Participatory, systemic, emergent, conversational, reverent Information architecture

Participatory, systemic, emergent, conversational, reverent

Information architecture Marc RettigFit Associates, CMU Design, SVA Design for Social Innovation

[email protected]

@mrettig

Marc Rettig @ World IA Day Pittsburgh | Systemic and Deeply Human IA | 20 February 2016

Three hats

design.cmu.eduMy colleague Hannah du Plessis and I are involved with the school of design at Carnegie Mellon. We teach a course in the Spring called, “Foundations of Practice for Social Innovation and Transition” (here’s the course syllabus: fitassociates.com/syllabus-dsi-fundamentals). In general we are supporting their efforts in social innovation and transition.

dsi.sva.eduEvery Fall we teach a “Fundamentals” course at the MFA in design for social innovation at the School of Visual Arts in New York. It’s a nice commute.

fitassociates.comAnd we have a firm here in Pittsburgh called Fit Associates. We help companies, teams, and leaders shift the way they talk together, collaborate, and create together. We equip them to work with people in a way that can change the patterns in their systems. We draw from design practice, theater and the arts, living systems, conflict resolution, personal development and life coaching, social innovation,… getting help wherever we can find it.


Point of view

I think I was invited here for my perspective, which has been shifting over the last few years. In 2009, I deliberately stood up from where I was working in interaction, experience, product strategy, and sometimes IA, and I started walking into a different part of the territory. I’ve been asking, “How can our work become more deeply systemic, and more deeply human?”

Where I once asked, “How can this home medical device help people not need the medical device anymore?”, I now ask, “Who does this organization need to become in order to participate in the new landscape of care?”

Where I once asked, “How can this software improve the clarity and reliability of brain MRIs?”, I now ask, “How can the software company open its boundaries to include doctors, radiologists, hospital administrators, and patients throughout their creative process?

And so on.


Information architecture?

You should know that I’m not going to say a lot about information architecture as it is practiced today. There are lots of people here who will do a better job of that than I could. I’m looking forward to it.

I will say that, later in the talk when I am referring explicitly to information architecture, I’m referring to both the big and small definitions. Some of you here may remember when there were practically fist fights over “defining the damn thing.” To oversimplify, some people use the term information architecture to describe the practice of categorizing and organizing information. Other people see it as a branch of design for experience, including the practices of usability, interaction design, obsessing over kerning, and so on. And by the way, I don’t think any of those people would limit IA to the digital world.

Anyway, when I use the term today, I mean both.


The need for a bigger story

One bigger story: what’s going on?

Two examples of that story

What about information architecture?Ways to help the story alongUseful superpowers

A personal note: three movements

The shape of this talk


I don’t see like I used to.

I’m have become fascinated with the language of frontiers, and the powerful notion of a frontier identity. What new country are we being invited into? What threshold are we standing on? And most importantly, what could we be doing if only we weren’t so afraid? The most profound frontiers are the ones that scare us. And with practice, we can learn to look at them without giving in to the impulse to flinch away, to steer our gaze back to what’s familiar, and therefore comfortable and safe.


Poetic imagination: a story that’s big enough

In my current phase of life, I tend to look at things through the lens of poetic imagination. By that I mean, imagining and then holding a story that is big enough to help us make sense of all the other stories.

A field like design or information architecture can be the comfortable home we have made for ourselves, where we know just what to do, who to ask when we have a problem, we know where to get a job and what job title we like, and how much we should be paid. We are known for our expertise, we know who we are, and we feel great. But that same home can become a warm prison if it has no windows that look toward the horizon, no door through which you might pass on to the next thing. The world changes outside, we become stale, and we aren’t really paying attention. We need our poetic imagination not only to help us make sense of what’s going on, but to call us to open the windows to look outside, to open the door and step outside.

And that is one way to talk about a frontier identity.


What’s going on?

There are a few big containing stories we could make about information architecture, but I’m going to pick just one. And that story has to do with What’s Going On.


Meet Ezio Manzini

The Italian designer Ezio Manzini has a nice framing for What’s Going On, and how design in general fits into that story. I’m going to steal directly from him. If you want more from Ezio, ask Google about his talks and his book, both titled “Design When Everybody Designs.”


The story starts with two observations:We are living in a time when expert design and what he calls “diffuse design” – people’s efforts all over the world to create for themselves --co-exist. And increasingly the two are working together. Expert design is supporting community design, for example. Ezio calls that “Co-design.”

Here could talk about ideo.org’s public course in HCD. Or Frog Design’s “Collective Action Tool Kit.

So as we look for the bigger, containing story for information architecture, this is one bigger thing that’s going on. Expert design is learning to truly work alongside the people in the world who are taking creativity into their own hands, not waiting for business or government to do it for them. We are standing firmly on the shores of a time of “design with” in addition to the old familiar “design for.”

More “diffuse design” than expert design


But it’s not all roses…

María del Carmen Lamadridwww.thesis.mlamadrid.com/?page_id=4

As a side note, I’ll add that for all its good intentions this expert-to-community thing can have a dark side. Here is someone pushing back explicitly against Frog’s kit.




The second premise of Manzini’s story is that we are living in a time of crisis, when the problems with the way that society has been doing things are all becoming dangerously clear all at once, and there is tremendous energy for shifting to a more sustainable way of life (in almost every facet, technical, social, political, cultural).

Both expert design and diffuse design are responding to these crises in their own way. Expert design is adding tools and mindsets, becoming more systemically equipped and more socially focused. Meahwhilepeople by the tens of thousands are going it on their own, exploring new ways of living, producing, seeing the world and each other.



And here is just one example. It’s a farm – not a donkey farm, but a farm called the little donkey farm –that is exploring a different relationship between urban and rural life.





Bottom-up initiatives, collaborative interventions for everyday life, anticipating sustainable ways of living (being, doing, thinking)

www.slideshare.net/DESIS_Showcase


Recommended: vimeo.com/122184793


Manzini’s belief—his story—is that the road to a sustainable way of life for our society goes through the country of diffuse design. Expert design alone will not get us there. Expert design is not our savior. Why? Because it stands apart from the day-to-day rhythms and routines where the new ways are being born and lived out. Where they are evolving through the daily pressure of reality. Where they are driven by personal ingenuity, enthusiasm and courage. Expert design is most often holed up in businesses and institutions. We need it, but we need it most to equip and work alongside the much larger movement of diffuse design.

So there is one poetic story that is large and true enough to help us make sense of the frontier we stand upon. Our crises are finally driving us out of our comfort zone, and we are setting out on the road to the country of sustainable ways of life. We don’t know what it will look like when we get there, but we know we must get there. And we know that the people living there will be us. The future is made of us, and the materials of that future are the way we get along, power things, get food, raise our children, care for each other, govern ourselves, make new stuff, and so on.

That is a big story for design. It is one story big enough to help make sense of many other stories, and to invite us out the door. For starters, let’s look out the window.

Story 1Social innovation and “diffuse design”


Jason RobertsHow to build a better blockwww.youtube.com/watch?v=ntwqVDzdqAU


From Wikipedia


This work is…

Embedded. Local.

Connected.

Playful. Eager.

Experimental: probe, stabilize, feed.

Story 2Expert design and diffuse design work side by side


If expert + “diffuse” design collaboration is the way forward, what might those projects look like?


How can social innovation design influence the health of a community? And who should be part of the conversation?

The community in question is East Harlem, where DSI is already partnering with the Poptech Institute, the Arnhold Global Health Institute, and Harlem community organization Strive International on Harlem First, an initiative bringing together designers, community leaders, residents, data scientists and health care professionals to conceive a different future of wellness care.

dsi.sva.edu/news/2015/11/save-the-dates-harlem-first-mapping-the-health-of-a-community/

impactdesignhub.org/2015/12/08/community-mapping-initiative-identifies-and-investigates-communitys-health-needs/



Community mapping is a process through which citizens in the community participate in the collection of their own data –recording what they view as forces that influence health – as well as the creation of solutions.

DSI students began by mapping an East Harlem neighborhood, looking at factors that are beyond the traditional purview of the medical profession, such as crime, homelessness, open space, poverty, availability of healthy food, and gentrification. Students collected data on negative health impacts, including noise, access to open space, and availability of health services and, working with Harlem residents to map the same area, recorded what they view as forces that influence health.







“The guiding thesis of Harlem First is to co-create with the community, not for it.”




Their place.Their data.Their meaning.

Expert process.Expert tools.Power to convene.


Seasoned designer District attorney

Community leader Policy advisor

Physician

Housing advocate


The following clip is extracted from the panel discussion. Listen for IA and design opportunities, and think about what it would take to pursue them.

dsi.sva.edu/blog/2016/02/mapping-the-health-of-a-community-through-social-design


This work…

Is personal and connected, not done at a distance, not dealing in abstractions alone.

Fosters a shift from “us/them” to “we.”

Places a great emphasis on listening together as a systemic habit.

Pairs analysis with reflection and dialogue.


This work is different


Adding to our kit

Systemic

Participatory

Start with local

Emergence (+ planning and design)

High-touch and full-on human (not always comfortable, but certainly satisfying)

If we are living and working at the confluence of these two streams –expert and diffuse design – and we are all setting out on this grand journey toward sustainable society together, but meanwhile our history, the country we’re setting out from, is the country of design in service to business, some things are going to change.

Our work will…be more systemically entangled.Be more socialBe more local Involve emergence as well as planning and design

What about information architecture?


What is systemic IA?

What is participatory IA?

What is IA with and for local community?

What is full-on human IA?

I can offer some invitations. I’m curious to know what excites you.

Shifting patterns need IA’s help


A system is born. It thrives and grows and then reaches its apex, at which point it begins to decay.

This framework comes from The Berkana Institute: berkana.org. The sketched diagram is by Chris

Corrigan (chriscorrigan.com), as shown in his video, Dynamics of Complex Living Systems:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1_tpzZVWTY


At the same time, some people begin to question the old system, and jump off. We call them pioneers.


The pioneers start out as solo players, but soon connect to others to form networks…


...and the networks evolve into communities of practice, joining their efforts in common purpose.


Eventually this group becomes the new system of influence and the old system decays.


As the new system grows, it builds bridges back to the old system, to assist people in crossing into the new.


The Berkana ModelBerkana InstituteDiagram by Lauren Gardner, SVA


IA: Support the pioneers

Help consider the choice

Get a view of thosewho’ve already jumped


IA: Help pioneers form networksFind each otherInterconnect their efforts

Disseminate language and practice

…

These networks are essential for people finding like-minded others, the first stage in the lifecycle of emergence.

IA? People as information. We are tangled in a conversation about identity and privacy. People ask for anonymity, and at the same time they are blasting out selfies and hey look at me’s. But this isn’t a general public, the same for everybody kind of question. This is about the pioneers finding each other. Recognizing that they are not alone.

How can they find each other? How can they move from being a scattering of pioneers to becoming a community of practice?

IA: Nourish communities of practiceFind each otherInterconnect their efforts

Disseminate language and practice

Support place making and community building

In a community of practice, people share what they know to support one another, and to intentionally create new knowledge for their field of practice.

IA? We still have the challenge of people finding each other, and on top of that the challenge of helping them pool their resources, knowledge, and expertise. In the digital world, for all our Slacks and Twitters, we still have a long ways to go when it comes to supporting communities of practice: formation, development and thriving, and evolving. Too many digital tools ignore the possibilities that come from local people having a tool that can stand alongside their face-to-face activities. Too often our architectures force a particular way of seeing and working, rather than giving people the “legos” they need to make a home for themselves. It’s a tough challenge.

A few much-needed super powers


Help groups and systems see what’s really going on.

Superpower


In Harlem, the experts mapped, the community also mapped, and together they made sense of it all.


A wall of the services available in the neighborhood


Signs and visual communications that residents see


Noise pollution in the neighborhood


Help people use information and story together.

Superpower


cognitive-edge.com/sensemaker

www.girlsnotbrides.org/resource-centre/using-sensemaker-

to-understand-girls-live-lessons-learnt-from-girls-hub


Numbers and patternshave credibility as evidence.

Stories de-abstract the numbers,and bring emotional life.

Together, they are persuasive.


Tools like this allow us to employ a new kind of goal:“How might we get more stories like these, and fewer stories like those?”


Give people “Legos” for their own good IA.

Collecting, organizing, finding, making sense, visualizing, making use.Co-creating narratives. Prototyping, amplifying ideas and best practices, building scenarios,gaining cultural insight, applying open-ended and iterative processes.

Superpower


spatialcollective.com


The coding scheme was inadequate to the task: it is very difficult to capture a problem as great and diverse in a set of limited categories, which means that the categories were not mutually exclusive enough. Distinguishing between piles of trash is really hard.

Coding can be subjective: People have different perceptions of what problems are: some mappers might not think that a certain pile of trash is relevant.

Coders weren’t focused enough on the task.

We believe that a combination of a bad coding scheme together with (our) lack of awareness of what the actual hazards of waste are and ubiquitous nature of the problem contributed to these results.

A personal note:three movements


Recover the depth of the creative process.

Movement

through conversationswith context and people

with attentionacting with respect and mindfulnesscontributing passion and energy

with opennesslistening + learningfrom other people + cultures

Observation begins as a conversation with others. First you’re on the outside looking in; slowly you immerse yourself; then you can step back and reflect. Where are we? Who is here? What are they doing? (What are we doing?) What’s important here? Why?

Observe

Hugh Dubberly, dubberly.com

Reflect

through conversationswith experience + values

to understandwhat people wanthow culture is evolving

to integrateby seeing patternsby building consensus

Reflection begins as a conversation with oneself. It considers experience and values. And it frames the situation—or selects a metaphor to explain it—which must then be shared with other people.


Make

through conversationswith tools + materials

to searchworking quickly + iteratingtaking advantage of accidents

to envisionimagining the future and making it tangibleexplaining what it might mean

Making also begins as a conversation with oneself. As it continues it increasingly involves others.



Conversation. Dialogue. Open attention.At every step, quality of attention determines quality of result.


Let go of expertise.Sit with uncertainty.Embrace emergence.

Movement


Remember the importance of my own depth of being. Recover wonder and reverence.

Movement

WHEN WE APPROACH WITH REVERENCE

At the heart of things is a secret law of balance and when our approach is respectful, sensitive and worthy, gifts of healing, challenge and creativity open to us. A gracious approach is the key that unlocks the treasure of encounter. The way we are present to each other is frequently superficial. We become more interested in 'connection' rather than communion. In many areas of our lives the rich potential of friendship and love remains out of our reach because we push towards 'connection.' When we deaden our own depths, we cannot strike a resonance in those we meet or in the work we do. A reverence of approach awakens depth and enables us to be truly present where we are. When we approach with reverence great things decide to approach us. Our real life comes to the surface and its light awakens the concealed beauty of things. When we walk on the earth with reverence, beauty will decide to trust us. The rushed heart and the arrogant mind lack the gentleness and patience to enter that embrace. Beauty is mysterious, a slow presence who waits for the ready, expectant heart.

John O'DonohueExcerpt from Beauty

Thank you.