Comparing paradigms

Today we're going to try to understand the difference between different design paradigms from an experiential perspective. How does it feel to think about a design problem from different perspectives? What are the different outcomes that different design processes lead to?

What to expect

• This is going to feel ill-defined. That's normal. Remember, designers have to be good at designing design processes too, which means you'll be figuring out what to do with your time.
• These are artificially short periods of time to apply these methods. It's going to feel rushed in the same way it can feel rushed in industry.
• I don't want you to design anything in particular to solve these problems. That's for you to figure out as part of your design process.

Form groups (3 min)

Find two people you don't know in this class and team up with them.

1st paradigm: participatory design (25 min)

The problem: how can undergraduates get more sleep?

A stakeholder is anyone directly or indirectly affected by a problem.

• Who are all of the stakeholders in this problem?
• How can you involve the stakeholders in the design process
• Study the problem by somehow involving stakeholders
• Ideate solutions with stakeholders
• Sketch a solution you believe best solves the problem for all stakeholders
• Test your solution with another group with different stakeholders

Questions:

• What affected the outcome of your design?
• How did stakeholders change your ideation?

2nd paradigm: value-sensitive design (25 min)

The problem: how can we make college more affordable?

Values include ideas such as freedom, agency, privacy, security, independence, beauty, comfort, etc. Value-sensitive design engages these values to understand the nature of a problem from a values perspective.

• Interview at least three different types of stakeholders
• What values are part of this problem?
• What are the tensions between the values in the problem?
• Ideate solutions that reconcile these different value tensions.
• Select a solution.
• Test your solution with another group with different stakeholders.

Questions:

• How was the focus on values different from the participatory approach?
• Did you find anything limiting about the value-sensitive approach?
• How were your solutions different from the participatory approach?

Credit

Submit the piece of paper with all of your ideas with each of your names on it.