Emerging from the chrysalis
Time distorted its perception during these pandemic years, and it is with a start I realize that two full years of my life have vanished since March of 2021 when I began rediscovering the music of my keyboard. Today marks the 2nd anniversary of a journey of transformation that began the magic of the Kalevala. […]
Going back to first principles to take a closer look at the design process
Fundamentally, regardless of the various terms and jargon used to customize and capture the design process as one unique to one’s own industrial design studio, the design process is at heart a balancing process of equilibrium that is viable, desirable, and feasible between the opposing forces of all the stakeholder interests involved. What tends to […]
Form follows knowledge-weaving follows function follows knowledge-weaving ad nauseum
When thinking about the design process, people forget that the map is not the territory and assume that new product development pathways always follow the linear process represented by textbook diagrams. Instead, its a complicated and iterative process to arrive at the clarity necessary to write a good design brief for the form-givers of the […]
Designer as Accelerator
I completed an exercise in era analysis over the past couple of weeks, and some thoughts emerge from the datapoints and patterns observed. First, when one considers the body of work completed over 30 odd years of professional practice, one of the first things that strikes is that a) there definitely has been an evolution […]
On common sense or practical wisdom
Even the ancient poems of the Kalevala emphasise the role of common sense, practical knowledge, skills and understanding, instead of metaphysics or religion. (Väisänen, 2012) There is romance in the practical wisdom of the countryside, if one listens for it inbetween the practical advice given to young men and women that comprises long stanzas in […]
Looking back at the last 15 years of The Prepaid Economy Project
In 2007, I was the Closing Plenary speaker for the CHI2007 25th Anniversary conference in San Jose, CA. Today, I look back at the last 15 years of the “mobile as a post industrial platform for bottom of pyramid and emerging markets” conceptual working space, and find myself ready to move on to a new […]
There are design goals for which the design process outlines itself
Constructive design research necessitates building a working prototype of the concept under evaluation. Without existing in the real world and interacting with the human socio-ecological system, we cannot figure out if our paper concepts will work as designed in the real world. Social design prototypes need a very high degree of enthusiastic cooperation from the […]
Contemplating the conundrum of designing for cognitive justice
“Cognitive Justice: the right of different knowledges to coexist so long as they sustain the life, livelihoods, and life chances of a people.” Shiv Visvanathan, 2021 Unpacking this theoretical statement and putting it into practice in the form of design of interactive, collaborative, and social processes that comprise various participatory methodologies in design and innovation, […]
You know its been too long when….
… you forget the password to your own blog’s back end. I’m here to sing my song that I had been looking for since March 2021. It has taken me 18 months longer than I ever imagined, and it is the longest year and a half I have ever spent without you. Y U NO […]
