The Design Way, second edition: Intentional Change in an Unpredictable World

by Harold G. Nelson, Erik Stolterman

Overview

A book that lays out the fundamental concepts of design culture and outlines a design-driven way to approach the world.

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 healthcare design.

The text of this second edition is accompanied by new detailed images, “schemas” that visualize, conceptualize, and structure the authors' understanding of design inquiry. The text itself has been revised and expanded throughout, in part in response to reader feedback.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262526708
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	08/29/2014
Series:	The MIT Press
Edition description:	second edition
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 5.70(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Harold G. Nelson was 2009–2010 Nierenberg Distinguished Professor of Design at Carnegie Mellon University and is currently Senior Instructor in the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School and President of the Advanced Design Institute.

Erik Stolterman is Professor in the School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana University Bloomington, and the coauthor of Thoughtful Interaction and The Design Way (second edition), both published by the MIT Press.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition ix

Acknowledgments from First Edition xiii

Prelude 1

I The First Tradition 11

II Foundations 25

1 The Ultimate Particular 27

2 Service 41

3 Systemics 57

4 The Whole 93

III Fundamentals 103

5 Desiderata 105

6 Interpretation and Measurement 119

7 Imagination and Communication 127

8 Judgment 139

9 Composing and Connecting 159

10 Craft and Material 173

IV Metaphysics 181

11 The Evil of Design 183

12 The Splendor of Design 191

13 The Guarantor-of-Design (g.o.d.) 201

V A Drawing Together 213

14 Becoming a Designer 215

15 Being a Designer 239

The Way Forward 261

References 265

Index 271

What People are Saying About This

Roger Martin

The second edition of The Design Way is the most useful and enjoyable book on design that I have yet read. It digs very deep into the intellectual and historical foundations of design thought in order to generate practical wisdom. If only the first chapter of this book was required reading for every first-year MBA student, the business world would be a much better place. And if it was also required reading for every science and technology policy person, we would actually have useful innovation policy. Harold Nelson and Erik Stolterman have produced a genuinely great contribution.

Endorsement

The second edition of The Design Way is the most useful and enjoyable book on design that I have yet read. It digs very deep into the intellectual and historical foundations of design thought in order to generate practical wisdom. If only the first chapter of this book was required reading for every first-year MBA student, the business world would be a much better place. And if it was also required reading for every science and technology policy person, we would actually have useful innovation policy. Harold Nelson and Erik Stolterman have produced a genuinely great contribution.—Roger Martin, Dean, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

From the Publisher

The first edition of The Design Way changed how I conduct my work in education; the second edition is even stronger. Far from a mere list of 'how to's. ' it helps develop a way of seeing, thinking, understanding, and acting with reciprocity that helps people become more client-centered, creative, and adaptive to others' ever-changing environments. I highly recommend this book and thank the authors for their outstanding work.

— John D. Bransford , Shauna C. Larson Professor of the Learning Sciences, University of Washington

The second edition of The Design Way is the most useful and enjoyable book on design that I have yet read. It digs very deep into the intellectual and historical foundations of design thought in order to generate practical wisdom. If only the first chapter of this book was required reading for every first-year MBA student, the business world would be a much better place. And if it was also required reading for every science and technology policy person, we would actually have useful innovation policy. Harold Nelson and Erik Stolterman have produced a genuinely great contribution.

— Roger Martin , Dean, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

John D. Bransford

The first edition of The Design Way changed how I conduct my work in education; the second edition is even stronger. Far from a mere list of 'how to's.' it helps develop a way of seeing, thinking, understanding, and acting with reciprocity that helps people become more client-centered, creative, and adaptive to others' ever-changing environments. I highly recommend this book and thank the authors for their outstanding work.