Dear Monica and list
I think you make a really good point here. The idea that there by
nature are different types of problems are not really interesting in
design. The design makes a choice about the "nature" of the problem
and its status. This is done in relation to intention and purpose,
and/or in relation to the tools and skills of the designer. This is a
really important aspect in any design education, to help students
understand that in their attempts to change the world they make
(together with clients and other stakeholders) the decision about
the "nature" of both problems and solutions. To be able to make these
decisions and judgments in a way that makes it possible to move in
the direction of the intention is a delicate and desired skill.
Erik
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Erik Stolterman
Professor and Director of HCID Program
School of Informatics
Indiana University
Bloomington, IN
Email: [log in to unmask]
Blog: http://transground.blogspot.com/
Web: http://www.informatics.indiana.edu/people/profiles.asp?u=estolter
On Jan 26, 2006, at 12:37 PM, Monica E Cardella wrote:
>
>
> I'd like to add a bit more "complexity" to this notion of a
> "continuous scale from simple problems to complex problems" by
> suggesting that sometimes it is note the problems themselves that
> vary, but instead the way that the designer treats the problem.
> Sometimes an expert designer will take a "simple" problem and treat
> it as a more complicated problem or a complex problem. So a novice
> desginer might be solving a simple problem and an expert designer
> might be solving a complicated problem, while both are solving the
> same problem.
>
> Regards,
>
> Monica Cardella
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