Literature Review #2: Sustainability & Design Thinking

What drives design management? During our design research unit at college we did a brief brainstorming on the history of design management and important influences in thinking throughout the journey.

(Brainstorming. Source: Author’s Own)

We came up with names of important philosophers like Nietzsche, Foucault, discussed communism and capitalism, beginning with Karl Marx. We went on with the Bauhaus movement and modernity vs. post-modernity and finished with Steve Jobs, who despite all critisism, defined and influenced design in a business context like no one else in the recent years.

Sustainability

Whereas nowadays we lack big thinkers, sustainability, beginning with the Brundtland Report in 1987 and the Club of Rome, is one of the current key debates affecting design and management. I am well aware this word has spread widely and became a buzzword in the business world and society, often misused or applied without deeper understanding. Many confuse sustainability with ecology, companies publish sustainability reports to greenwash their business and set up huge Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) departments which could just as well merge with marketing.

“Sustainable development is like teenage sex – everybody claims they are doing it but most people aren’t and those that are, are doing it very badly”

Chris Spray (Northumbrian Water) in a Design Council piece about sustainability. Found on Twitter.

However, I believe in a longer timescale and as environmental issues become more noticeable, an almost darwinistic process of selection will take place and separate those protagonists who did not really understand the Tripple-Bottom-Line-Concept from those who managed to apply the core values successfully and place them at the core of their business model and design practise.

Hence, I decided to focus my design research on sustainability and what role design management plays within this context. I am currently reading “Design Futuring: Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice” by Tony Fry and recommend this book for anyone interested in this topic.

“Collectively, across all our differences, we human beings have reached a critical moment in our existence. It has always been recognized that individuals, communities, races and even nations can be fated or made to disappear but we are now at a point when it can no longer be assumed that we, en masse, have a future. If we do, it can only be by design against the still accelerating defuturing condition of unsustainability (which is the essence of any material condition of unsustainability as it acts to take futures away from ourselves and other living species).” (Fry, 2009, p.1)

(Recommended read on design and sustainability. Source: Author’s own)

Another book I can recommend and that is tackling angles on design and sustainability is John Thackara’s “In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World”. The book is almost a manifesto for a better design practice: ‘The premise of this book is simply stated: If we can design our way into difficulty, we can design our way out.’ (Thackara, 2005, p.1)

(Thackara’s viewpoint on technology is very refreshing. Source: Author’s own)

What I really like about his book is that Thackara challenges us to question our basic beliefs and positions, e.g. towards technology. When he  writes about technology that

“It’s no longer clear to which question all this stuff-tech-is an answer, or what value it adds to our lives. Too many people I meet assume that being innovative means ‘adding technology to it.’” (Thackara, 2005, p.2)

I feel the same drive for breaking up commonly agreed concepts, as in the novel Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, which has largely influenced my attitude towards consumption:

‘The things you own, end up owning you.’ (Main character Tyler Durden in the movie Fight Club)

(The novel Fight Club poses questions on consumption and technology. Source: http://www.positiwitty.com)

Design Thinking

Design Thinking. Business Innovation, is the title of another book that I am currently reading for design research purposes. This book is less about explaining the current trends and debates in design, I see it rather as a guide and a tool box for design managers. It gives an A – Z instruction on the process of design thinking and I find it very useful to look up various creativity tools and research steps in order to come up with innovative ideas. Therefore I find it particularly helpful for applied practice of design in a business context and in order to manage design successfully. It is freely available for download.

(A toolbox for designers and managers: Design Thinking. Source: Author’s own)

Bibliography