Becoming Design ActivistsA new vision for UX Design in South Africa

David du PlessisDigital McKinsey November 2016

Hi, I’m David du PlessisUX Designer

TODAY

The New Opportunity

The New Curriculum The Design Activist

WHAT IS THE ESSENCE OF UX DESIGN?

EmpathyThe ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

SympathyFeelings of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune.

Confusion = Blind Spot

Failure of empathy

Hard work

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If it ain’t broke…

There are major blind spots, and the design professions and design education systems need to develop other sensibilities, frameworks, skills, and technologies for designers and design practice that includes not only social or community engagement but also better understanding and relations.

“

Justin Moore

There are major blind spots, and the design professions and design education systems need to develop other sensibilities, frameworks, skills, and technologies for designers and design practice that includes not only social or community engagement but also better understanding and relations.

“

Justin Moore

Manifestations of blind spots

Unequal Scenes - Johnny Miller

What is the future of UX?

There are more designers in our industry than ever, but what have we really achieved? Is the world, or even our industry, any better for all our efforts?

Scott Berkun

“

Decline of craft skills

The Rise of Wicked Problems

80%

Business

20%

Population

Make change happen here,

but how?

Approaching wicked problems

1. Use evidence and reasoning to make a difference

2. Incremental and rapid iterations

3. Biomimicry

This all sounds familiar right?

Effective altruism

… many ways of making a difference achieve little, but that, by targeting our efforts on the most effective causes, we each have an enormous power to make the world a better place.

William MacAskill

“1. Evidence and reasoning to make a difference

Effective altruismHow can I make the biggest difference I can using evidence and careful reasoning to try and find an answer.

“Because we don’t get useful feedback when we try to help others, we often don’t get a meaningful sense of whether we’re really making a difference.”

William MacAskill

Effective altruism

2. rapid and incremental iterations

rapid & incremental change evidence, reasoning

step change planning fallacy

over

How do we build a new world with empathy at the core?

3. Biomimicry

Create the right conditions and change will come

Affordable private-school-quality eduction

Affordable healthcare for the 80%

Urban Think Tank - rapid and incremental upgrade

Wicked problems affect all of us

TODAY

The New Opportunity

The New CurriculumThe Design Activist

UX

Product Design

User Centred Design

Service Design

Design Thinking

Agile

Lean Startup

Social Innovation

Lean Manufacturing

Interaction design

Management Consulting

Customer Centricity

Experience Design

Biomimicry

UX

Product Design

User Centred Design

Service Design

Design Thinking

Agile

Lean Startup

Social Innovation

Lean Manufacturing

Interaction design

Management Consulting

Customer Centricity

Experience Design

Biomimicry

Design Thinking

Lean Startup Social Innovation

Empathy

Principles

Empathy

Design Thinking Lean Startup Social Innovation

Take Action Experiment Do Most Good

Business skills

Design becomes a meta-skill

TODAY

The New Opportunity

The New Curriculum The Design Activist

No one is in charge

Learn from the activists

Literate in the holistic principles of design

The Design Activist

Energy and idealism of an activist

The smart thinking of an entrepreneur

Features ValueHelp people make progress improving their lives.

The Design Activist

TeacherHelp society understand the purpose of design.

Doer

Functionality

Emotion Social

Good design

Champion the emotional and social dimensions of design

Design activism in action

As a society our future capacity for innovation depends on having many more people literate in the holistic principles of design thinking just as our technological prowess depends on having high levels of literacy in math and science.

Tim Brown

“Failing that, our attempts at progress will be marginal at best.

Are you up for the challenge?

Thanks!david_du_plessis@mckinsey.com

http://innovationedge.org.za/11-news/310-creating-an-enabling-ecosystem-for-social-innovation-in-south-africa.html

http://dsi.sva.edu/program/curriculum/

http://www.slideshare.net/andreplaut/ux-design-for-social-good

https://www.wickedproblems.com/4_participatory_design.php

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0081YT1V6/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

http://www.slideshare.net/cserfa/design-activism

This confusion is not just a matter of semantics. In businesses, schools, offices, even newspapers, design is often associated with the art department. That’s a fundamental misunderstanding of the aim of design. When art and design are confused, the designers’ domain becomes limited to style and appearance.

In truth, good designers are primarily problem solvers. They seek to understand the purpose, audience, technical parameters, and strategic nuances of an assignment before reaching for their Moleskine sketchpads or going to town in Photoshop.

We shape our tools, and then our tools shape us.“

Marshall Mcluhan