Klaus, Michael, Gunnar, others
I agree with Klaus. Design is about making meaning. But we
cannot decide meaning for others. There are however several
reasons for designers to constantly struggle with the
question of what designs means, and what is good design. As
Klaus says, designers have to try to anticipate use to
better serve a client. But designers also have a
responsibility towards society at large.
In the same way as architects have a responsibility, in the
name of their professional competence, to critique and
evaluate architecture in our society, designers must take on
a larger responsibility for design -- in the name of the
common good,. This does not mean to be the judge of good
design, but to help people to understand, critique and
evaluate design (it is a large educational mission). To be
able to do so, design research has to engage in the creation
of design oriented "languages" (product semantics) that can
function as an instrument in a broader societal discussion
on the preconditions, approaches and outcomes of design today.
erik
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Erik Stolterman, Informatics, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden
Email: [log in to unmask]
Phone: +46 (0)90 7865531
Fax: +46 (0)90 7866550
Homepage: http://www.informatik.umu.se/~erik/
Advanced Design Institute: http://www.advanceddesign.org/
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