EGO-SYSTEM to ECOSYSTEM

The systems that we are designing are increasingly more complex and interconnected. Systemic design is a holistic approach to anticipating and addressing unintended consequences.

We are all Systemic Designers*

Every product and service is a system composed of parts, working together to accomplish a common purpose. Design thinking has a bias towards developing products and services that may become the problems of tomorrow. With a Systems Thinking mindset, the Designer starts to view products and services as not the ‘end goal’ but as different leverage points within the system.

— Paraphrasing the sentiments of Donella Meadows

*we just need to shift our mindset and adopt new tools

The need for Systemic Design

Unintended Consequences

Design thinking is a reductive approach to problem-solving, that may lead to the creation of unintended consequences. In contrast, systems thinking is a holistic lens to view context, all while considering the interdependencies and relation of all elements.

Increased complexity

With the rise of new technologies, overpopulation, climate change, globalized economies, etc.- the systems that we are designing are increasingly more complex and interconnected. We need new, sustainable solutions to aid in these challenges that incorporate transdisciplinary perspectives.

Design thinking isn’t enough

Design Thinking tends to be a reductive approach to problem-solving, and despite what made it so popular, its downfall is its focus on users and key stakeholders, only. We need to shift the oddly myopic focus from humans in the center to humans in the middle of a broader system.

Our Systemic by Design Process

Integrating Systems Thinking into the Design Thinking process, to account for unintended consequences.

*The pink circles = Systems Thinking; The black circles = Design Thinking.

Systems Scope

The first step in understanding ‘How high do you fly how low do you go?’. Determining the boundaries of your scope and aiming to understand the causal relation between different parts of the system. .

Future Proof

Possible futures, unintended consequences, and blindspots. Doing your due diligence as a designer and encourages you to find the weaknesses of your designs, and adjust accordingly.

Define

Reframe problem. Define problem area. Define the type* of impact you aim to make. Define ‘Idealized Future’ aka helping the stakeholders articulate the common desired future and the intended value creation. .

Feedback

Receive feedback from the system and others affected by the system changes. Transdisciplinary perspectives.

Ideate

Brainstorm radical ideas. Build on others’ ideas. Suspend Judgement. . . . .

Intervene

Interventions are the engine for creating change in a system. Systemic design refutes the idea that there is a ‘solution’. Since we are dealing with usually wicked problems and complexity, it’s challenging to believe that there is ‘one true solution’. We incorporate interventions, and create intervention models, that with feedback from the system tell us if it had a positive or negative effect. Then it looks back to system scope and adjusts accordingly.