What if...?
What if we completely let go of the idea that we are designing some "thing?"
What if we imagined instead that we were designing some future state of being for the humans that we are designing for?
What would that state of being be?
What are the qualities and characteristics of that state of being?
What are the qualities and characteristics of that experience?
What are the qualities and characteristics of the objectives we are aiming for within that experience?
Re-ask those same questions about the humans that we are designing for.
Re-ask those same questions about the contexts that we are designing for.
Then... after we've applied our "methods," "approaches," "frameworks", etc to all of those (many times over) then maybe, just maybe, we can begin to imagine the "thing."
I think I can... I think I can imagine what that would be like.
Now... if I could only get my students to do the same.
What if...?
I think this is a fundamental premise of experience design. Just designing a product isn't good enough.
ReplyDeleteFor more on this topic, I recommend Kathy Sierra's _Badass_. << https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24737268-badass?ac=1&from_search=true >>
I believe you are correct that this aligns with what UX aspires to. I'm not convinced it does it very well... yet. It's a very young field and I think it's headed in that direction. There are great numbers of companies and people that still lack the strength to let go of the "thing." Of course we must eventually circle back to the "thing." This post was more the beginning of a thought experiment. Sierra's book looks like something I should pick up - thanks for the tip!
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