Wicked Problems in Design Thinking
Author(s): Richard Buchanan
Source: Design Issues, Vol. 8, No. 2, (Spring, 1992), pp. 5-21
Published by: The MIT Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1511637
Accessed: 11/04/2008 09:41
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=mitpress.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We enable thescholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform that
promotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

http://www.jstor.org

.

Richard Buchananin DesignThinking
WickedProblems

Thisessayis basedon a paperpresentedat"Colloque Recherchessur le Design:theInteractions,"
Incitations,
Implications,first Frenchuniversitysymposiumon
design researchheld October 1990 at
deTechnologie
deCompiegne,
l'Universite
Compilgne,France.

Introduction
Despite effortsto discoverthe foundationsof designthinkingin
the fine arts,the naturalsciences,or most recently,the socialsciences,designeludesreductionandremainsa surprisinglyflexible
activity. No single definition of design, or branchesof professionalizedpracticesuchas industrialor graphicdesign,adequately
coversthe diversityof ideasandmethodsgatheredtogetherunder
the label. Indeed,the varietyof researchreportedin conference
papers,journalarticles,andbooks suggeststhatdesigncontinues
to expandin its meaningsand connections,revealingunexpecteddimensionsin practiceas well as understanding.This follows thetrendof designthinkingin the twentiethcentury,for we haveseen
to afield
designgrowfroma tradeactivityto a segmentedprofession
for technicalresearchandto what now shouldbe recognizedas a
new liberalart of technologicalculture.
It may seem unusualto talk about designas a liberalart,particularlywhen many people are accustomedto identifying theliberalartswith the traditional"artsand sciences"that are institutionalizedin colleges and universities.But the liberalarts areundergoinga revolutionarytransformationin twentieth-century
culture, and design is one of the areasin which this transformationis strikingly evident.
To understandthe change that is now underway, it is importantto recognize that what are commonly regarded as the liberal arts
today are not outside of history. They originatedin the Renaissanceand underwentprolonged development that culminatedin the nineteenth century as a vision of an encyclopedic educationof beaux arts,
belles lettres,history, various naturalsciences and mathematics,philosophy, and the fledgling social sciences. This circle of learning
was divided into particular subject matters, each with a proper
method or set of methods suitable to its exploration. At their peakas liberal arts, these subject matters provided an integrated understandingof human experienceand the arrayof availableknowledge.
By the end of the nineteenth century, however, existing subjects
were explored with progressively more refined methods, and new
subjects were added to accord with advances in knowledge. As a
Design Issues: Vol. VIII, Number 2 Spring 1992

5

1) From Richard McKeon, "TheTransformation of the Liberal Arts in
the Renaissance," Developments inthe Early Renaissance, ed. Bernard S.
Levy (Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1972), 168-69.
2) Neo-positivism, pragmatism, and various forms of phenomenology havestrongly influenced design educationand practice in the twentieth century.
If design theory has often tended
toward neo-positivism, design practice has tended toward pragmatism
and pluralism,with phenomenologists
in both areas. Such philosophical differences are illustrated in the split thatdeveloped between the theoreticalandstudio courses at the Hochschule fur
Gestaltung (HfG) Ulm before its closing. The split between theory andpracticein design is an echo of the difference between the predominantly
neo-positivist philosophy of scienceand the exceptionally diverse philosophies of practicing scientists. Design
history, theory, and criticism could
benefit from closer attention to thepluralism of views that guide actual
design practice.
3) Walter Groupius was one of the first torecognize the beginnings of a new liberal art in design. In an essay written
in 1937, he reflected on the foundingof the Bauhaus as an institution
grounded on the idea of an architectonic art: "Thus the Bauhaus wasinaugurated in 1919 with the specificobject of realizing a modern architectonic art,which like human naturewas
meant to be all-embracingin its scope.
... Our guiding principle was thatdesign is neither an intellectual nor amaterial affair, but simply an integral
part of the stuff of life, necessary foreveryone in a civilized society." Scopeof Total Architecture (New York:
Collier Books, 1970), 19-20. The term"architectonic,"in this case, transcends
the derivative term "architecture" as
it is commonly used in the modern
world. Throughout Western culture,
the liberal arts have similarly been
described as "architectonic" becauseof their integrativecapacity. Groupius
appeared to understand that architecture, regardedas a liberalart in its own
right in the ancient world, was only
one manifestation of the architectonic art of design in the twentiethcentury.
4) John Dewey, The Quest for Certainty:
A Study of the Relation of Knowledge
and Action (1929; rpt. New York:
Capricorn Books, 1960), 290-91.

6

result,the circleof learningwas furtherdividedand subdivided,
untilall thatremainedwas a patchworkquiltof specializations.
Today, these subjectmattersretainan echo of theirold status
as liberalarts,buttheyflourishas specializedstudies,leadingto theperceptionof an evermorerichanddetailedarrayof factsandvalues.Althoughthesesubjectscontributeto theadvanceof knowledge,
as they havebecomeprothey alsocontributeto its fragmentation,
gressively narrow in scope, more numerous, and have lost"connectionwith eachotherandwith the commonproblemsand
mattersof daily life from which they select aspects for precise
methodologicalanalysis."'The searchfor new integrativedisciplinesto complementthe artsandscienceshasbecomeone of thecentralthemesof intellectualandpracticallife in the twentiethcentury. Without integrative disciplines of understanding,communication,andaction,thereis littlehope of sensiblyextending knowledgebeyondthe libraryor laboratoryin orderto serve
the purposeof enrichinghumanlife.
The emergenceof designthinkingin the twentiethcenturyis
importantin this context.The significanceof seekinga scientificbasisfor designdoes not lie in the likelihoodof reducingdesignto
one or anotherof the sciences-anextensionof the neo-positivist
projectandstillpresentedin thesetermsby somedesigntheorists
Rather,it lies in a concernto connectandintegrateusefulknowledge from the artsand sciencesalike,but in ways that are suited
to theproblemsandpurposesof thepresent.Designers,areexploring concreteintegrationsof knowledgethatwill combinetheory
with practicefor new productivepurposes,and this is the reason
why we turnto designthinkingfor insightinto the new liberalartsof technologicalculture
Design and Intentional Operations
The beginningof the study of designas a liberalartcan be traced
to the culturalupheavalthatoccurredin the earlypartof the twentieth century.The key featureof this upheavalwas describedby
JohnDewey in TheQuestforCertaintyas the perceptionof a newcenterof the universe.
Theold centerof theuniversewasthemindknowingby,
meansof anequipmentof powerscompletewithinitself,andmerelyexerciseduponanantecedentexternalmaterial equallycompletewithin itself. The new centerisindefiniteinteractionstakingplacewithin a courseof
naturewhichis notfixedandcomplete,butwhichis capable of directionto new anddifferentresultsthroughthe
mediationof intentionaloperations.
WhatDewey describeshereis the root of the differencebetween
the old andnew liberalarts,betweenspecializationin the factsof a
subjectmatterandtheuseof new disciplinesof integrativethinking.

5) John Dewey, Experience and Nature(1929; rpt. New York: Dover
Publications, Inc., 1958), 357.

6) Dewey, Experience and Nature, 35758.

International
7) The neo-positivist
Encyclopedia of Unified Science,
which included Charles Morris's
Foundations of the Theory of Signs,
also included Dewey's Theory of
Valuation. However, Dewey's Logic
was ignored or ridiculed by neo-positivist logicians and grammarians.

8) John Dewey, "By Nature and By Art,"
Philosophy of Education (Problemsof Men) (1946; rpt. Totowa, New
Jersey: Littlefield, Adams, 1958), 288.

9) Dewey, "By Nature and By Art," 29192.

Dewey observes,however,that the meaningand implicationsof the new directionarestill not fully understood.
Nowadayswe havea messyconjunctionof notionsthat
are consistentneitherwith one anothernor with thetenorof our actuallife. Knowledgeis still regardedby
mostthinkersasdirectgraspof ultimatereality,althoughthepracticeof knowinghasbeenassimilatedto theprocedureof theusefularts;-involving,thatis to say,doingthat manipulatesand arrangesnaturalenergies.Again
while science is said to lay hold of reality,yet "art"insteadof beingassigneda lowerrankis equallyesteemed
andhonored.
Carryingtheseobservationsfurther,Dewey exploresthe new relationshipbetweenscience,art,andpractice.He suggestsin Experienceand Nature that knowledgeis no longerachievedby directconformity of ideas with the fixed orders of nature;knowledge isachievedby a new kind of artdirectedtowardordersof change.
Butif moderntendenciesarejustifiedin puttingartandcreationfirst, then the implicationsof this position
shouldbe avowedandcarriedthrough.It would thenbe seen that scienceis an art, that art is practice,and
thatthe only distinctionworthdrawingis not between
practiceandtheory,but betweenthose modesof practice that are not intelligent, not inherently and
immediatelyenjoyable, and those which are full ofenjoyedmeanings.
Althoughthe neo-positivistscourtedDewey for a time,it wasapparentthat his understandingof the developmentof sciencein
the twentiethcenturywas quite differentfrom theirunderstanding7.Insteadof treatingscienceas primaryand art as secondary,
Dewey pointedtowardscienceas art.
Theconsiderationthatcompletesthe groundfor assimilating science to art is the fact that assignment ofscientificstatusin anygivencaserestsuponfactswhichareexperimentallyproduced.Scienceis now the product of operationsdeliberatelyundertakenin conformity
with a planor projectthathasthepropertiesof a working hypothesis.
WhatDeweymeansby "art"in thiscontextis crucialto understandculture.
ingthenewroleof designandtechnologyin contemporary
Aftera periodin whichnaturalknowledgeprogressedbyfromtheindustrial
crafts,scienceenteredupon
borrowinga periodof steadyandever-accelerated
growthby meansof deliberateinventionof such applianceson its own
account.Inorderto markthisdifferential
featureof theart
whichis science,I shallnow usetheword"technology."... Becauseof technologies,
acircular
betweenrelationshiptheartsof productionandsciencehasbeenestablished.
Design Issues: Vol. VIII, Number 2 Spring 1992

7

What Dewey defines as technology is not what is commonly
understoodin today'sphilosophyof technology.Insteadof meaning knowledgeof how to makeand use artifactsor the artifacts
themselves,technologyfor Dewey is anartof experimentalthinking. It is, in fact, intentionaloperationsthemselvescarriedout in
For
the
arts
of
10)
Dewey,
production, the sciences,the artsof production, or socialandpoliticalaction.
includethefinearts.He makesno sharp
shadtinction between
beteen fineanduseful
distinctionarts.

We mistakenly identify technology with one particular type of

product-hardware-that may result from experimentalthinking, but overlookthe artthatlies behindandprovidesthe basisfor
creatingother types of products.
Fromthis perspective,it is easy to understandwhy designand
design thinkingcontinueto expandtheir meaningsand connections in contemporaryculture.Thereis no areaof contemporary
life wheredesign-the plan,project,or workinghypothesiswhichconstitutesthe "intention"in intentionaloperations-is not a significantfactorin shapinghumanexperience.Design evenextends
into the coreof traditionalscientificactivities,whereit is employed
to cultivate the subject mattersthat are the focus of scientificcuriosity.But perceivingthe existenceof such an art only opens
the door to furtherinquiry, to explainwhat that art is, how it
operates,andwhy it succeedsor failsin particularsituations.The
challengeis to gaina deeperunderstandingof designthinkingso
that more cooperation and mutual benefit is possible between
thosewho applydesignthinkingto remarkably
differentproblems
andsubjectmatters.Thiswill helpto makethepracticalexplorationof design,particularlyin the artsof production,more intelligent
and meaningful.
However,a persistentproblemin this regardis thatdiscussions
betweendesignersand membersof the scientificcommunitytend
to leavelittle room for reflectionon the broadernatureof design
andits relationto the artsand sciences,industryandmanufacturanddistribution,andthegeneralpublicthatultimately
ing,marketinguses the resultsof designthinking.Insteadof yieldingproductive
integrations,the resultis oftenconfusionanda breakdownof communication,with a lack of intelligentpracticeto carryinnovativeideasinto objective,concreteembodiment.In turn,thisundermines
effortsto reacha clearerunderstandingof designitself,sometimes
drivingdesignersbackinto a defenseof theirwork in the context
of traditionalartsandcrafts.Withoutappropriate
reflectionto help
the
basis
of
communication
all
the
there
clarify
participants,
amongis littlehope of understanding
the foundationsandvalueof design
thinkingin an increasinglycomplextechnologicalculture.
The Doctrine of Placements
By "liberalart"I meana disciplineof thinkingthatmaybe shared
to some degreeby all men andwomen in their daily lives and is,in turn,masteredby a few peoplewho practicethe disciplinewith
distinctiveinsightandsometimesadvanceit to new areasof inno8

vativeapplication.
Perhapsthisis whatHerbertSimonmeantin The
Sciencesof the Artificial,one of the majorworks of designtheory
in the twentieth century,when he wrote: "the proper study ofmankindis the scienceof design,not only as theprofessionalcomponent of a technicaleducationbut as a core disciplinefor everyman.""One mayreasonablydisagreewithaspects11)HerbertA. Simon,TheSciencesof the liberallyeducatedArtificial(Cambridge:M.I.T.Press,ofSimon'spositivistand empiricistview of design as a science1968),83(asone maydisagreewiththepragmatic
principlesthatstandbehind12)AlthoughSimon'sTheSciencesof thetheofobservation
importanceof intentionaloperations
Artificialis citedrepeatedlyin design Dewey's
is little reasonto disagreewith the
there
in
but
modernculture),'literaturebecauseof its definitionof
design,it is oftenreadwithlittleatten- idea that all men and women may benefit from an early undertion given to the full argument.A
carefulanalysisfromthe standpoint standingof the disciplinesof designin the contemporaryworld.
of industrialdesignwould be a use- The beginningof such an understandinghas alreadyturnedtheSuchfulcontribution
to theliterature.
arts and sciencestoward a new engagea readingwould revealthe positivist study of the traditional
andhelp ment with the problemsof everydayexperience,evident in thefeaturesof Simon'sapproach
to explainwhy many designersareof diversenew productswhich incorporateknowlsomewhat disenchantedwith the development
book. Nonetheless, it remains an edgefrom manyfields of specializedinquiry.
exceptionallyusefulwork.
To gain some idea of how extensivelydesign affectscontem13) See RichardBuchanan,"Designand porarylife,considerthefourbroadareasin whichdesignis explored
TechnologyintheSecondCopernican throughoutthe worldby professionaldesignersandby manyothRevolution,"Revue des scienceset
erswho maynot regardthemselvesas designers.The firstof thesetechniquesde la conception (The
Journal of Design Sciences and areasis the design of symbolicand visual communications.
This
Technology,
January,1992),I:1.
includesthe traditionalwork of graphicdesign,such as typography andadvertising,book andmagazineproduction,andscientificillustration,but has expandedinto communicationthroughphotography, film, television, and computer display. The area ofcommunicationsdesign is rapidlyevolving into a broad explorationof the problemsof communicatinginformation,ideas,andargumentsthrougha new synthesisof words and imagesthat isthe "bookishculture"of the past.l
14)Thephrase"bookishculture"is used transforming
by literarycriticGeorgeSteinerand
The secondareais the designof materialobjects.This includes
is a themein a forthcomingbook byof everyday
concernfor the formandvisualappearanceof theText. traditional
IvanIllich,IntheVineyard
products-clothing, domesticobjects,tools, instruments,machinery, and vehicles-but has expandedinto a more thoroughand
diverseinterpretationof the physical,psychological,social, andbetweenproductsandhumanbeings.Thisarea
culturalrelationships
is rapidlyevolving into an explorationof the problemsof conmustcarrya deeper,
structionin whichformandvisualappearance
more integrativeargumentthat unitesaspectsof art,engineering15)Thedesignof material
objectsincludes, and naturalscience,and the humansciences.5of course,new workin materialssciThe thirdareais the designof activitiesand organizedservices,ence,wherea highlyfocusedformof
which includesthe traditionalmanagementconcernfor logistics,
designthinkingis evident.
andhumanbeings
combiningphysicalresources,instrumentalities,
in efficientsequencesand schedulesto reachspecifiedobjectives.
However, this areahas expandedinto a concernfor logicaldecision makingandstrategicplanningandis rapidlyevolvinginto an
explorationof how betterdesignthinkingcancontributeto achievinganorganicflow of experiencein concretesituations,makingsuch
Design Issues: Vol. VIII, Number 2 Spring 1992

9

experiences more intelligent, meaningful, and satisfying. The central theme of this area is connections and consequences. Designers
are exploring a progressively wider range of connections in everyday experience and how different types of connections affect the
and
Some
of
the
socialstructure of action.6
16)
psychologicalof thisareaareillustrated
in
dimensions
The fourth area is the design of complex systems or environworksas diverseas GeorgeA. Miller,
ments
and
Karl
H.
Galanter,Pribram,Eugenefor living, working, playing, and learning. This includes theofBehavior
PlansandtheStructure(New traditionalconcerns ofsystems engineering,architecture,and urban
York:Holt, Rinehartand Winston,
PlansandSituated planning or the functional analysis of the parts of complex wholes1960);
LucySuchman,
Actions:The Problem of Human- and theirsubsequent integration in hierarchies. But this area has
MachineCommunication(Cambridge:
also
expanded and reflects more consciousness of the central idea,
Press,1987);and
University
Cambridge
Flow:
The
MihalyCsikszentmihalyi,
thought, or value that expresses the unity of any balancedand funcPsychology of OptimalExperiencetioning whole. This areais more and more concernedwith exploring(NewYork:Harper& Row,1990).
the role of design in sustaining, developing, and integrating humanbeings into broader ecological and cultural environments, shaping
these environments when desirable and possible or adapting to17)Oneof theearlyworksof systemsengi- them when necessary.7
designthinking
neeringthatinfluenced
Reflecting on this list of the areasof design thinking, it is temptis ArthurD. Hall,A Methodologyfor
to identify and limit specific design professions within eachNew
ing
(Princeton,
SystemsEngineering
Jersey:D. VanNostrandCompany, area-graphic designers with communication, industrial designers
1962).For morerecentdevelopments
in systemsthinking,see Ron Levy, and engineers with materialobjects, designers-cum-managerswith"CriticalSystems Thinking:Edgar activitiesand services,and architectsand urban
plannerswith systems
Morin and the French School of
and
But
not
environments.
this
would
be
adequate, because theseThought,"SystemsPractice,vol. 4
newthe(1990).Regarding"systemics," areas are not simply categories of objects that reflect the results of
seeRobertL.FloodandWernerUlrich,understood and used, they are alsoplaces of invento Conversations
onCritical design. Properly"Testament
BetweenTwoallsharedtion
Systems Thinking
by designers,placeswhere one discoversthe dimensions
Systems Practitioners," Systems ofdesign thinking by a reconsiderationof problems and solutions.
Practice,vol. 3 (1990), and M. C.
Kernelin"The
CriticalTrue, these four areas point toward certain kinds of objectiviJackson,
ModernSystemsThinking,"Systems
inty human experience, and the work of designers in each of these
Practice,vol. 3 (1990).For an anthroto systems,seeJames areas has created a framework for human experience in contemapproach
pological
Holston, The ModernistCity: An porary culture. But these areas are also interconnected, with no
AnthropologicalCritiqueof Brasilia
toone. For example, the sequence of signs,
Universityof ChicagoPress, priority given any single(Chicago:
1989).
things, actions, and thought could be regarded as an ascent from
confusing parts to orderly wholes. Signs and images are fragmentsof experiencethat reflectour perception of materialobjects.Material
objects, in turn, become instruments of action. Signs, things, andactions are organized in complex environments by a unifying ideaor thought. But there is no reason to believe that parts and wholes
must be treated in ascending rather than descending order. Parts
thePlatonic,
and and whole are of many types and may be defined in many ways.
Aristotelian,18)Compare
treatmentsof parts
classicmaterialist
on how a designerwishes to explore and organize expeto Depending
andwholes.Thesethreeapproaches
arewell rience,the sequence could just as reasonablybe regardedas a descent
theorganizationof experience
intwentiethcenturydesign from chaotic environments to the unity provided by symbols andrepresented
Forexample,
seeChristopher
thinking.
Notes on the Synthesisof images. In fact, signs, things, actions, and thoughts are not only
Alexander,Form(Cambridge:
Harvard
University interconnected, they also interpenetrate and merge in contempoPress,1973).
rary design thinking with surprising consequences for innovation.
These areassuggest the lineage of design's past and present, as wellas point to where design is headed in the future.
10

It is easyto understandthatindustrial
designersareprimarilyconcernedwith materialobjects.But the researchreportedin design
literatureshows thatindustrialdesignershavefoundnew avenuesof explorationby thinkingaboutmaterialobjectsin the contextof
signs, actions,and thoughts.For example,some have consideredmaterialobjectscommunicative,
yieldingreflectionson the semantic andrhetoricalaspectsof products.Othershaveplacedmaterial
objectsin the contextof experienceand action,askingnew questions about how productsfunctionin situationsof use and how
they maycontributeto or inhibitthe flow of activities.(Of course,
this is a significantshift from questionsabout the internalfunctioningof productsandhow thevisualformof a productexpresses
suchfunctioning.)Finally,othersareexploringmaterialobjectsas
partof largersystems,cycles,andenvironments,
openingup a wide
of
new
and
concernsor
range
questions practicalreenergizingold
debates.Issuesincludeconservationandrecycling,alternativetechnologies, elaboratesimulationenvironments,"smart"products,
virtualreality,artificial
life,andtheethical,political,andlegaldimensions of design.
Comparablemovementsareevidentin eachof the designprofessions:theirprimaryconcernbeginsin one area,but innovation
comeswhen the initialselectionis repositionedat anotherpoint in
the framework,raisingnew questionsandideas.Examplesof thisrepositioningabound.For example,architecturehastraditionallybeen concernedwith buildingsas largesystemsor environments.
Fornearlytwentyyears,however,a groupof architectshaveaggresarethemeasureof objec19)Suchjudgments
sively sought to reposition architecturein the context of signs,
tivityin contemporary
designthinking.
Withoutobjectivity
to groundthepossi- symbols, and visual communication,yielding the postmodern
discoveredbilities
indesign,
designthinking experimentand trends such as deconstructionistarchitecture.
becomesdesignsophistry.
architecture"
areoftenthe
Oxymoronssuchas "deconstructionist
resultofArchitectatinnovative
Richardseeks
toindicatea desire
20)
Rogersrepoattempts
repositioning.
Theysitiontheproblemsof architecture
in a to breakold
categories,as in the now familiarandaccepted"connewperceptionof multiple
overlapping
structivist
art"
and"actionpainting."Thetest,of course,is whether
thenotionofasystems,rejecting
system as "linear,static,hierarchicalandininnovationyieldproductiveresults,judgedby indimechanicalorder." According to experiments
Rogers:"Todaywe knowthatdesign vidualsand by society as a whole. Someexperimentshavefallen
based on linear reasoningmust be like deadleavesat the firstfrost,
sweptawayto mercifuloblivion.
supersededby an open-endedarchiAt
theresultsofdeconstructionist
architecturearemixed,
present,
tectureof overlappingsystems.This
allowsusto'systems'approach
appre- but the experimentwill continueuntilindividualsor groupsrepociatetheworldasanindivisible
whole; sition
the problems of architectureand shift generalattention
weare,inarchitecture,asinotherfields,
20
a holisticecologicalview toward new questions.2
approachingof theglobeandthewaywe liveon it."A strikinglydifferentrepositioningis now beginningin theproA ModernView (NewArchitecture:
York:ThamesandHudsonInc.,1991), fession of graphicdesign and visual communication.In the late
58. Rogers'snotionof "indeterminate nineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturies,graphicdesignwas oriform"derivesnotfromtheideasof litented
towardpersonalexpressionthroughimagemaking.It was anerary deconstructionbut from his
innovativeview of multiplesystems. extensionof theexpressivenessof the fine arts,pressedinto comFormoreon Rogers's
pointedcriticism
of postmodernarchitecture
fromthe mercialor scientificservice.Thiswas modifiedunderthe influence
perspectiveof multiplesystems,see of "communicationtheory"and semioticswhen the role of the
A ModernView,26.
Architecture:graphicdesignerwas shiftedtowardthatof an interpreterof mes-

Design Issues: Vol. VIII, Number 2 Spring 19921121) Althoughstilla common andusefulwayof studying visual communication,thisapproachhaslost some of its initialforce
in actualdesign practicebecause it has
moved into personalidiosyncracyanda
searchfor novelty,which often distracts
one from the central tasks of effective
communication. This is evident, forexample,amongthose graphicdesigners
who have made pedestrianreadingsof
deconstructionist literary theory therationalefor their work. Visual experimentationis an importantpartof graphic
design thinking, but experimentationmust finallybe judgedby relevanceand
effectivenessof communication.For a
discussionof the limitsof semioticsand
design, see Seppo Vakeva, "What Do
We Need Semiotics For?," Semantic
Visions in Design, ed. Susann Vihma(Helsinki:Universityof IndustrialArts
UIAH, 1990),g-2.
22) Swiss graphicdesignerRuedi Ruegg has
recently spoken of the need for more
fantasy and freedom in graphicdesign
thinking. Based on his approach, one
might argue that efforts to introduce
deconstructionist literary theory into
graphicdesignhaveoften led to a loss of
freedom and imagination in effective
communication,contraryto the claimsof its proponents.

12sages.Forexample,the graphicdesignerintroducedemotionalcolorings of corporateor public "messages"or, in technicalterms,
the graphicdesigner"coded"the corporatemessage.As a result,the productsof graphicdesignwere viewed as "things"or "entities" (materialtexts) to be "decoded"by spectators. Recently,
however,a new approachin graphicdesignthinkinghasbeguntoquestionthe essentiallylinguisticor grammatical
approachof communications theory and semiotics by regarding visualcommunication
aspersuasiveargumentation.
As thisworkunfolds,
it will likely seek to repositiongraphicdesignwithin the dynamic flow of experienceandcommunication,emphasizingrhetorical
relationshipsamonggraphicdesigners,audiences,andthe content
of communication.In this situation,designerswould no longerbe
viewedas individualswho decoratemessages,but as communicators who seek to discoverconvincingargumentsby meansof a
new synthesisof imagesandwords. In turn,this will shift attenin reachingconclusions
tion towardaudiencesas activeparticipants
ratherthanpassiverecipientsof preformedmessages.
What works for movementswithin a design profession also
works for individualdesignersandtheirclientsin addressingspecific problems.Managersof a largeretailchainwere puzzled that
customershad difficultynavigatingthroughtheir stores to findmerchandise.
Traditionalgraphicdesignyieldedlargersignsbutno
apparentimprovementin navigation-the largerthe sign,the more
likelypeoplewereto ignoreit. Finally,a designconsultantsuggested
that the problem should be studiedfrom the perspectiveof theflow of customerexperience.Aftera periodof observingshoppers
walkingthroughstores,the consultantconcludedthatpeopleoften
navigateamong differentsections of a store by looking for themost familiarand representativeexamplesof a particulartype of
product.This led to a changein display strategy,placingthose
productsthatpeoplearemostlikelyto identifyin prominentpositions. Althoughthis is a minorexample,it does illustratea double
repositioningof the design problem:first, from signs to action,with aninsightthatpeoplelook for familiarproductsto guidetheir
movements;second,fromactionto signs,a redesignof displaystrategy to employ products themselves as signs or clues to theorganizationof a store.
There are so many examplesof conceptualrepositioningin
designthatit is surprisingno one hasrecognizedthesystematicpatternof inventionthatlies behinddesignthinkingin the twentiethcentury.Thepatternis foundnot in a set of categoriesbut in a rich,diverse,and changingset of placements,such as those identified
by signs,things,actions,andthoughts.
Understandingthe differencebetweena categoryand a placementis essentialif designthinkingis to be regardedas morethan
a seriesof creativeaccidents.Categorieshavefixed meaningsthat
areacceptedwithintheframeworkof a theoryor a philosophy,andserve as the basis for analyzingwhat alreadyexists. Placements
haveboundariesto shapeandconstrainmeaning,butarenot rigidly fixed and determinate.The boundaryof a placementgives acontextor orientationto thinking,but the applicationto a specific situationcan generatea new perceptionof that situationand,hence, a new possibility to be tested. Therefore,placementsare
sourcesof new ideasandpossibilitieswhen appliedto problemsin23) The concept of placementswill remaindifficult to graspas long as individuals
aretrainedto believe that the only pathof reasoningbeginswith categoriesandproceeds in deductivechainsof propositions. Designers are concerned withinventionas well as judgment,and theirreasoning is practical because it takes
place in situationswhere the resultsare
influenced by diverse opinions.
24) Some placementshavebecome so common in twentieth-century design thatthey hardly attract attention.
Nonetheless, such placementsareclassic features of design thinking, and in
the hands of a skilled designer retain
their inventive potential. Designer Jay
Doblin sometimes employed a cascadeof placementsstemmingfrom the basic
Doblin's
placement"intrinsic/extrinsic."placements serve as a heuristic device
to revealthe factors in design thinking
andproductdevelopment.Other placements are described by Doblin in"Innovation,A Cook Book Approach,"n.d.(Typewritten.)Withdifferentintent,
Ezio Manzini recently argued that thedesignerneeds two mentalinstrumentswith opposite qualities to examine adesign situation: a microscope and amacroscope.The mentalmicroscope isfor examining"how thingswork, down
to the smallest details,"particularlyin
regardto advancesin materialsscience.
A further series of placements fill out
the microscope to give it efficacy. See
Ezio Manzini, The Materials of
Invention: Materials and Design(Cambridge:M.I.T. Press, 1989), 58.
25) The ease with which placements areconverted into categoriesshould makeany designer or design educator cautious in how they sharethe conceptual
tools of their work. The placements
thatmightshapean innovativeapproachfor the founder of a school of design
thinking often become categories oftruthin the handsof disciplesor descendants.
26) Thomas Kuhn was interested in therepositioningsthatmarkrevolutionsin
scientifictheory. His study of this phenomenon, perhaps contrary to his
initial expectations, has helped to alter
the neo-positivist interpretationof thehistory of science. But Kuhn's

concrete circumstances

As an orderedor systematicapproachto the inventionof possibilities, the doctrine of placementsprovides a useful means ofunderstandingwhat many designersdescribeas the intuitiveor
serendipitousqualityof theirwork.Individualdesignersoftenpossessapersonalsetof placements,
developedandtestedby experience.2
The inventivenessof the designerlies in a naturalor cultivatedand
artfulabilityto returnto thoseplacementsandapplythemto a newsituation,discoveringaspectsof the situationthat affectthe final
design.Whatis regardedas the designer'sstyle,then,is sometimes
morethanjustapersonalpreference
forcertaintypesof visualforms,
materials,or techniques;it is a characteristic
way of seeingpossibilities throughconceptualplacements.However,when a designer's
conceptualplacementsbecomecategoriesof thinking,the resultcan
be manneredimitationsof an earlierinventionthat are no longer
relevantto the discoveryof specificpossibilitiesin a new situation.
Ideasarethenforcedonto a situationratherthandiscoveredin the
andnovelpossibilitiesof thatsituation.5
particularities
For the practicingdesigner,placementsareprimaryand categories are secondary.The reverseholds true for design history,
theory, and criticism, except at those moments when a new direction for inquiry is opened. At such times, a repositioning of the
problems of design, such as a change in the subject matter to beaddressed, the methods to be employed, or the principles to be
explored, occurs by means of placements. Then, history, theory,or criticism are "redesigned" for the individual investigator andsometimes for groups of investigators. As the discipline of design
studies adds a reflective and philosophic dimension to design history, theory, and criticism, positive consequences are possible.
Historians, for example, may reconsider the placement of design
history as it has been practiced throughout most of the twentiethcentury and work to discover other innovative possibilities.
Discontent with the results of current design history suggests thatnew repositionings are called for if the discipline is to retain vitality and relevance to contemporary problems.
The doctrine of placements will require further development if
it is to be recognized as a tool in design studies and design thinking, but it can also be a surprisingly precise way of addressing
conceptual space and the non-dimensional images from which con28
crete possibilities emerge for testing in objective circumstances.
The natural and spontaneous use of placements by designers is
Design Issues: Vol. VIII, Number 2 Spring 1992

13

"paradigmshifts"were neverdevel- alreadyevident;an explicitunderstandingof the doctrineof placeopedto theirfullestintellectualroots
will
ments
make
it
an
elementofin rhetoricalanddialecticalinvention,
importantdesignas a liberalart.
whicharebasedon thetheoryof topAll men and women requirea liberalart of designto live wellics.ChaimPerelman
hasdevelopedanin the complexityof the frameworkbasedin signs,things,actions,approachto
importantcontemporary
what is called here the doctrine of andthoughts.On one hand,such an artwill enableindividualsto
placements.SeeChaimPerelmanandmore directlyin this frameworkand contributeto its
L. Olbrechts-Tyteca, The New participate
On the other,professionaldesignerscouldbe regardA Treatiseon Argumentation development.
Rhetoric:(Notre Dame:Universityof Notre ed as mastersin its
exploration.The abilityof designersto discover
DamePress,1969).Seealso,StephenE.
newrelationships among signs, things, actions, and thoughts is one
Toulmin, The Uses of Argument(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity indicationthat designis not merelya technicalspecializationbut
Press,1958)fora moderndiscoveryof
dialecticaltopics. Although remote a new liberalart.
fromtheimmediate
interestsof designers,theseworksarecitedbecausethey The WickedProblemsTheory of Design
dealwithpracticalreasoningandhave Recent conferenceson
design are evidenceof a coherent,if not
bearingon aspectsof designimportanteffort to reach a clearerunderstandingof design
theory,includingthelogicof decision always systematic,in
Simon'sThe
discussed
as an integrativediscipline. However, the participants,who increasmaking
Sciencesof theArtificial.

ingly come from diverse professions and academic disciplines, are27)In orderto solvesuchproblems,more not drawn together because they share a common definition of
attentionshouldbe givento the varia common methodology, a common philosophy, or even aous conceptionsof design held by design;
set of objects to which everyone agrees that the termcommon
would
in
the
This
past.
repodesigners
sition design history from material
shouldbe applied. They are drawn together because they"design"
objects or "things"to thought andaction.In otherwords,whatdesign- share a mutual interest in a common theme: the conception anderssayanddo, the historyof theirart
planning of the artificial. Different definitions of design and differas philosophyandpractice.Fora discussionof thesubjectmatterof design ent specifications of the methodology of design are variations ofhistory,see VictorMargolin'sforth- this broad theme, each a concrete exploration of what is possible incoming "DesignHistory or Design
Studies:SubjectMatterandMethods," the development of its meanings and implications. Communicationis possible at such meetings because the results of researchand disDesignStudies.

wide differences in intellectual andcussion, despitepractical
28)Thephrase"non-dimensional
images"refersto allimagescreatedin themind perspectives, are always connected by this theme and, therefore,
aspartof designthinkingand,in parsupplemental. This is only possible, of course, if individuals haveticular,to thevariousschematizationsof conceptualplacements(e.g.hierar- the wit to discover what is useful in each other's work and can castchical,horizontal,or in matrixand the material in terms of their own vision of design thinking.
tableform)thatmayaidinvention.
Members of the scientific community, however, must be puz-

29)Thislistcouldalsoincludethehuman- zled by the types of problems addressed by professional designers
andthefinearts,because
isticdisciplinesof reasoning they employ. While scientists
thereis as muchdifficultyin commu- and by the patterns
traditionalsomebetweenintheliberalshare
newart of design thinking, they are also masnicating
humanistsand designersas between
ters of specialized subject matters and their related methods, as
Thisis evident
andscientists.
designers
inthepersistentviewthatdesignis sim- found in physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, the social sciply a decorativeart, adaptingthe ences, or one of the many subfields into which these sciences haveprinciplesof thefineartsto utilitarian
been divided. This creates one of the central problems of comends,heldby manyhumanists.

munication between scientists and designers, because the problems
addressed by designers seldom fall solely within the boundaries ofany one of these subject matters.
The problem of communication between scientists and designers was evident in a special conference on design theory held inYork in 1974.30 This conference was interesting for several
New31) VladimerBazjanac,"Architectural
the most significant directly related to the content of theoftheModelsreasons,
DesignTheory:
DesignProcess,"BasicQuestionsof Design
itself.
Reviewed in one of the initial papers,3 the "wicked
meetinged.,BasicQuestions30)WilliamR.Spillers,
Northof DesignTheory(Amsterdam:
HollandPublishingCompany,1974).
fundedbytheNational
Theconference,
Science Foundation, was held atColumbiaUniversity.

Theory,3-20.

14

to designprovedto beoneofthecentral
themesapproachproblems"
to whichtheparticipants
oftenreturned
whenseekingaconnection
betweentheirremarkably
diverseandseemingly
incommensurate
of
Also
was
the
thatmostthemath32) Graph theory, developed byapplicationsdesign.3
significant
difficulty
ematicianFrankHarary,also servedtoof theparticipants
hadin understanding
eachother.Althoughan
connect the work of researchers inof themeeting,it is anobservationofanoutsiderontheareas.
Itwasthedynamics
manyreportedby
organizers that Harary, who attended thisexcellentexampleof a "wickedproblem"of designthinking.
conference and delivered the paper
Thewickedproblems
wasformulated
approachby HorstRittel"Graphs as Designs," suggested thatthe basic structure of design theory
in the 1960s,whendesignmethodology
wasa subjectof intense
could be found in his work on structuralAinterest.3
andmathematician,designer, formerteacherat themodels. Whether or not Harary madesuch a suggestion,it is possible to see in
HochschulefurGestaltung(HfG)Ulm,Rittelsoughtanalternagraphtheory, and, notably, the theory
tiveto thelinear,step-by-stepmodelof thedesignprocessbeingof directed graphs, a mathematical
and
of
the
of
doctrine
expression
placeexploredby manydesigners designtheorists.3Althoughthere
ments. Comparison may establish aaremanyvariationsof thelinearmodel,itsproponents
holdthatthe
surprisingconnection between the arts
of words and the mathematicalarts ofdesignprocessis dividedintotwodistinctphases:
problemdefinithings, with furthersignificancefor thetionandproblem
isansolution.
Problemdefinition analytic
sequence
view of design as a new liberal art.
inwhichthedesigner
allof theelements
determinesof theproblem"Schemata"arethe connectinglink, forandspecifiesallof therequirements
thata successfulplacementsmay be schematizedas figdesignsoluuresof thought,and schemataareforms
tion
solutionmust
have.
Problemisasynthetic
sequencein whichof graphs, directed or otherwise. For
more on graph theory see F. Harary,
thevariousrequirements
arecombinedandbalanced
againsteachR. Norman, and D. Cartwright,
other,yieldinga finalplanto be carriedintoproduction.
StructuralModels: An Introductionto
In theabstract,sucha modelmayappearattractive
becauseit
the Theory of Directed Graphs (NewYork: Wiley, 1965).
a
in
that
its
indesuggests methodologicalprecision is,
keyfeatures,of the individual
pendentfromtheperspective33) A series of conferences on Design
designer.In fact,
Methods held in the United Kingdom
scientists
andbusinessaswell
assomedesignmany
professionals,
in 1962, 1965, and 1967, led to the forcontinue
to
find
the
idea
of
a
linearmodel
ers,
attractive,
mation of the Design ResearchSociety
believingin 1967,thattoday continuesto publish
thatit represents
theonlyhopefora "logical"of theunderstanding
the journal Design Studies. Parallelsomecritics
were
toout
However,
designprocess.
quick point two
interest in the United States led to theestablishment of the Design Methods
obviouspointsof weakness:one, the actualsequenceof designGroup in 1966, which published theanddecisionmaking
isnotasimplelinearprocess;andtwo,DMG Newsletter (1966-71), renamed thinking
the problemsaddressedby designersdo not, in actualpractice,
the DMG-DRS Journal: Design
Research and Methods, and thenyieldto anylinearanalysisandsynthesisyetproposed.
renamedin 1976 and published to the
Rittelarguedthatmostof theproblemsaddressedby designers
present as Design Methods andTheories. For one attempt to describe
arewickedproblems.
As describedin thefirstpublishedreportof
and integratea set of methods used in
Rittel'sarea"classofsocialidea,wickedproblems
systemproblems
design thinking, see J. Christopher
Jones, Design Methods: Seeds ofwhichareill-formulated,
wheretheinformationis confusing,where
Human Futures (1970; rpt New York:
there
are
clientsanddecisionmakerswithvalues,many
conflicting
John Wiley & Sons, 1981).Many of themethodsJones presentsareconsciousandwheretheramificationsin thewholesystemarethoroughly
ly transposed from other disciplines.
Thisis an amusingdescriptionof whatconfronts
However, they all can be interpreted confusing."37in
as techniques for repositioning design
designers everynew situation.Butmostimportant,it points
problems, using placementsto discovtowarda fundamental
issuethatliesbehindpractice:therelationer new possibilities.
andindeterminacy
in designthinking.
shipbetweendeterminacy34) Rittel, who died in 1990,completed his
Thelinearmodelof designthinkingis basedon determinate
probcareerby teaching at the University of
lems
which
have
definiteconditions.
The
task
is
to
California at Berkeley and thedesigner's
identify
University of Stuttgart.For a briefbiothoseconditionspreciselyandthencalculatea solution.In congraphicalsketch,see HerbertLindinger,
trast,the wicked-problems
approachsuggeststhat thereis a
Ulm Design: The Morality of Objects
M.I.T.
in allbutthemosttrivialdesignprobfundamental
Press, 1990), 274.
(Cambridge:
indeterminacy
Design Issues: Vol. VIII, Number 2 Spring 19921535) Bazjanacpresents an interesting comparisonof linearmodels and the wicked
problems approach.
36) The phrasewicked problems was borrowed from philosopher KarlPopper.
However, Rittel developed the idea ina different direction. Rittel is anotherexampleof someone initiallyinfluenced
by neo-positivistideaswho, when confronted with the actual processes ofpracticalreasoningin concretecircumstances, sought to develop a new
approachrelatedto rhetoric.
37) The first published report of Rittel'sconcept of wicked problems was presented by C. West Churchman,"Wicked Problems," Management
Science, (December 1967), vol. 4, no.
14, B-141-42. His editorial is particularlyinterestingfor its discussionof themoralproblemsof design and planningthat can occur when individuals mistakenlybelievethatthey haveeffectively
taken the "wickedness" out of design
problems.
38) See Horst W. J. Rittel and Melvin M.
Webber, "Dilemmas in a General
Theory of Planning," working paper
presentedat the Instituteof Urban andRegional Development, University ofCalifornia,Berkeley, November 1972.
See also an interview with Rittel, "Sonof Rittelthink,"Design MethodsGroup
5th AnniversaryReport January1972),
5-10; and Horst Rittel, "On the
Planning Crisis: Systems Analysis of
the First and Second Generations,"
Bedriftsokonomen,no. 8:390-96.Rittel
graduallyadded more propertiesto his
initial list.
39) Weltanschauungidentifiesthe intellectual perspective of the designer as anintegralpart of the design process.
40) This property suggests the systems
aspect of Rittel's approach.
41) Rittel's example is drawn from architecture,whereit is not feasibleto rebuild
a flawed building. Perhapsthe generalproperty should be described as"entrapment"in a line of design thinking. Designers as well as theirclients or
managers are often "entrapped"during the development phase of a new
product and are unable, for good or
bad reasons,to terminatea weak design.
For a brief illustration of entrapmentin the product development process ofa small midwestern company, seeRichardBuchanan,"WickedProblems:Managing the Entrapment Trap,"
Innovation (Summer, 1991), 10:3.

16

lems-problems where, as Rittel suggests,the "wickedness"hasalreadybeentakenout to yield determinateor analyticproblems.
To understandwhatthismeans,it is importantto recognizethat
is quitedifferentfromundetermined.
indeterminacy
Indeterminacy
impliesthat thereareno definitiveconditionsor limits to design
problems.This is evident,for example,in the ten propertiesof
wickedproblemsthat Rittel initiallyidentifiedin 1972.
(1) Wickedproblemshave no definitiveformulation,but every formulation of a wickedproblem corresponds
to the formulation of a solution.
(2) Wickedproblems have no stopping rules.
(3) Solutions to wickedproblems cannot be true or false,
only good or bad.
(4) In solving wickedproblems there is no exhaustivelistof admissible operations.
(5) For every wicked problem there is always more than
one possible explanation, with explanations dependingon the Weltanschauung of the designer.39(6) Every wicked problem is a symptom of another,"higher level," problem.0(7) No formulation and solution of a wicked problem
has a definitive test.
(8) Solving a wickedproblem is a "one shot" operation,with no room for trial and error.4(9) Every wicked problem is unique.
(10) The wicked problem solver has no right to be
wrong-they are fully responsible for their actions.
This is a remarkablelist, and it is tempting to go no further thanelaborate the meaning of each property, providing concrete examples drawn from every area of design thinking. But to do so would
leave a fundamentalquestion unanswered. Whyare designproblems

indeterminateand, therefore,wicked?Neither Rittel nor any of
those studying wicked problems has attemptedto answer this question, so the wicked-problemsapproachhas remainedonly a descriptionof the social reality of designing ratherthan the beginnings of a wellgrounded theory of design.
However, the answer to the question lies in something rarely
considered:the peculiarnatureof the subjectmatterof design.Design
problems are "indeterminate"and "wicked" because design has no
specialsubjectmatterof its own apartfrom what a designerconceives
it to be. The subjectmatterof design is potentially universalin scope,
because design thinking may be applied to any areaof human experience. But in the process of application,the designer must discoveror invent aparticular subject out of the problems and issues of specific circumstances. This sharply contrasts with the disciplines ofscience, which are concerned with understanding the principles,laws, rules,or structuresthatarenecessarilyembodiedin existingsubject matters. Such subject matters are undetermined or

to makethemfurtherinvestigation
under-determined,
requiringinindeterminate
Buttheyarenotradicallymorefullydeterminate.
in
even
the
subis
one
case
which
There
of
to
that
a waydirectlycomparable
42)
design.4
ject matters of the sciences are
intwowaysontwolevmatter
conceive
theirsubject
Designers
Theworkinghypotheindeterminate.
ses of scientists invariablyreflect els:general
On agenerallevel,a designerformsan
andparticular.
ondistinctive
perspectives
philosophic
ideaor a workinghypothesisaboutthenatureof productsor theof whatconstitutes
andinterpretations
view
in theworld.Thisis thedesigner'sof thehumanmade
natureandnaturalprocesses.Thisis a nature
forthesurprising of whatis
factorin accounting
the"artificial"inrelationtotheformeant, example,byof philosophies
amongpracpluralism
nature
holds
a
broad
view
of
the
Inthissense,thedesigner
ticingscientistsandsuggeststhateven "natural."of ofscienceis shapedby an application
andthe properscopeof its application.
Indeed,mostdesigndesignthinking,developedalongthe
reflected
on
their
that
have
to
the
discipline,
degree theylinesof Dewey'snotionof "intention- designers,
al operations." Even from this will gladly,if not insistently,
on a generallevelwhatthe
explainareconscientists
however,
perspective,
andwellpresented,
theuniversal subjectmatterof designis. Whendeveloped
cernedwithunderstanding
are theseexplanations
ofwhatis,whiledesignersof design
orproto-philosophies
arephilosophies
properties
concernedwith conceivingandplanalternative
views.
thatexist
withinaof
Theyprovidean
plurality
thatdoesnotyetexist.
ningaparticularandexplorethe
frameworkforeachdesigner
tounderstandforthescientistisonthe essential
Indeterminacy
whilethesublevelof second-intention,
andofmaterials,
methods, principles designthinking.Butsuch
ject matterremains,at the level ofsciencesof designin the
do notandcannotconstituteintheman- philosophies
determinate
first-intention,ner described. For the designer, senseof
science.Thereasonfor
social,or humanistic
anynatural,
indeterminacy
belongsto both firstconcerned
withtheparticuthisisissimple:design fundamentallyandsecond-intention.
the
and
there
is
no
sciencelar,of particular.
43)Fora briefdiscussionof differentconIn
actualthepractice,
designer
beginswithwhatshouldbecalled
ceptionsof subjectmatteron thislevel
heldby threecontemporary
andmatter,tenuouslyexistingwithintheproblems
designers, a quasi-subject
Ezio Manzini,GaetanoPesce, andissuesof
circumstances.
Out
of
the
of
specific
specificpossibilities
EmilioAmbaz,seeRichardBuchanan,
andFablesin a concrete
situation,thedesignermustconceivea designthatwill
Narratives,"Metaphors,
New DesignThinking,"
DesignIssues leadto thisor thatmatteris
particular
product.A quasi-subject
VII-1 (Fall, 1990):78-84. Without
to
be
made
determinate.
It is
not
an
undeterminedsubjectwaiting
adesigner's
viewof subunderstanding
jectmatteron thegenerallevel,thereis anindeterminate
subjectwaitingto bemadespecificandconcrete.
intheshiftsthatoccur
littleintelligibilityForaclient's
briefdoesnotpresentadefinitionof thesubwhena designermoves,for example,
example,fromdesigningdomesticproductsto jectmatterof aparticularIt
designapplication.presentsaproblem
Suchgraphicdesignor architecture.
in resolvingthatproblem.In
shiftsareusuallydescribedin termsof anda set of issuesto be considered
the designer's"personality"or "cir- situations
wherea briefspecifiesin greatdetailtheparticularfearatherthanthecontinued
cumstances,"
tures
of
the
to
be
it
often
does
so
becauseanproduct
planned,of a coherentintellectual
development
ormanager
hasattemptedto perform
on theartificial.
owner,corporate
executive,
perspective
thecriticaltaskof transforming
andissuesintoa workproblems
about
the
featuresoftheproductto be
inghypothesis
particularIneffect,someonehasattempted
to takethe"wickedness"
designed.
out.Evenin thissituation,however,theconceptionof particularfeaturesremainsonlya possibilitythatmaybe subjectto change44)Failureto includeprofessional
designersas earlyaspossiblein theproductdevelopmentprocess is one of thesourcesof entrapmentin corporate
culture.Professional
designersshould
be recognizedfortheirabilityto conceiveproductsas well as planthem.

throughdiscussionandargument.

Thisiswhereplacements
takeonspecialsignificanceastoolsof
allow
the
to
and
designthinking.They
designer position repositiontheproblemsandissuesathand.Placements
arethetoolsby
whicha designerintuitivelyor deliberately
shapesa designsituathe issueswhichtion, identifyingthe viewsof all participants,
concern
thatwillserveasaworkinghypoththem,andtheinvention
Inthissense,theplacements
esisforexploration
anddevelopment.
selectedby a designerarethe sameas whatdeterminate
subject
Design Issues: Vol. VIII, Number 2 Spring 199217

mattersarefor the scientist.They arethe quasi-subjectmatterof
design thinking, from which the designer fashions a working
hypothesissuitedto specialcircumstances.
Thishelpsto explainhow designfunctionsas anintegrativediscipline. By using placements to discover or invent a working
hypothesis, the designerestablishesa principleof relevancefor
how suchknowlknowledgefromtheartsandsciences,determining
inbeusefultoaedgemay
designthinking particularcircumstancewithoutimmediatelyreducingdesignto one or anotherof thesedisciplines. In effect, the working hypothesis that will lead to aparticularproductis the principleof relevance,guidingthe efforts
of designersto gatherall availableknowledgebearingon how a
productis finallyplanned.
But does the designer'sworkinghypothesisor principleof relevancesuggestthattheproductitselfis a determinatesubjectmatter?
Theanswerinvolvesa criticalbutoftenblurreddistinctionbetween
designthinkingand the activityof productionor making.Once a
productis conceived,planned,andproduced,it mayindeedbecome
an objectfor study by any of the artsand sciences-history, ecoIt mayevenbecome
nomics,psychology,sociology,or anthropology.
an objectfor studyby a new humanisticscienceof productionthat
directedtowardunderwe couldcallthe "scienceof the artificial,"
standingthe nature,form,anduses of humanmadeproductsin all45) The earliestexampleof thisscienceis of theirgenerickinds.4Butin allsuchstudies,theactivitiesof design
Poetics.Althoughthiswork
Aristotle's
kind
of
are
reducedtotheor
product
is directedtowardtheanalysisof liter- thinkingareeasilyforgotten
Theproblemfordesignersis to conceiveandary productions and tragedy in thatis finallyproduced.
discusses
Aristotle
frequently
particular,
whatdoesnotyet exist,andthisoccursin thecontextof theindeusefulobjectsin termsof the princi- planfrombeforethe finalresultis known.
plesof poeticanalysis."Poetics,"
terminacyof wickedproblems,
is usedtheGreekwordfor "making,"
This is the creativeor inventiveactivitythatHerbertSimonhas
by Aristotleto referto productivesciWhat
ence or the scienceof the artificial, in mindwhen he speaksof designas a scienceof the artificial.
bothfromthe- he meansis
whichhe distinguishes
moretoattainartifacts
broadly,
goals"or,"devisingoretic and practicalsciences. Few
sciIn
Simon's
this
about
the
"doctrine
sense,
thathave
designprocess."4investigators recognized poeticanalysiscanbeextendedto thestudy ence of the artificialis
what
means
closertoby
Dewey
perhapsof making "useful"objects. Whenofaasthinking.
discipline
experimental
systematic
technology
EmilioAmbaz
andarchitect
designerrefersto the"poeticsof thepragmatic," However, Simon has little to say about the differencebetween
he meansnot only estheticor elegantaandmakingit. Consequently,the "search"
profeaturesof everydayobjects,but also designing producta methodor disciplineof analysisthat ceduresanddecision-making
protocolsthathe proposesfor design
maycontributeto designthinking.
are largelyanalytic,shapedby his philosophicview of the determinaciesthatfollow fromthe naturallawsthatsurroundartifacts.
of
the
The
Sciences
Artificial,
Simon,
46)
52-53.
For all of the insightSimonhasin distinguishingthe artificialasof humanmadeadomainis an"interproductsdifferentfromobjectscreatedby47)ForSimon,the"artificial"face" created within a materialist naturalprocesses,he does not capturethe radicalsense in which
reality:"Ihaveshownthata scienceof
maybe in humanartificial phenomena is always in designersexplorethe essenceof whattheartificial
imminentdangerof dissolvingand experience.Thisis a syntheticactivityrelatedto indeterminacy,
notvanishing.The peculiarpropertiesof an
more
in
laws
naturalwhatisundeterminedofactivity making
the artifactlie on the thin interface
in artifacts.In short,Simonappearsto haveconflated
betweenthenaturallawswithinit and determinate
thenaturallawswithout."Simon,The two sciencesof the artificial:an inventivescienceof designthinkSciencesof the Artificial,57. This is
ing which has no subject matter aside from what the designer18conceivesit to be,anda scienceof existinghumanmade
products
of mateis a manipulation
whosenatureSimonhappensto believe49
lawsof nature.
rialandbehavioralof a wicked48)ForSimon,theequivalent
to radicala
issupplediscipline,amenable
Design remarkably
problemis an "ill-structuredprobBut
as
in
as
well
in
on
how
views
For
Simon'slem."practice.
interpretationsphilosophy
ly different
ill-structured problems may be
theflexibilityof designoftenleadsto popularmisunderstanding
addressed,see "TheStructureof Illits nature.Thehistoryof design
StructuredProblems,"Models of andcloudseffortsto understandDiscovery(Boston:D. Reidel,1977), is notmerely
views
of
It
a
history objects. isahistoryof thechanging
con305-25.Thispaperhasinteresting
andtheconcreteobjectsconmatterheldby designers
nections with the doctrine of of subject
placementsbecauseplacementsmay ceived,planned,of thoseviews.One
andproducedasexpressions
be usedto organizeandstorememothe
and
that
could
historyofdesignhistoryisa record
gofurther say
ries, and Simon is particularly
concernedwith the roleof long-term of thedesignhistorians'
whattheyconceiveto be
viewsregarding
prob- thememoryinsolvingill-structured
matterof design.
subject
lems. But Simon'smethodsare stillof
Wehavebeenslowto recognizethepeculiarindeterminacy
analytic,directedtowardthe discoveryof solutionsin somesensealreadyof designthinkindesignanditsimpactonthenature
matterknown ratherthan the inventionof subject
sciencesthat
havecomeinto
each
of
the
As
a
solutionsyet unknown.
consequence,
ing.
verto
as
an
has
tendedwithcontact
design "applied"regarddesign49) AlthoughSimon'stitle,The Sciences
methods,andprinciples.
is aperfectlyadequate sionof its own knowledge,of theArtificial,
Theyseeintranslationof whatwe havecometo
designaninstanceof theirownsubjectmatterandtreatdesignasa
knowinWesterncultureasAristotle's
ofthatsubject
matofthescientificdemonstration
principles
Poetics,Simonseemsunawareof the practicalhumanistictraditionof poetic and ter.Thus,we havetheodd,recurringinwhich
situation
designisrhetoricalanalysisof theartificialthat
socialas "applied"naturalscience,"applied"regardedfollowedfromAristotle.This is not alternately
andmembers
fineart.No wonderdesigners
anantiquarianor "applied"issue,becausethestudy science,of literaryproduction-the artificial
oftenhavedifficultycommunicating.
of thescientificcommunity
theissues
formedinwords-prefigures
thatsurroundthe studyof the artificialin allothertypesof usefulobjects. DesignandTechnology
inestablishingAristotlecarefullydistinguishedthe Many
remainto beexploreddesignasalibproblems
scienceof theartificialfromtheartof
asit
continues
tounfoldin theartofculture.
But
eraltechnological
WhenAristotlecomesto disrhetoric.
of theirinreflectiononthenaturework
individual
andofcussthe thought thatis presentedin
designers
an artificialobjectsuchas a tragedy,
therichermeaningof theterm
work,0 designis slowlyrestoring
he pointedlyrefersthe readerto histhatwasallbutlost withthe riseof the Industrial
treatiseon theinventiveartof rhetoric "technology"of theissue. Revolution.
forthefullestelaborationin terms
Mostpeoplecontinueto thinkof technology
However,Simondeservesless critithinkratherthanitsformasa disciplineofsystematic
cismfor overlookingthisconnection of itsproductthanhumanistswho havebeenamaz- ing.Theyregard
as
and
with
machines,
technology things
observing
inglyneglectful,if not scornful,of the concern
out
of
human
that
machinesof
ourcultureoften
theappearrise of designand technologyin thetwentiethcentury.
ratherButthere
totrapandenslave
thanliberate.
control,threateninginanculture
when
was
a
time
earlierofWestern
periodtechnology50) One exampleof suchreflectionis thetheliberalarts."Every
conference
interdisciplinary"Discovering wasa humanactivityoperating
throughout
and liberal
Design,"organized
byR.Buchanan
To posarthaditsowntechnologia
orsystematic
discipline.
V. Margolin
andheldattheUniversity
ordisciplineofthinking
wastopossesstheliberalof Illinoisat Chicagoin 1990.Thecol- sessthattechnology
willbe art,to be
fromthisconference
lectedpapers
human,andto befreeinseekingone'splaceintheworld.
published as Discovering Design:in theplan
andit is manifested
Designalsohasa technologia,
inDesignStudies.
Explorations
for everynew product.Theplanis an argument,
reflectingthe
McKeon,"Logos:51)Richard
Technology, deliberations
of
to
and
their
effortsdesigners
integrate
knowledge
inProceedings
andHistory,"
Philology,of the XVth World Congress of in newways,suitedto specificcircumstancesandneeds.In this
Varna,
Philosophy:
Bulgaria,
Septemberisas a newdisciplineof practicalreason17-22, 1973 (Sofia: Sofia Press sense,design emerging
towardone
directed
ProductionCenter,1974),3:481-84.
ingandargumentation,
byindividual
designersin thetwentiethcenor anotherof its majorthematicvariations
one expressionof the positivist or
empiricistphilosophy that guides
Simon'stheoryof design.

Design Issues: Vol. VIII, Number 2 Spring 19921952) For Rittel's view of argumentationin
design, see Rittel and Webber,
Dilemmas, 19. Also discussed in
Bazjanac,"Architectural
DesignTheory:
Models of the Design Process," Basic
Questions of Design Theory. Students
reportthat late in his careerRittel cameto recognize the affinity between his
approachand rhetoric.

53) The necessary is sometimes referred
to as "capacity"or "capability"in engineering. For a useful introduction toengineering design, see M. J. French,
Invention and Evolution: Design in
Nature and Engineering (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1988).
54) Philip Kotler, the internationally recognized expert on marketing, hassuggested that what many industrial
designersobjectto in marketingshould
not be regardedas marketingitself, but
as bad marketing. For new developments in marketing,see Philip Kotler,"Humanistic Marketing: Beyond theMarketing Concept," Philosophicaland Radical Thought in Marketing,eds. A. Fuat Firat,N. Dholakia, and R.
P. Bagozzi (Lexington,Massachusetts:
Lexington Books, 1987).

tury: design as communication, construction, strategic planning,or systemic integration.5 The power of design as deliberation andargumentlies in overcomingthe limitationsof mereverbalor
symbolic argument-the separation of words and things, or theory and practice that remains a source of disruption and confusion
in contemporary culture. Argument in design thinking moves
toward the concrete interplay and interconnection of signs, things,
actions, and thoughts. Every designer's sketch, blueprint, flow
chart, graph, three-dimensional model, or other product proposal is an example of such argumentation.
However, there is persistentconfusion about the differentmodesof argumentationemployed by the various design professions. For
example,industrialdesign, engineering,and marketingeach employ
the discipline of design thinking, yet their arguments are often
framed in sharply different logical modalities. Industrial design
tends to stress what is possible in the conception and planning ofproducts; engineering tends to stress what is necessary in considering materials, mechanisms, structures, and systems; while
marketing tends to stress what is contingent in the changing attitudes and preferences of potential users. Because of these modal
differences in approaching design problems, three of the mostimportant professions of design thinking are often regardedas bitter opponents in the design enterprise, irreconcilably distant fromeach other.4
What design as a liberal art contributes to this situation is a newawareness of how argument is the central theme that cuts acrossthe many technical methodologies employed in each design profession. Differences of modality may be complementary ways ofarguing-reciprocal expressions of what conditions and shapes the"useful" in human experience. As a liberal art of technological culture, design points toward a new attitude about the appearanceof
products. Appearance must carry a deeper, integrative argument
about the natureof the artificialin human experience.This argument
is a synthesis of three lines of reasoning:the ideas of designers andmanufacturersabout their products; the internal operational logic
of products; and the desire and ability of human beings to use products in everyday life in ways that reflect personal and social values.
Effective design depends on the ability of designers to integrate all
three lines of reasoning. But not as isolated factors that can be
added together in a simple mathematical total, or as isolated subject matters that can be studied separately and joined late in the
product development process.
The new liberal art of design thinking is turning to the modalityof impossibility.It points, for example, toward the impossibility ofrigid boundaries between industrial design, engineering, and marketing. It points toward the impossibility of relying on any one of
the sciences (natural,social, or humanistic)for adequatesolutions towhat are the inherentlywickedproblems of design thinking. Finally,20

it pointstowardsomethingthatis oftenforgotten,thatwhatmany
peoplecall"impossible"mayactuallyonly be a limitationof imaginationthatcanbe overcomeby betterdesignthinking.Thisis notthinkingdirectedtowarda technological"quickfix" in hardware
but towardnew integrationsof signs,things,actions,andenvironmentsthataddressthe concreteneedsandvaluesof humanbeingsin diverse circumstances.
55) "Neoteric" is a term often associatedin Western culturewith the emergenceof new liberal arts. Neoteric arts arearts of "new learning." For a discussion of neoteric and paleoteric liberal
arts, see Richard Buchanan, "Design
as a Liberal Art," Papers: The 1990
Conference on Design Education,
Education Committeeof theIndustrial Designers Society ofAmerica (Pasadena, CA, 1990).

Individualstrainedin the traditionalartsandsciencesmaycontinueto be puzzledby the neotericartof design. But the mastersof this new liberalart arepracticalmen andwomen, and the disciplineof thinkingthattheyemployis gradually
becomingaccessible
to all individualsin everydaylife. A commondisciplineof design
thinking-more thanthe particularproductscreatedby that discipline today-is changingour culture,not only in its external
manifestationsbut in its internalcharacter.

Design Issues: Vol. VIII, Number 2 Spring 1992

21