Dear Diane,
Thanks for your note. This question is a good one. It has come up before.
To start, it’s worth noting that design involves preferred future states. Some of this involves solutions. But it also involve generating future that do not now exist.
Herbert Simon (1982: 129) wrote that to design is to “[devise] courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.” The word design reflects intention, preference, and choice. This can include imagineering and generative concepts. The iPhone did not “solve” a problem. It created a new kind of future in preference to the kinds of communication tools that existed before Apple developed the iPhone. The iPhone involved a preferred situation despite the fact that it did not solve an existing problem.
There are many design activities that do not contain the word “design” in the activity or in the title of the person who engages in these activities. This issue has also been discussed on the list several times over the years.
Physicians who create a new surgical procedure design in Simon’s sense, but one does not call them designers. It’s possible that some surgeons refer to their work as designing a new procedure, but I’m not sure that this would always be the case. Legislators who draft a new law design in Simon’s sense, but they generally speak of drafting a law rather than “designing” a law. Researchers in many fields do speak of designing a research instrument, but they do not speak of themselves as “designers.” Rather, the design activity is part of a sequence of actions they undertake. Football coaches prepare a strategy for the matches hey play — I don’t think that they speak of this as design, and no one calls them designers. The same holds true for military leaders as they plan the strategy of a battle. People speak of Lord Nelson’s strategy at Trafalgar as a battle plan or a strategy. They do not speak of it as a design.
It’s relatively easy to develop a list of all the many kinds of people who design things without necessarily calling the activity “design.” Simply look for any profession in which someone “devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.” Simon (1982: 129) wrote that “Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.” If you list all their many job titles, you’ll find that some are called designers (with or without an adjective), others are called imagineers, and still others carry many different titles.
Earlier, Don suggested adding simple adjectives to the word “design” to create two-word phrases. The word “design” describes the general activity in which people of all the design fields engage. The adjective (“graphic,” “industrial,” “service,” “user-experience,” etc.) describes the kind of design they do.
This, too, has been discussed on the list, in several articles, and a great many conference papers.
Because these questions remain lively and significant, they recur.
Yours,
Ken
Reference
Simon Herbert. 1982. The sciences of the artificial. Cambridge Mass: MIT Press.
Diane Nijs wrote:
—snip—
Dear Don, Ken and All,
I am a list-member from a, for This list, rather strange background: The Creative industries. The interesting thing is that in these industries quite some crucial, business generating 'design' happens under the umbrella of 'imagineering': Designing a generatie image, called 'High Concept' that sets the stage for collectie and continuous creation. This is an Activity/art that was never called 'design'. And those WHO practice This 'art' are NOT called designers but imagineers.
In essence, Imagineering is NOT about designing a 'solution' but about designing for 'evolution', designing To generatie New order in a system, or, as Complexity scholars might say, designing for emergence. It is design that inspires others To design or act aligned with One another.
Is It possible that the word 'design' sometimes blinds us To 'see' design-activities that are NOT named as such?
I wrote a book on This issue that Will Be published by Edward Elgar early 2019.
Thanks,
Diane
—snip—
Ken Friedman, Ph.D., D.Sc. (hc), FDRS | Editor-in-Chief | 设计 She Ji. The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation | Published by Tongji University in Cooperation with Elsevier | URL: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/she-ji-the-journal-of-design-economics-and-innovation/
Chair Professor of Design Innovation Studies | College of Design and Innovation | Tongji University | Shanghai, China ||| Email [log in to unmask] | Academia http://swinburne.academia.edu/KenFriedman | D&I http://tjdi.tongji.edu.cn
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