The Dashblog

In the Dashboard User Guide, we make a case for the the role of the designer at each position on our Interaction Slider: Prescribed, Menu, Co-creation, Assist and DIY. Yes even DIY. There the designer has a role, if only to observe. If only ‘only observe’ were so easy. Being open to DIY design means being able to continually see the world with fresh eyes. This kind of continual environment amnesia is brilliantly demonstrated in Jane Fulton Suri’s little book from IDEO called ‘Thoughtless Acts?’.

As the book tells us: “Thoughtless acts are all those intiuitive ways we adapt, explaint and react ot things in our environment; things we do without really thinking.” She’s captured a lot of them, all photographed and categorized. The fact that seeing this way isn’t so easy is born out by the necessity of staring at some of the photos for a while before the ‘thoughtless act’ makes itself apparent.

So I’m wondering whether the default position for designers shouldn’t be Prescribe or the increasingly trendy Co-create but DIY. In the User Guide we write for the DIY position: “Observe! DIY design rewards attention. Careful study enriches your own practice and enables one to become an informed participant, take another position on the Slider and actively design. So hands off, eyes open and enjoy.”

I wonder whether Jane Fulton Suri would agree? Check out: http://www.thoughtlessacts.com/

Tags: design, design dashboard, DIY design, IDEO, Institute Without Boundaries, Jane Fulton Suri, thoughtless acts

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 10:24 am and is filed under Dashboard sightings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.