Fourteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

The importance of teaching design in higher education has increased since Dunne and Martin’s article on design thinking in management was published more than a decade ago. More recently, the importance of teaching design has received greater attention in fields such as information systems and computer science. Because information systems and technology are changing so rapidly in the digital age, we advocate for adopting a socio-technical perspective in teaching design that reminds students that design is fundamentally a human (and humane) activity, even in a computing discipline. This is perhaps best expressed by Heskett (2002), who describes design as “the human capacity to shape and make our environments in ways that satisfy our needs and give meaning to our lives.” We further argue that in assessing design quality, as we teach – and continuously learn – design, requires a deep understanding that design quality is emergent and also that satisfying needs and creating meaning in the final analysis are incomputable qualities. Lastly, consider that, as the machines we design in computing continue to assist, offset, and offload extant pursuits of human endeavor, design could be the last domain and frontier in which humans are truly suited. This is because design allows for mutation and accident to resonate in ways that deterministic and algorithmic processes may not. Thus, we explore that design may be among the greatest human competencies as a computing-human partnership evolves.