I”m reading Don Norman’s Design for a Better World (recommended; more after I finish). One of the things mentioned is ‘design culture’. Now, I’ve been a big fan of ‘learning culture’, and so was triggered. What’s the relationship? Some thoughts.
So, to start, I think of learning culture as a determinant of performance ecosystem success. I’ve regularly touted Garvin, Edmondson, & Gino’s model as a grounded approach that identifies major factors. The issue is creating an environment where people contribute their best ideas, and folks are learning ‘together’. Practices such as Jane Bozarth’s Show Your Work are components, as is Amy Edmonson’s The Fearless Organization about psychological safety.
So what is a ‘design culture’? Don doesn’t define it, but Wikipedia says “approaches that improve customer experiences through design.” Of course, the customers may be internal, I’d suggest. More importantly, it’s about design being a core component of the way things are done. Yet, isn’t design ‘learning’?
I’d suggest that, indeed, design is learning. I’ve suggested in the past (e.g. here) that design, research, and trouble-shooting are informal learning, as you don’t know the answer when you start. Design is creating a solution where one doesn’t exist. It’s part of learning: you design, test and measure, and iterate until the metrics meet your needs. Thus, I’d argue that for a successful design culture, you’d need a successful learning culture, or you can’t get the best solutions.
The bigger argument of Don’s book is about how things have gone south, societally/globally, and the role of design in causing and remedying that. I’m sympathetic, I admit. I do feel chuffed that he’s mentioning participatory design, something I just talked about for the UX part of the Learning & Development as Ecosystem conference. But his overall message is important, particularly in light of his previous works on design, notably Design of Everyday Things. If he’s now saying he got it wrong, I’ll suggest we probably should take note of what he’s now thinking.
So, I might take design culture as a subset of a learning culture, or an integral part. However, if SDT (c.f. Matt Richter’s forthcoming The Motivation Blueprint, and Stephen Johnson’s previous Drive) is right, considering our purpose may need to go beyond not just doing harm, and look at remedying what’s wrong. My quibble about culture is relatively small potatoes in the bigger picture. Still, worth pondering.
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