According to Chapter 9 of Papanek’s book (1985), one neglected design field is “Systems design for sustaining human life under marginal conditions.” The author briefly talks about the negative design impact due to human evolution and paying less attention to environmental sustainability. That makes me reflect on the current digital evolution that we are all in. Technology has been evolving rapidly. Younger generations have better and faster adaptability. This is a problem, because technology never seems to evolve in a sustainable way that anyone at any age can benefit from. For example, the most modern and popular operating systems like Windows and MacOS require keyboards and mice. This is not necessarily the most natural way for humans to interact with these systems; there is still a learning curve for typing and the mental model needed to move a mouse arrow on a monitor. The learning curve might happen to the younger generations and be overcome just in a couple of hours, but for some older generations or people who have disabilities, that learning curve might be huge. According to an NN/g video, only 5% of the population worldwide are truly empowered by technology (2020). So I think as humans and technology evolve, it’s important to design things that are accessible and sustainable with systematic approaches in mind.
Papanek compares industrial design and architecture design (1985). He thinks that architecture design solves real problems, but industrial design creates new problems. Later the author mentions that in fashion design, designers often design clothes for teenagers and middle aged people, but not the elderly. This is because middle aged people are the majority of the fashion market. It does make sense from a marketing perspective. However, if companies and designers have equality in mind, then the minority should also be considered.
The author also discusses some of the fields that design has neglected. There are six challenges and directions that designers should respond to as the author mentions in the chapter (1985):
1. Design for the Third World.
2. Design of teaching and training devices for the retarded, the handicapped and the disabled.
3. Design for medicine, surgery and dentistry.
4. Design for experimental research.
5. Systems design for sustaining human life under marginal conditions.
6. Design for breaking concepts.
Obviously, there is a lack of design resources in the third world, but that does not mean those markets do not deserve a good design solution, especially when the products or services have users in those markets. If a design solution is not sustainable and accessible, then that solution is inhumane.
There is an idea by Mike Monteiro that designers should be licensed in order to perform their jobs. This creates enforcement of responsible, sustainable, and accessible designs (2019). Licensing is not new to teachers, doctors, lawyers, and construction workers. Any job that requires specialty knowledge and involves potentially serious consequences should require a license. Although teachers and lawyers do not face life threatening consequences, they are required to be super knowledgeable in their field. I think a UX job can have responsibilities with life threatening consequences, such as when a UX designer is assigned to create an aircraft pilot interface. That also requires the UX designer to be super knowledgeable in the HCI field. Therefore, it makes sense to provide licenses to designers who carry responsibilities with such consequences.
In conclusion, I hope in the future designers will take on more ethical responsibilities. Designers will unite together to have a stronger voice and a seat at the table. Designers will design and think sustainably for accessibility and inclusion. They will require a license in order to be more empathetic when it comes to humane design.
REFERENCES
Monteiro, M. (2019). Ruined by Design: How Designers Destroyed the World, and what We Can Do to Fix it. United States: Mule Design.
NNgroup. (2020, October 9). User Interface Design Fails [Video]. Youtube.
https://youtu.be/pI0HcLXVurM
Papanek, V. J. (1985). Design for the real world: Human ecology and social change. Bantam Books.
