Hi all,
Im going to make a small contribution then drop out. No point and
counter point. No, 'I have the better argument and you are stupid'.
Just a pebble in the pool and let the ripples flow. I don't like the
heavy 'I know best' from on high. It's time the heavies lightened up.
Life is very short and domination is a thugs game.
So here is my thought. My little pebble in the pool.
I'm beginning to think that innovation is unsustainable, that new
designs may be a bad thing and unsustainable. I think having one foot
in the future without having a foot firmly anchored in the present is
both morally and professionally wrong. If you don't have a firm grasp
of the present, you have no business proposing the future.
For the last 20 years, in our investigation of design methods in
information design, we have found that the best way forwards is to
start from a thorough understanding of how things work today. We call
it benchmarking and you can read all about it in our work. But
promoting our work is not my purpose here. My purpose is to get this
list to think about the social and environmental value of innovation
as a good in itself.
I'm coming to the view that design innovation without adequate
benchmarking?that is thoroughly understanding where we are now?is wrong.
So the answer to 'where we want to go' must start from a much deeper
understanding of where we are now.
I'm a fairly practical person and uncomfortable talking in
abstractions and about issues at a generalised level. So, making a
bold suggestion at a general level is a bit uncomfortable for me.
Undoubtedly, there are people itching to qualify what I have just
written: after all what do I mean by 'innovation', 'sustainable' etc.
I'm not going to respond because, like many in our field, I'm fed up
with the spiral of abstraction that this list indulges in. These
persistent spirals are like expecting a firework display only to
realise that one is watching damp squids.
I will read with interest what follows.
David
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blog: www.communication.org.au/dsblog
web: http://www.communication.org.au
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