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Humans did not discover fire--they designed it. Design is not defined by software programs, blueprints, or font choice. When we create new things--technologies, organizations, processes, systems, environments, ways of thinking--we engage in design. With this expansive view of design as their premise, in The Design Way, Harold Nelson and Erik Stolterman make the case for design as its own culture of inquiry and action. They offer not a recipe for design practice or theorizing but a formulation of design culture's fundamental core of ideas. These ideas--which form \"the design way\"--are applicable to an infinite variety of design domains, from such traditional fields as architecture and graphic design to such nontraditional design areas as organizational, educational, interaction, and health care design. Nelson and Stolterman present design culture in terms of foundations (first principles), fundamentals (core concepts), and metaphysics, and then discuss these issues from both learner's and practitioner's perspectives. The text of this second edition is accompanied by new detailed images, \"schemas\" that visualize, conceptualize, and structure the authors' understanding of design inquiry. This text itself has been revised and expanded throughout, in part in response to reader feedback.

Humans did not discover fire - they designed it. Design is not defined by software programs, blueprints, or font choice. When we create new things we engage in design. With this expansive view of design as their premise, in this book, the authors make the case for design as its own culture of inquiry and action.

Reality‐real life‐is complex, more complex than can be imagined. The majority of our most pressing issues confronted in the management of organizations are overwhelmingly complex. I make the case for a systems design approach as a remedy. Examples introduced in this paper illuminate conceptual tools that advance how people transform their workplaces despite the collusion of complex forces that thwart their best efforts and the occurrences of failures of straightforward attempts to produce desired outcomes. The primary aim of this paper is to present an overall picture of the way in which complexity and simplicity—which appear to be oppositional—are collaborative allies in the deliberate processes of transforming businesses. The aim is also to underscore the value of complexity to organizational management and design. The secondary aim of this paper is to explore some approaches for simplifying complexity. These diverse means of simplifying complexity help to illuminate the collaborative role that complexity and simplicity play in the process of improving business organizations. This paper demonstrates how complexity can be rendered more simply comprehensible by design.

This paper is an overview of a framework for social systems assessment based on my study and work with C. West Churchman. The framework is an outgrowth of the systems categories developed by Churchman as part of his definition of teleological systems. It is an expansion of the methodologies used for socio‐economic impact assessments that has evolved out of the value distribution assessment process first used in my graduate studies of the impact of geothermal energy development on rural communities in northern California. This social systems assessment framework is inclusive of social systems analysis, social systems intervention and social systems redesign and provides an organizing structure for relating the diverse theories, methods and experiences of systems scholars and practitioners. This framework is part of the rich legacy of systems approaches that continue to be developed from the seminal work of C. West Churchman. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This paper is a reflection on the influence of Bela H. Banathy's scholarship and leadership in the field of social systems design. In particular, the focus of this paper is on the development of a model of systems design inquiry and a model of systems design communication. The seminal ideas for the models were first explored at the annual Asilomar Conversations hosted by the International Systems Institute (ISI), a non‐profit organization founded by Prof. Banathy. The models are representative of the legacy of an ongoing design conversation with Prof. Banathy concerning the integration of human values into a systems science approach to the challenge of securing improvement in the human condition. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

As we noted earlier scientists tend to label ancient human designs, such as fire or the wheel, as “discoveries” because of their bias toward observation away from imagination. This penchant is an extension of the traditional approach to labeling scientific phenomena. When a researcher first becomes aware of something in the physical realm—something that has existed since time immemorial but has only now come to this researcher’s consciousness—he or she is said to have “discovered” that phenomenon. We accept that scientists have “discovered” gravity, evolution, entropy, and other seminal natural laws, through careful observation and critical evaluation—revealing

The Design Wayis focused on making the case for a design culture and a design-driven approach to the world. Design thinking and design activity need to be held in a cultural container—a social crucible—that provides perspective while nurturing, supporting, and protecting the work of designers and all those who benefit from design activities. This crucible—as a container for creative and innovative work—is not something that occurs naturally. It needs to be developed, continuously renewed, and eventually superseded. Within a healthy design culture, designers, their champions, clients, and other stakeholders accept their respective responsibilities for bringing

We live in a world of designed artifacts, some concrete and others abstract. Together with the natural world, these designs—whether things, systems, processes, or symbols—make up the whole of our reality. It is a reality populated by the beautiful and the ugly, the good and bad, and sometimes even the dangerous. Every day, we use—or struggle with—designs of every type of influence, shape, and size. Some of them we love, some we endure, others we hate, but most of them we never even notice. They just exist as a natural part of our lives. But sometimes

Design is an act of world creation. As such it can be experienced both as inspiring and intimidating. As a world creator, a designer can be overwhelmed by questions such as: Do I have the right to cause such significant change in the world? What is the right approach to take when making such changes? What kind of changes are good, or just, and for whom? As a designer, am I fully responsible and accountable for my designs and to whom? Can I be relieved of responsibility in some way? If not, how can I prepare for this responsibility and