What are the ethical responsibilities of designers today and what long-term impacts do they need to consider as they design? Who does the label of ‘designer’ actually apply to?

Scott Doorley and Carissa Carter are designers, writers, and educators. Scott is the Creative Director and Carissa is the Academic Director and an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University’s d.school. They are also co-authors of the new book Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future from the Stanford d.school.

Greg, Scott, and Carissa discuss the evolution and impact of design thinking, the pervasive nature of design in today's world, and the importance of being intentional with design choices. They also highlight key concepts from their book such as the significance of noticing unintended consequences, embracing awkwardness, and understanding the role of constraints in the design process.

*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*

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Why embracing imperfection and discomfort is essential in design

19:38: [Scott Doorley] The thing about imperfection is, even if you get it right, it’s only temporary. If you get it so-called right, something’s going to change outside of you that’s going to render it not effectual, in some matter of time. Or you’re going to get that right, but you’re going to miss something else. I was talking to a guy who teaches here, and he teaches entrepreneurs, and he was saying, “You’re going to fail somewhere. It might be at your business, it might be at your family, it might be at your health, but if you’re really trying to do something hard, there’s going to be failure.” So you just have to get used to it, acknowledge it, and then work with it. You’ve got to accept it as part of the design because it is.

We are all designers

03:34:[Carissa Carter] Whether you are a person that designs things, systems, or technologies, whether or not you call yourself a designer in your job title, if you are a part of making things and bringing them into the world, that's design work, and it's really important to pay attention to that.

Navigating design in a world of constraints

42:03: [Scott Doorley] The idea of transcending constraints is appealing, but what designers are doing is shifting the realm of what they're saying—no, these are the constraints that matter; this other one that we thought mattered doesn't matter. And they're really just hell-bent on figuring out: what is the set of constraints that work?

Embedding vision into everyday actions

42:03: [Scott Doorley] This ability to go big and go detailed can't be overstated because that's where things start to feel congruent, right? If I say, "Oh, my organization believes in X," but that's not coming through in the way someone's greeted when they come to the door, it's just going to feel off, and it just doesn't feel right. It just doesn't feel good. So that ability to be like, "Okay, not only are we going to have a vision, but we're going to embed it in the day-to-day that we do." You could think of that as parenting. That's sort of how a teacher sets up a classroom. That's clearly how a leader should lead an organization, in my opinion, because then you don't have to talk about the values—they're there. It's a hard thing to do. Frankly, sometimes I'd feel like we're on it. Sometimes I feel like we're missing the mark. It's not a static thing. You have to keep iterating and keep responding to what's going on.

061: Season 4 round up with Peter Cansell