[Video Link for Email/Other Subscribers - 60min]
John Thackara shows the ways in which business as we know it are about to change for good, and then identifies how interaction designers can take these challenges on as design problems. I know many of us are time-strapped, and it’s within our nature to have a low patience tolerance unless we’re being engaged in a Story. Therefore, I recommend just pressing play and let it act as a radio show while you go about your activities. About 2/3 through, you may want to actually start watching it because John shows examples of a variety of projects on the overhead for which the visual experience is worthwhile. In his own words:
“Climate change, environmental degradation, resource depletion, peak debt and peak energy: these are all stakes being driven into the body of business as usual. The days of acting as if infinite growth were possible within a finite system are over.
Where does this leave interaction design? Last year, a new product was launched every three minutes. Many of these involved the design of an interaction or an experience. But the overwhelming majority of these products and services also waste stupendous amounts of energy and natural resources – and eighty percent of their negative environmental impact is determined at the design stage.
We need to develop products, services and infrastructures according to tough new principles: low-carbon, zero waste, resource-efficient. In this new world of better lives with less stuff, the keywords are resilience, and regenerative design.
What will the experience off these new solutions be like? Where should we look for answers? How do we scale up promising new ideas?
We should start with changes already underway; social innovation is all around us. Among more than a million grassroots environmental organizations already out there are Post-carbon Cities; Energy Descent Action Plans; Resilient Communities; Transition Towns.”
What I liked about this presentation is John’s framing of the issues at hand, how certain innovators and solutions have sprung up, and the opportunities for interaction designers to help make a big difference in their accessibility and adoption, thereby contributing to the movement. Being a fan of interface, information, and usability design, I highly appreciate the contribution these fields can make. Can you say Apple?
About John:
Director of Doors of Perception, which was founded in 1993 to create a conference of that name in Amsterdam. It now produces festivals and projects that engage a worldwide network of designers, media artists, technology innovators, and grassroots innovators to imagine (and begin to design) sustainable futures. He also works with cities and regions seeking to build next-generation institutions.
His personal web site is http://www.thackara.com
Upon noticing that you’ve come back to my blog or have visited multiple pages, can I say one thing? YOU ROCK!
Remember to leave a comment and let your voice be heard! People love ‘em, I can’t be the only one talking…Conversation is where the magic is.
