Design & Critical Thinking

In this session, we discuss the relationship between AI, the potential for hyper-intelligence, and meaning through abstraction. We also discuss the notions of duality and how duality with context creates useful contrast that adds meaning and generates new perspectives, which can be used as a design tool. This links to the concept of "negative space" in Semiotics, and "Early Heaven" and "Later Heaven" from ancient Chinese Ba Gua. This brings the notion of "the third perspective" and the ability to subvert expectations through the breaking of patterns. **Sorry for the sound quality** --- LINKS Here's a simple yet interesting explanation of "the third perspective" through the analysis of the narrative of the movie AVATAR in contrast to Princess Mononoke → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsNrjTfIGIE Introduction to Bayesian Thinking by Julia Galef → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpdBOUnynps Bruno Latour's The Sociology of Science → http://www.bruno-latour.fr/taxonomy/term/39.html On narrative research → https://medium.com/rettigs-notes/notes-on-narrative-research-6eca7c226891 --- JOIN US Join our next session

We discuss how to frame problems to explore them and the critical need for diversity (of minds, perspectives, etc) in these early design activities. We discuss why we need to bring back imagination as many organizations (and practitioners) often jump from problem definition to solution. We then touch upon the concept of "useful frictions" in digital and virtual spaces. Finally, we talk about Assemblage Theory as a way to understand coupling effects in networks and the notions of territorialization & deterritorialization through a funny thought experiment: "what if we had to design a temporary cult". --- Join our next session

We discuss the issue of the current north American education system and its repercussions on the global financing of education, with a focus on Europe. One of our community members, Matt, shares an approach/opportunity to tackle some of it through a dynamic financialization model. This led the group to an interesting, honest, and stimulating design critique form of discussion. --- The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. Join our next session

This was an unplanned and unmanaged informal discussion like we love to hold in the community. A discussion about foxes and tigers, about perceptions of the world, about philosophies of being and their underlying systems. We also discussed how "design" activities today are made for "transactional" and "value extraction" systems and how this limits their applicability (or can be detrimental) to social and political systems. Join our next session

This is our monthly Community workshop session during which we discuss where we want the community to head. We provided closure to the topic of design & philosophy and discussed what would be the next topic to open. As often, the conversation covered a lot of different grounds. Join our next session

3rd and final round of this series of discussions. Themes for exploration: How can we link back design practice and philosophy? What are the possible pain points of doing so? And what are the benefits of such a marriage? This session: We focus on two aspects, first the importance of coming to a form of pragmatism, which one might call "pragmatic design philosophy", and second the (equal) importance of connecting to a form of abstractive and poetic conceptualization, which one might call creativity. The goal of this session is to explore this useful tension that underly many aspects of the design practice. - -- This event is the third of a series of discussions on design and philosophy, when it is relevant to link them together, how one strengthens the other (and vice-versa), what are their weaknesses, etc. Join our next session

We discuss the different forms of power, how they influence decision, how they relate (or not) to design.We disucss how power can be reciprocal, and how it is best described in context. We also discuss the notion that platforms like Amazon & Youtube give a form of power to their users, but this power is asymmetrical because it is structurally lent, to the extent of what the platforms are willing to go. --- The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. Join our next session

How can we link back design practice and philosophy? What are the possible pain points of doing so? And what are the benefits of such a marriage? → The focus of this discussion will be on "decision-making" and "enacting the world" as designers, and the relationship between the context, the objects (physical, virtual, social) we design, and our actions. What are the philosophical & practical implications? --- This event is the second of a series of discussions on design and philosophy, when it is relevant to link them together, how one strengthens the other (and vice-versa), what are their weaknesses, etc. Join our next session

Hey, we need to discuss. No seriously. Design and philosophy seem to be two different things, right? One is about thinking, and the other about doing... or are they? How can we link back design practice and philosophy? What are the possible pain points of doing so? And what are the benefits of such a marriage? --- This event is the first of a series of discussions on design and philosophy, when it is relevant to link them together, how one strengthens the other (and vice-versa), what are their weaknesses, etc. Join our next session

We discussed philosophy and how the process of exploring certain topics affects your understanding of them, which lead us to talk about the nature of rabbit holes, and that behind an apparent endless network of things there is a tacit structure that acts as an attractor. We discuss the relationship between our identity and our social tissue and the social dissonance that creates social media. Then we move on to the subject of how many discussions (in design) remain on surface-level things (tools, methods, etc.), and why we need to dive into the underlying concepts & models. We make some comparisons between the fact that you can't understand what causes a trend to happen by studying the trend itself (you need to side-step), like copying a certain style does not provide you with knowledge of the contextual reason for this style to exist. And many more things about decision-making, handling difficult discussions, knowing how and when to debate, and “steel manning” an opposite position.

In this session, we have a really interesting informal discussion, what Marc called "improv session" and Krasi called "emergent discussion". We discuss: 00:00 good enough data for decision-making. 14:42 how organisational dispositionalities can prevent innovation even when people are motivated. 31:00 Past, future. Future, past. 44:00 Anchoring the digital in physical to allow for repurposing. The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. Join our next session

Le design systémique n'est pas une pratique nouvelle, mais prend de l'ampleur depuis quelques années comme sujet à part entière dans les communautés de designers. Cet intérêt soudain créer des attentes et donc un marcher (potentiel) pour les "vendeurs" de cours et de certificats, dont le besoin de simplification d'un sujet particulièrement complexe pousse à des raccourcis grossiers et une codification du discours, appelant à des symboliques & thèmes à la hauteur des vertus avancées: le design systémique permettrait de résoudre les problèmes complexes tels que le changement climatique. Avec Fabrice Liut nous engageons donc une discussion critique autour de l'approche, du discours, et des outils proposés: sont-ils à la hauteur de la promesse. Cette vidéo est donc la première d'une série où nous déconstruisons le design systémique. Elle fait suite de ma critique du design systémique disponible ici: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PknjncsBVcA

The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. In this session, on our exploration of the theme of “becoming better designers”, we discuss "Goals" (and Jobs to be done) as a way to frame our understanding of a context, people's intents, and how to create useful & valuable solutions for them. Goals are utilitarian but tend to be confused with intents, and might hide the importance of the journey through discovery as tokens of apparent clarity. We also discuss how sense-making practices could enhance the process of coming to a job, not by relying on one individual's perspective.

The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. In this session, we continue our exploration of the theme of becoming better designers through the keyword "Failure", and how it conditions our understanding of success (and vice-versa): i.e. a short-term success can be a long-term failure. Moreover, preparing for failure means measuring for it and indirectly creating a fail-safe space, enabling us to discover other opportunities. Therefore, failure is not the goal, it is a means to move beyond an otherwise limiting dichotomy.

The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. We continue our journey in exploring the theme of becoming better designers, and the role of designers & design in society, using a keyword as a medium for conversations. This week we're at letter "E", exploring the concept of "Expertise" from various perspectives. We used the island template, a (work in progress) collaborative mapping method that uses topography as a categorisation metaphor to help make sense of a context. Find out more about the island here → https://explorer.designcriticalthinking.com/ Discover what we mapped out in full detail here → https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVOMzFFoY=/?share_link_id=481680795197 Join our next session

Ceci est la version francophone de nos sessions informel « Virtual Chalet ». Ces rencontres récurrentes (une fois toutes les 2 semaines) existent afin que la communauté Design & Critical Thinking (D&CT) prenne le temps et l'espace pour discuter, faire du sense, partager des idées et des expériences, trouver du soutien, poser des questions, etc. Cette semaine nous discutons de comment "sauter le pas" en tant que créateur de contenu et du perfectionnisme, de pensée systémique (systems thinking) et de design, et de l'économie des connaissances liés aux design. Participez au prochains évènements

The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. In this session, we continue our exploration of the theme of becoming better designers through the keyword "data", and what it means (or not) to be "data-driven". We clarified the different kinds of data (explicit, implicit, qualitative, quantitative) and the importance of context to make sense of them. We also discussed the ethics of using data, how they are collected, and to what end. Join our next session

Chalet Virtuel 17 février 2022 – Ceci est la version francophone de nos sessions informel « Virtual Chalet ». Ces rencontres récurrentes (une fois toutes les 2 semaines) existent afin que la communauté Design & Critical Thinking (D&CT) prenne le temps et l'espace pour discuter, faire du sense, partager des idées et des expériences, trouver du soutien, poser des questions, etc. Cette semaine nous discutons legal design et approcher le design dans le monde juridique, les problèmes et opportunités de la blockchain, et approcher l'humain et la gouvernance pour permettre la collaboration et la distribution de la prise de décision. Participez au prochains évènements

Virtual Chalet, 15 February 2022 – The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. In this session, we used a keyword as a catalyst to approach the broader topic of the role of designers in society, and the question “how could we become better designers?” which will be a running theme for the coming sessions & workshops. You can view our Miro board with the captured items here → https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVOLuUfQU=/?invite_link_id=251603547538 Join our next session

The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. **Sorry for the audio quality, my internet connection was pretty unstable** This week we discuss design in regards to groups and social dynamics, the role of language as affordance & constraints, the Squid Game as a catalyst, medium for interactions, and an attractor for diverging narratives around personal debts & financial insecurity, and the different layers of design. We also discuss bayesian thinking and using a probabilistic approach to design & innovation. Join our next session → https://www.meetup.com/design-critical-thinking/ Join the community on Slack → https://join.designcriticalthinking.com About the community → https://designcriticalthinking.com ————————— Learn more about the participants of today's discussion: John Mortimer → https://www.improconsult.co.uk/ Cameron Norman → https://www.cense.ca/ Marc Baumgartner → https://codename.design/ Daiana Zavate → https://owtcome.com/

Ceci est la version francophone de nos sessions informel « Virtual Chalet ». Ces rencontres récurrentes (une fois toutes les 2 semaines) existent afin que la communauté Design & Critical Thinking (D&CT) prenne le temps et l'espace pour discuter, faire du sense, partager des idées et des expériences, trouver du soutien, poser des questions, etc. Cette semaine nous discutons des évolutions de la demande autour de la pratique du design avec la pandémie, le besoin de faire du sens pour prendre des décisions, du problème des dashboards, du Design Sprint, et d'un discours sur les neurosciences & l'UX design. Participez au prochains évènements

The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. This week we discuss how cultures & languages shape our understanding of design, how English and a form of US colonialism exist through the profession & its related education. We also talk of UX Design and our relationship to consumerism & capitalism, and the shortcomings of the current forms of design education. Join our next session

Ceci est la version francophone de nos sessions informel « Virtual Chalet ». Ces rencontres récurrentes (une fois toutes les 2 semaines) existent afin que la communauté Design & Critical Thinking (D&CT) prenne le temps et l'espace pour discuter, faire du sense, partager des idées et des expériences, trouver du soutien, poser des questions, etc. Cette semaine nous discutons de la multiplicité du “Design” et des différentes disciplines & pratiques de ce domaine, ainsi que du trend autour du Design Systémique et du Systems Thinking. Nous parlons de philosophie(s), de définitions, et de concepts autour du Design et de l'innovation, ainsi que d'esprit critique. Nous abordons aussi l'importance d'écrire pour aider à penser et pour créer un medium d'échange. Participez au prochains évènements

The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the Design & Critical Thinking community to take the space & time to discuss, make sense, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. This week we discuss design practice (and practising design) and the misunderstanding around the importance of methods, the importance of context, the trends around Systemic Design and Systems Thinking, the Design Council's report on systemic design, and many more…

An invitation to be explorers, not just problem-solvers We tend to see design and innovation as problem-solving spaces. This engineering and sometimes mechanistic approach is not bad in itself but brings a lot of limitations, one major being to quickly frame whatever challenge into a narrow, finite, solution. When facing uncertainty, designers, and changemakers might feel unempowered. We look for recipes and pre-packaged generalist solutions — “the answer”, that sells an illusion of certainty through the economy of speed — to help us disambiguate our very specific contexts. “Problem-solvers look for answers. Explorers look for better questions.” Exploration makes the invisible visible. This multi-layered understanding will add more potential to our portfolio of possibilities. “Problem-solvers reduce options. Explorers enable possibilities.” New challenges are invitations to become curious explorers, in a world where everything is believed to be known, predictable, ordinary. Reclaim space for curious exploration The explorer's framework is a set of ideas for designers, innovators, changemakers, to help approach challenges and problems in ways that add layers (rather than subtract), enable possibilities (rather than reduce), diversify points of view, and enable a portfolio of strategies & actions to tackle (complex) challenges (rather than single-point solutions). Exploration is not to be opposed to conception — it is a useful tension. Exploration should be pursued as a parallel, ongoing, journey with no clear end. It is the philosophy & ethics of the curious, humble, learner. Learn more → explorer.designcriticalthinking.com designcriticalthinking.com

Today, we discuss Planet Centric Design with Samuel Huber, Design Strategist at GoodPatch who specialised in sustainable design approaches. Samuel also pursues a Ph.D. in Systemic Management at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Here's what we discuss: - Welcome - Who's Samuel Huber? - Who said Planet Centric Design? - A definition for Planet Centric Design (PCD) - The old becomes new again - PCD simplifies access to complex topics - On labels & the need to reframe our way of working - Planet Centric, Circular Design, Systemic Design, etc. - Maps, Models, the tree & the forest: the value & limits of reduction - Our tools are biased towards humans - Resolving contexts gap: how can we practice PCD? - The limits & ethics of interpretation - Mitigating our bias toward the problem-solution dichotomy - Planet Centric Design in practice Samuel Huber https://samuelhuber.medium.com https://twitter.com/samphuber GoodPatch https://global.goodpatch.com https://medium.com/goodpatch-global University of St. Gallen https://ifb.unisg.ch/en/

This is a “collaborative drawing session” with the Design & Critical Thinking community turned into a podcast –drawing as a medium for exploration. Look at the video here → https://youtu.be/0vk7lh1_iZQ In this session, we explored the concept of “Insight” and our relationship with it by visualizing and building on each other's ideas. Our ability to see through the conditional interpretation of our experience helped us face the loopholes and blind spots of our perception. Insights are volatile and fleeting. They can grow cold if not used at the right time. Our internal alignment can give us both richness of insights and momentum to build concretely on them. This is our shared story at the edge of the visible with the invisible.

In this episode, we discuss with Pascal Briod, Head of Product at Monito, about user research and UX design in a Startup company. From the very inception of the company to managing a growing team of UX & UI professionals, Pascal had to basically learn & practice many aspects of design & product management at the same time. This helped him build a very pragmatic approach to UX, research, and design decision.

Voici un nouveau format, "La Critique", dans lequel nous prennons un article, un media, ou une affirmation que l'on analyse. Aujourd'hui, nous analysons un article d'une agence française, qui nous présente ce qu'est la CX (Customer Experience) par rapport à l'UX (User Experience). Here is a new format, "La Critique", in which we take an article, media, or statement that we analyze. Today, we are analyzing (in french) an article from a French agency, which presents us what CX (Customer Experience) is in relation to UX (User Experience). Article original → https://www.usabilis.com/cx-ux/

Dans cet épisode, nous discutons avec Stéphane Bonnier de design et d'agilité organisationnelle. Stéphane apporte une lumière unique grâce à sa longue expérience dans le business & en tant que chef d'entreprises, et nous donne des clés quand à la facilitation du changement et de la transformation des organisations par le design & l'agilité.

In this episode, I propose and develop the concept of “Space-for-action barrier” or the thing that prevents designers, innovators, and change agents to do “what should be done”, and how you can overcome this state. Read the original article here: http://bit.ly/35NZ4az

Part 9: In this episode, we discuss Systemic Design, the future of design, and what Joel sees as a growing opportunity in the relationship between Design and Data Science. This video is part of a longer discussion with Joel Marsh about the value of UX, split into 10 episodes.

Part 8: In this episode, we discuss the importance of testing (looping back to the importance of hypotheses) and how even small changes can have big consequences. This video is part of a longer discussion with Joel Marsh about the value of UX, split into 10 episodes.

Part 7: In this episode, we discuss how designers create knowledge and the importance of the level of evidence we are taking into account in holding something for true. This video is part of a longer discussion with Joel Marsh about the value of UX, split into 10 episodes.

This video is part of a longer discussion with Joel Marsh about the value of UX. Joel Marsh is an experienced UX designer, Founder at Peekerton, and author of “UX for Beginners” published by O'Reilly. Kevin Richard is a senior Designer & editor of “Design & Critical Thinking” through which he tries to popularize design and shares his thoughts.

This video is part of a longer discussion with Joel Marsh about the value of UX. Joel Marsh is an experienced UX designer, Founder at Peekerton, and author of “UX for Beginners” published by O'Reilly. Kevin Richard is a senior Designer & editor of “Design & Critical Thinking” through which he tries to popularize design and shares his thoughts.

This video is part of a longer discussion with Joel Marsh about the value of UX. Joel Marsh is an experienced UX designer, Founder at Peekerton, and author of “UX for Beginners” published by O'Reilly. Kevin Richard is a senior Designer & editor of “Design & Critical Thinking” through which he tries to popularize design and shares his thoughts.

This video is part of a longer discussion with Joel Marsh about the value of UX. Joel Marsh is an experienced UX designer, Founder at Peekerton and author of “UX for Beginners” published by O'Reilly. Kevin Richard is a senior Designer & editor of “Design & Critical Thinking” through which he tries to popularize design and shares his thoughts.

This video is part of a longer discussion with Joel Marsh about the value of UX. Joel Marsh is an experienced UX designer, Founder at Peekerton and author of “UX for Beginners” published by O'Reilly. Kevin Richard is a senior Designer & editor of “Design & Critical Thinking” through which he tries to popularize design and shares his thoughts.

In this episode, we discuss with Peter Horvath about Design, Co-creation, Service Design, and even Swiss democracy which Peter links to a form of Co-creation & participatory design process. Peter Horvath is a UX Designer, digital strategist, and service designer. He is the founder of holistique.design, co-founder of the Service Design Network Swiss Chapter and the 24 Hours of UX events.

This video is part of a longer discussion with Joel Marsh about the value of UX. Joel Marsh is an experienced UX designer, Founder at Peekerton, and author of “UX for Beginners” published by O'Reilly. Kevin Richard is a senior Designer & editor of “Design & Critical Thinking” through which he tries to popularize design and shares his thoughts.

In this episode, we welcome Massimo Curatella to discuss how to understand and explain complex topics such as systems and complexity principles to people who can act to solve wicked problems.

For our first podcast in English, we're proud to welcome Emilijan Sekulovski who offered us a great discussion around organizational design, team organization, product development, and production processes. Emilijan Sekulovski is the Head of User Experience at Pix4D, a Swiss company focused on delivering the best photogrammetry & drone mapping software for professionals. Kevin Richard is a senior Designer & editor of “Design & Critical Thinking” through which he tries to popularize design and shares his thoughts. Music: Skydive by Loxbeats

Dans ce podcast, Kevin et Géraud reviennent sur un sujet abordé avec Daniele Catalanotto: comment allez au-delà des limitations du Human-centered design (HCD). Géraud as plusieurs points à ajouter, et cela nous donné l'occasion d'approfondir plusieurs concepts.

Dans ce podcast, Kevin et Géraud discutent de l'importance (ou non) d'avoir un portfolio lorsqu'on est designer. Géraud de Laval est Product Designer au Smart Lab de Romande Energie, Startup coach, et formateur à l'école CREA Genève. Kevin Richard est senior Designer & éditeur de “Design & Critical Thinking” par lequel il essaie de vulgariser le design et partages ses réflexions. *Musique: Skydive by Loxbeats.

Dans ce podcast, Kevin et Géraud discutent des “guerres de chapelles” que sont le Design Thinking et Design Sprint, sujets récurrents dans le domaine, et qui sont parfois des portes d'entrée au design pour des non-initiés. Géraud de Laval est Product Designer au Smart Lab de Romande Energie, Startup coach, et formateur à l'école CREA Genève. Kevin Richard est senior Designer & éditeur de “Design & Critical Thinking” par lequel il essaie de vulgariser le design et partages ses réflexions. Musique: Skydive by Loxbeats.

Dans ce podcast, Kevin et Géraud discutent du “Design For Value” ou de comment designer en équilibrant besoins utilisateurs et besoins business. Géraud de Laval est Product Designer au Smart Lab de Romande Energie, Startup coach, et formateur à l'école CREA Genève. Kevin Richard est senior Designer & éditeur de “Design & Critical Thinking” par lequel il essaie de vulgariser le design et partages ses réflexions. Musique: Skydive by Loxbeats.

Dans ce podcast, Kevin et Daniele discutent de pourquoi l'esprit de synthèse est important et comment l'enseigner. Daniele Catanalotto est un Service Designer & formateur qui cherche à rendre l'innovation accessible aux plus grand nombre. Kevin Richard est senior Designer & éditeur de “Design & Critical Thinking” par lequel il essaie de vulgariser le design et partages ses réflexions.

Dans ce podcast, Kevin et Daniele discutent de quelques astuces pour rendre les rapports de recherche utilisateur actionable pour les équipes et le business. Daniele Catanalotto est un Service Designer & formateur qui cherche à rendre l'innovation accessible aux plus grand nombre. Kevin Richard est senior Designer & éditeur de “Design & Critical Thinking” par lequel il essaie de vulgariser le design et partages ses réflexions. Musique: Skydive by Loxbeats

Dans ce podcast, Kevin et Daniele discutent de quand cela devient pertinent d'arrêter d'utiliser des post-its papier au profit des outils numériques, et quand le papier reste roi. Daniele Catanalotto est un Service Designer & formateur qui cherche à rendre l'innovation accessible aux plus grand nombre. Kevin Richard est senior Designer & éditeur de “Design & Critical Thinking” par lequel il essaie de vulgariser le design et partages ses réflexions.

Dans ce podcast, Kevin et Daniele discutent de la différence entre un Journey Maps et un Service Blueprints, ainsi que quand et comment les utilisers. Daniele Catanalotto est un Service Designer & formateur qui cherche à rendre l'innovation accessible aux plus grand nombre. Kevin Richard est senior Designer & éditeur de “Design & Critical Thinking” par lequel il essaie de vulgariser le design et partages ses réflexions.