#thefutureofdesign

So I watched Urbanized again this weekend, and some interesting points jumped out at me that I hadn’t really thought of the first time I viewed it.

1) Design with, not for.

The importance of ‘citizen participation’ was prevalent throughout the film. In order for design solutions to be effective, they need to directly involve those that must live with the solutions and results. In addition, Designers, Planners, and Architects, need to work harder to eliminate the ego that they bring to the table when designing solutions for others. We are experts in our discipline, but not necessarily in the problem we are trying to solve.

2) Government planning needs to be empathetic to all citizens.

Government officials need to plan effectively for all citizens - not just the wealthy. Self-worth is inherently tied into what is individually available and attainable in many societies, and Brazils’ transit plan is a successful example of policy and design used to increase that self-worth. Which in turn, promotes individual success and happiness. Understanding how transit is linked to self-worth can only be discovered through an empathy driven design and planning approach.

3) Designers need to look beyond themselves.

Designers, as well as architects and planners, need to do some serious soul-searching. As long as we act like politicians - beholden to certain industries and individuals simply because they control our income - we will not have a sustainable future in our field. We need to evolve to become facilitators of social interaction, and aid those who struggle to find a platform to discuss the problems they face.

4) Internal perceptions need to be challenged.

In our last class, our teacher mentioned something that stuck with me: “In order to understand what design will be, or what the designer of the future is, you can’t look into design, you have to go elsewhere”.  And I totally understand what he meant. Our profession is undergoing a revolution, and we can no longer think of design only as form, but as the main conductor of information. Designing for the sake of design, is no design at all. But, designing for the world around us, to understand the message, to create meaning, to forward a concept, to build communications: That is design. So, let’s talk about the future and what I think it beholds, and in turn, lets analyze what design will be from that perspective. 

In the future, and I call it the future, but it might as well be happening now. The audience is wiser and pickier. As consumer, we want to be in charge of what we consume. If you take TV for example and look at it’s evolution, you see a huge change in user interaction. It wasn’t long ago that we depended on schedules to watch our favorite shows. We had to be home in time and endure 20 minutes of advertisements. Today, these are no longer constraints: every devise is a screen and TV content, thanks to the Internet can be seen everywhere, any time, uninterrupted. And even if one or two advertisements show up in our pop up’s there is a high chance it will be something that interests us. Thanks to behavioral algorithms products and services are more and more personalized. But, what does it all mean? I think this implies that design process does no longer focus on the end result. It has transform into a way of thinking where we are no longer telling people what, how and where they can consume, but creating worlds that can be manipulated and experienced from a personal perspective. 

We are no longer designing for the masses, but for individuals. We have to think of products and services as personalized tools, and envision the many uses it might have. Design will no longer think in absolutes. Instead, it will create principles, set guidelines, and let their audience act upon them as it pleases. If consumers are getting smarter, so should we. In a way, designers have become the parents of our society. We tell you what the rules are, and guide you in the direction you might think you want to go, but in the end, we understand we can’t control the outcome.

In the past, designers monopolized the business of information. We were sought buy authors to publish their books. Companies wanted us to translate graphically their identity. We were the only ones who knew the software and we were the only ones who knew the recipe. But now, the tools have been placed in every home. The technology only designers had access too, is now in the hands of inexperienced designers learning as they go. We have been deprived of our power and our profession has been put under attack. 

We once controlled the world of communication and the techniques that were only known by us, have been stolen. So, should we look at this as the demise  of our profession? Or will this make designers finally understand that their power does not rely solely on technique, and form. But on the “philosophy of communication,” and what we can achieve with it.