
> "but designers, at least professional designers, need to go beyond merely
> taking dictations from their clients. in my view, designers need to propose
> something that their clients could not envisioned on their own and present
> their work in ways that it is embraced for the opportunities it makes
> available. if designers were limited to merely translate what they are told,
> they might well be replaced by an algorithm. designers can justify their
> profession only if they contribute something extraordinary to the lives of
> others."
>
> -I dont think designers simply translate information in a way that reflects
> dictation. My perspective is that in order to design effectively that meets
> the needs of a user/client, the ability to absorb, interpret, transform and
> then translate information and insights is integral. This translation exists
> through different mediums and artefacts in the design process (prototyping,
> visual representations, sketches, etc). These processes could be argued as
> acts of translation, no?
>
> -Stefanie
>
>
> *Stefanie Di Russo*
>
> PhD Student
> Faculty of Design
> Swinburne University
> *twitter:* @stefdirusso <https://twitter.com/#!/stefdirusso>
> *linkedin: public
> *profile<http://www.linkedin.com/pub/stefanie-di-russo/35/16/a84>
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]> Discussion of PhD
> studies and related research in Design Subscribe or Unsubscribe at
> https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]> Discussion of PhD
> studies and related research in Design Subscribe or Unsubscribe at
> https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
> PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
> Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design
> Subscribe or Unsubscribe at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
> -----------------------------------------------------------------


-----------------------------------------------------------------
PhD-Design mailing list <[log in to unmask]>
Discussion of PhD studies and related research in Design
Subscribe or Unsubscribe at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/phd-design
-----------------------------------------------------------------