IN-PERSON MADRID FOCUS ON PEDAGOGY. SECTION A

Abstract

Design theorists have long been interested in the specific skills, capabilities or aptitudes that designers apply in confronting complex problems. One discussion within the literature advocates recognition of a “design attitude,” characterized by tolerance for ambiguity, by empathy for diverse perspectives, and by a flexible creativity that seeks elegant solutions. Many design schools include the cultivation of these capacities among their curricular goals. Yet it is striking that these features of the design attitude are mostly absent within the general populations of democratic societies today. Under current conditions of extreme polarization, epistemic tribalism, and zero-sum political competition, an intolerance for ambiguity, a near-total lack of empathy, and an unwillingness to consider alternative perspectives have become hallmark features of daily social life. Moreover, and ironically, design itself has contributed to these problematic aspects of modern society, by helping to create the communication platforms, channels and networks whose algorithmic mechanisms now reinforce ideological self-segregation and the systematic leveraging of confirmation bias. This troubling situation invites new questions for design theory: could the design attitude be understood not simply as an input to the creative process, but as itself a product of that process? Could a programmatic goal of design practice be understood as inviting everyone – designers and end users alike – to think and act in more “designerly” ways? How would design school curricula – that is, the way that future professional designers are trained – need to change so as to promote “designing for a design attitude” as a program-level learning outcome? This paper explores these questions, drawing from the presenter’s recent experience of teaching within a strategic design program.