On 02/07/2015, at 11:35, Ken Friedman wrote:
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> Dear Erik,
>
> Your reply to Don Norman hits a problematic nail on the head.
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> What astonished me was that no one at his university apparently understood this. His thesis supervisor and the people at the graduate school seemed to think of this as a bold, significant research project demonstrating the power of design. The methodological flaws and gaps in knowledge would have failed this project as an undergraduate paper in any of the disciplines on which it touched — social or cultural anthropology, social psychology, international relations, or political science. It was exactly the kind of project that causes others to question the professional skills of many designers who are moving into systems design, designing solutions to wicked problems, or designing solutions for social challenges.
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Dear Ken,
I myself cringe at the words "design thinking" (though not as much as I do when I read "found footage" on a movie synopsis).
As for the story you recounted, I have seen many similar instances, all of which lay bare that this kind of "design thinking" is nothing more than idle speculation with a dash of wishful thinking.
Designers who talk about "design thinking" in such manner (showing lack of domain knowledge, etc) resort to the buzzword in an effort to obscure their own ignorance and incompetence, just like an incompetent film-maker resorts to "found footage".
The real problem is that this is common currency in some academic ecosystems. I think it is dishonest at best, fraud really. But it seems that the fauna and the flora in those ecosystems is afraid for its own homeostasis, so they perpetuate the deceit, all the while feeding the pejorative interpretation of the adjective "academic". I bet that person got glowing remarks from his peers about the "social relevancy" of the project, etc...
Best regards,
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Carlos Pires
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Design & New Media MFA // Communication Design PhD Student @ FBA-UL
Check the project blog:
http://thegolemproject.com
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