Systemic design of an Idea Zone at a science center.

In this working paper we bring key systems and cybernetics ideas to the design of an Idea Zone in a large regional science center. Most notably, we bring the ecology and systems approaches of Gregory Bateson and the cybernetic systems designapproachesofRanulphGlanville,tothisevolvingdesign project and explore how our learning from this particular case may also inform more general systemic design principles. This includes issues of context at many levels, movement across boundaries, as well as the importance of the design of a communicationprocessforthedesignofanIdeaZon

Going Beyond the Blueprint: Unravelling the Compex Reality of Software Architectures

The term Software Architecture captures a complex amalgam of representations and uses, real and figurative, that is rendered and utilized by different stakeholders throughout the software development process. Current approaches to documenting Software Architecture, in contrast, rely on the notion of a blueprint that may not be sufficient to capture this multi-faceted concept. We argue that it might not even be feasible in practice to have such a unified understanding of this concept for a given setting. We demonstrate, with the help of in-depth case studies, that four key metaphors govern the creation and use of software architecture by different communities: “blueprint”, “literature”, “language”, and “decision”. The results challenge the current, somewhat narrow, understanding of the concept of software architecture that focuses on description languages, suggesting new directions for more effective representation and use of software architecture in practice

Designing a Sustainable Future with Mental Models

Inspired by the question of the Club of Rome as to Design could help to translate the ubiquitous knowledge on sustainability into daily practise and Peter Senge's belief on mental models as a limiting factor to implementation of systemic insight (Senge 2006), we explored working with mental models as a sustainable design tool. We propose a definition for design uses. At the 7th Sustainable Summer School we collected general unsustainable mental models and "designed" sustainable ones. These mental models were tested as a part of the briefing to student projects and evaluated by the students. Analysing an existing product portfolio, we tested the ability of mental models to aid the creation of strategic design advice. We argue that mental models in the form of associative thinking and cognitive metaphors have been part of designing all along and overlap in nature with design methodologies to such an extent that they are sublimely suited to be used as a design tool. We summarize our prototyping exercises with the proposal of a design process using mental models to root sustainability in design practise and thinking beyond present-day eco-design (Liedtke et al 2013, Luttropp and Lagerstedt 2006, Pigosso and McAloone 2015)

Design techniques for revealing adolescent memory processes related to information seeking: A preliminary study

This study investigates the effectiveness of design techniques as a means for uncovering metamemory, an attribute of metacognition, and its role in information seeking. A focus group with four adolescents aged 13 and 14 used design techniques such as brainstorming and sketching, metaphorical design and fictional inquiry, to help express their thinking about their own memory processes during the information search process. Results showed that metaphorical design and fictional inquiry are both effective tools for revealing conceptual thinking about metamemory and information seeking. Coupling these techniques with brainstorming and sketching helped the teens to visualize and communicate their ideas. Results from this study will contribute to knowledge about adolescent thinking, metamemory, and information seeking behavior, broaden the range of methodological approaches used in the study of information seeking behavior, and will provide cognitive models for the design of information systems and tools that scaffold metacognition. © 2012 ACM