Born Shouting

Papanek hits the nail on the head again (almost) with his assessment of the most appropriate approach to good design:

Integrated design will concern itself … with unity …
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If we speak of integrated design, of design-as-a-whole, of unity we need designers able to deal with the design process comprehensively.
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Integrated design is not a set of skills, techniques or rules but should be thought of as a series of functions occurring simultaneously rather than in a linear sequence. These simultaneous “events” can be thought of (in biological terms) as initial fertilisation, developmental growth, production (…), and evaluation … leading to reiteration or regeneration or both, thus forming a closed feedback loop.

Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change, Victor Papanek

Papanek’s assertion, that the functions of integrated design should occur ‘simultaneously rather than in a linear sequence‘, is a bit too much at the same time for me, I do agree that they can overlap or occur out of sequence or occasionally in parallel. I strongly agree with his overall process (as any good systems developer would) and his recognition of the need for breadth in the skill sets of designers. It’s a shame that more people who commission and manage projects don’t see things the same way.