Design & Critical Thinking

In this session, we discuss the relationship between AI, the potential for hyper-intelligence, and meaning through abstraction. We also discuss the notions of duality and how duality with context creates useful contrast that adds meaning and generates new perspectives, which can be used as a design tool. This links to the concept of "negative space" in Semiotics, and "Early Heaven" and "Later Heaven" from ancient Chinese Ba Gua. This brings the notion of "the third perspective" and the...

We discuss how to frame problems to explore them and the critical need for diversity (of minds, perspectives, etc) in these early design activities. We discuss why we need to bring back imagination as many organizations (and practitioners) often jump from problem definition to solution. We then touch upon the concept of "useful frictions" in digital and virtual spaces. Finally, we talk about Assemblage Theory as a way to understand coupling effects in networks and the notions of...

We discuss the issue of the current north American education system and its repercussions on the global financing of education, with a focus on Europe. One of our community members, Matt, shares an approach/opportunity to tackle some of it through a dynamic financialization model. This led the group to an interesting, honest, and stimulating design critique form of discussion. --- The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space &...

This was an unplanned and unmanaged informal discussion like we love to hold in the community. A discussion about foxes and tigers, about perceptions of the world, about philosophies of being and their underlying systems. We also discussed how "design" activities today are made for "transactional" and "value extraction" systems and how this limits their applicability (or can be detrimental) to social and political systems. Join our next session 👉...

This is our monthly Community workshop session during which we discuss where we want the community to head. We provided closure to the topic of design & philosophy and discussed what would be the next topic to open. As often, the conversation covered a lot of different grounds. Join our next session 👉 https://www.meetup.com/design-critical-thinking/ Join the community on Slack 👉 https://www.designcriticalthinking.com/join-slack/ About the community 👉...

3rd and final round of this series of discussions. Themes for exploration: How can we link back design practice and philosophy? What are the possible pain points of doing so? And what are the benefits of such a marriage? This session: We focus on two aspects, first the importance of coming to a form of pragmatism, which one might call "pragmatic design philosophy", and second the (equal) importance of connecting to a form of abstractive and poetic conceptualization, which one might call...

We discuss the different forms of power, how they influence decision, how they relate (or not) to design.We disucss how power can be reciprocal, and how it is best described in context. We also discuss the notion that platforms like Amazon & Youtube give a form of power to their users, but this power is asymmetrical because it is structurally lent, to the extent of what the platforms are willing to go. --- The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the...

How can we link back design practice and philosophy? What are the possible pain points of doing so? And what are the benefits of such a marriage? → The focus of this discussion will be on "decision-making" and "enacting the world" as designers, and the relationship between the context, the objects (physical, virtual, social) we design, and our actions. What are the philosophical & practical implications? --- This event is the second of a series of discussions on design and philosophy,...

Hey, we need to discuss. No seriously. Design and philosophy seem to be two different things, right? One is about thinking, and the other about doing... or are they? How can we link back design practice and philosophy? What are the possible pain points of doing so? And what are the benefits of such a marriage? --- This event is the first of a series of discussions on design and philosophy, when it is relevant to link them together, how one strengthens the other (and vice-versa), what are...

We discussed philosophy and how the process of exploring certain topics affects your understanding of them, which lead us to talk about the nature of rabbit holes, and that behind an apparent endless network of things there is a tacit structure that acts as an attractor. We discuss the relationship between our identity and our social tissue and the social dissonance that creates social media. Then we move on to the subject of how many discussions (in design) remain on surface-level things...

In this session, we have a really interesting informal discussion, what Marc called "improv session" and Krasi called "emergent discussion". We discuss: The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. Join our next session 👉 https://www.meetup.com/design-critical-thinking/ Join the community on Slack 👉...

Le design systémique n'est pas une pratique nouvelle, mais prend de l'ampleur depuis quelques années comme sujet à part entière dans les communautés de designers. Cet intérêt soudain créer des attentes et donc un marcher (potentiel) pour les "vendeurs" de cours et de certificats, dont le besoin de simplification d'un sujet particulièrement complexe pousse à des raccourcis grossiers et une codification du discours, appelant à des symboliques & thèmes à la hauteur des vertus avancées: le...

The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. In this session, on our exploration of the theme of “becoming better designers”, we discuss "Goals" (and Jobs to be done) as a way to frame our understanding of a context, people's intents, and how to create useful & valuable solutions for them. Goals are utilitarian but tend to be confused with intents,...

The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. In this session, we continue our exploration of the theme of becoming better designers through the keyword "Failure", and how it conditions our understanding of success (and vice-versa): i.e. a short-term success can be a long-term failure. Moreover, preparing for failure means measuring for it and...

The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. We continue our journey in exploring the theme of becoming better designers, and the role of designers & design in society, using a keyword as a medium for conversations. This week we're at letter "E", exploring the concept of "Expertise" from various perspectives. We used the island template, a (work in...

Ceci est la version francophone de nos sessions informel « Virtual Chalet ». Ces rencontres récurrentes (une fois toutes les 2 semaines) existent afin que la communauté Design & Critical Thinking (D&CT) prenne le temps et l'espace pour discuter, faire du sense, partager des idées et des expériences, trouver du soutien, poser des questions, etc. Cette semaine nous discutons de comment "sauter le pas" en tant que créateur de contenu et du perfectionnisme, de pensée systémique (systems...

The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. In this session, we continue our exploration of the theme of becoming better designers through the keyword "data", and what it means (or not) to be "data-driven". We clarified the different kinds of data (explicit, implicit, qualitative, quantitative) and the importance of context to make sense of them. We...

Chalet Virtuel 17 février 2022 – Ceci est la version francophone de nos sessions informel « Virtual Chalet ». Ces rencontres récurrentes (une fois toutes les 2 semaines) existent afin que la communauté Design & Critical Thinking (D&CT) prenne le temps et l'espace pour discuter, faire du sense, partager des idées et des expériences, trouver du soutien, poser des questions, etc. Cette semaine nous discutons legal design et approcher le design dans le monde juridique, les problèmes et...

Virtual Chalet, 15 February 2022 – The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. In this session, we used a keyword as a catalyst to approach the broader topic of the role of designers in society, and the question “how could we become better designers?” which will be a running theme for the coming sessions & workshops. You can view our Miro board...

The "virtual chalet" is a recurring informal event (once every 2 weeks) for the community to take the space & time to discuss, share ideas & experiences, find support, ask questions, etc. **Sorry for the audio quality, my internet connection was pretty unstable** This week we discuss design in regards to groups and social dynamics, the role of language as affordance & constraints, the Squid Game as a catalyst, medium for interactions, and an attractor for diverging narratives around...