Experimentation by Design: Perspectives from research · Lucy Kimbell Innovation Insights Hub, UAL...

Preview:

Citation preview

Lucy Kimbell Innovation Insights Hub, UAL

@lixindex l.kimbell@arts.ac.uk

Experimentation by Design: Perspectives from research

Danish Design Centre Copenhagen, December 2017

h"p://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk/publica7ons/applying-­‐behavioural-­‐insights-­‐to-­‐organ-­‐dona7on/  

Growing visibility of ‘experimentation’ in policy development

Prototyping and mock-ups of concepts are one kind of ‘experimentation’ in policy development

h"ps://openpolicy.blog.gov.uk/2015/10/15/go-­‐science-­‐workshops-­‐for-­‐the-­‐future-­‐of-­‐ageing/  

Prototyping and mock-ups of concepts originate in the culture of the design studio

The culture of the design studio is tied to consumer product design

h"p://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/galaxystory/s6-­‐inside-­‐stories/ux/  

Software and hardware prototyping is rooted in engineering design which can be more formal and structured

h"p://liveworkstudio.com/approach/  

With complex systems and services, what does ‘prototyping’ look like?

What if anything is distinctive about ‘experimentation’ in the culture of design? What concepts help explain it?

Abduc7on  

Inven7veness  

Expandable  ra7onality  

The  studio  as  centre  of  synthesis  

Abduction

h"ps://philosophyisnotaluxury.com/2013/12/01/the-­‐holis7c-­‐evolu7on-­‐of-­‐charles-­‐sanders-­‐peirce/  

Abduction

“At  the  point  of  being  surprised  by  a  surprising  fact,  if  we  can  make  a  guess,  any  guess,  we  can  make  progress.”            C.S.Pierce  cited  in  Hansen,  Hans.  (2008).  Abduc7on.  In  Barry,  David  and  Hansen,  Hans  (eds).  The  Sage  Handbook  of  New  Approaches  in  Management  and  Organiza7on.  p.457  

Abduction

“Something  unintelligible  is  discovered  in  the  data  and,  on  the  basis  of  the  mental  design  of  a  new  rule,  the  rule  is  discovered  or  invented  and,  simultaneously,  it  becomes  clear  what  the  case  is.”        Reichertz,  Jo.  (2010).  Abduc7on:  The  Logic  of  Discovery  of  Grounded  Theory.  Forum:  Qualita7ve  Social  Research.  1(13).  

Design abduction

Dorst  2015  

Abduction

Kimbell  2015  

Inventiveness is not the novelty of ideas or methods in themselves, but in the novelty of the arrangements with other objects and activities within which artefacts and instruments are situated, and might be situated in the future

Celia Lury & Nina Wakeford, 2012, Inventive Methods

Inventiveness

Learning devices Things to learn about what has to be learned or could be learned

Hatchuel, A. (2001) “Towards design theory and expandable rationality: The unfinished programme of Herbert Simon.” Journal of Management and Governance, 5, 3-4, 260-273  

Expandable rationality

Social interactions Understanding and designing the social interactions of a design process is an essential part of the design process itself

Expansions of initial concepts Unexpected designs can emerge from the process

The studio as a centre of synthesis

Wilkie, A. and Michael, M. (2015). The design studio as a centre of synthesis. In Wilkie, A. Farias, I.. Studio Studies: Operations, Topologies and Displacements. Routledge.

 Opening  up  possibili7es  

Experimentation by design =

   Expanding  ini7al  concepts  

 Using  learning  devices  

 Synthesising  many  diverse  knowledges  and  perspec7ves  

 Designing  the  social  interac7ons  of  the  design  process  itself  

 Being  ‘usefully  vague’  

 Making  a  guess  to  move  things  on  

@PolicyLabUK

A brief case study based on the first year of the Policy Lab team in the Cabinet Office of the UK Government

Collabora've  explora'on  of  issues  

 Designing  the  social  interac7ons  of  the  design  process  itself  

   Expanding  ini7al  concepts  

 Making  a  guess  to  move  things  on  

 Being  ‘usefully  vague’  

 Synthesising  many  diverse  knowledges  and  perspec7ves  

Par'cipatory  conversa'ons  about  future  prac'ces  

 Designing  the  social  interac7ons  of  the  design  process  itself  

 Being  ‘usefully  vague’  

h"ps://openpolicy.blog.gov.uk/2015/10/15/go-­‐science-­‐workshops-­‐for-­‐the-­‐future-­‐of-­‐ageing/  

Rapid  idea  genera'on  and  model  making  

 Using  learning  devices  

   Expanding  ini7al  concepts  

 Making  a  guess  to  move  things  on  

 Synthesising  many  diverse  knowledges  and  perspec7ves  

Credit:  Policy  Lab  

 Using  learning  devices  

   Expanding  ini7al  concepts  

 Involving  par'cipants  in  an  issue  in  genera'ng  ideas  

 Designing  the  social  interac7ons  of  the  design  process  itself  

Early  prototyping  of  mock-­‐up  solu'ons  with  users/delivery  

 Using  learning  devices  

 Designing  the  social  interac7ons  of  the  design  process  itself  

   Expanding  ini7al  concepts  

 Synthesising  many  diverse  knowledges  and  perspec7ves  

Credit:  Policy  Lab  

Theory  of  the  world/theory  of  knowledge  

Logic      

What  it  does  

Complexity  

Focus  

Cri=cal  success  factors  

Exper=se  required  

Investment  required  

Outcomes  

Abduc7ve   Deduc7ve/induc7ve  Uses  learning  devices  to  build  confidence  in  a  direc7on  of  travel,  generates  insights  (proto-­‐theories),  expands/opens  up  new  possibili7es    

Uses  randomised  comparisons  to  confirm  or  disprove  hypothesis,  informed  by  exis7ng  evidence/theory  

Many  variables  and  dependencies     Fewer  variables  and  dependencies    

Holis7c     Specific  

Selec7ng  the  mix  of  concepts,  sites  and  par7cipants  to  be  involved;  leadership  to  create  the  space  for  experimenta7on  and  respond  to  what  is  opened  up  

Iden7fying  the  underlying  theory  and  research  ques7ons;  elec7ng  the  variables  and  test  sites;  leadership  to  create  the  space  for  experimenta7on      

Par7cipatory  design;  design  research;  anthro-­‐design  

Experimental  social  science  

Lower  investment  in  7me  and  resources;  possible  reputa7onal  risk  

Higher  investment  in  7me  and  resources;  lower  reputa7onal  risk  as  ‘scien7fic’  

Pausible  solu7ons;  insights  about  the  fit/lack  of  fit  with  the  site/prac7ces;  new  possibili7es  not  previously  imagined  

Reliability  (eg  it  works  in  other  sites)  and  validity  (eg  explicit  theories  are  tested  using  agreed  protocols)  but  few  new  insights  

Early  stage  prototyping    RCTs    

Comparison  of  two  kinds  of  experimenta'on  in  policy  development    

The  world  results  from  our  ac7ve  construc7on  of  it;  we  make  and  interpret  knowledge  as  social  beings  

The  world  exists  ‘out  there’  independent  of  us;  general  laws  exist  and  you  can  observe  reality  to  test  them    

Lucy  Kimbell.    2017.  Drah    

Early  explora=on  of  issues/user  contexts  generates  insights  and  concepts  that  can  be  refined  and  further  tested  at  scale  before  implementa=on  

 RCT    

Ways  to  combine  experimenta'on  in  policy  development    

There  are  some  fundamental  incompa7bili7es  at  the  level  of  theories  of  the  world  and  theories  of  knowledge,  but  different  approaches  to  experimenta7on  rooted  in  design  and  in  RCTs  can  be  combined.    

Explora'on  to  confirma'on  

Parallel  experimenta'on  

Early  stage  prototyping  

 RCT    

Refining  for  implementa'on  

 RCT    

 +    

Running  both  approaches  in  parallel  allows  new  possibili=es  to  be  explored  and  developed  alongside  building  evidence  at  scale  

 New  insights,  new  concepts,  new  possibili'es    

Prototyping  

 New  insights,  new  concepts,  new  possibili'es    

 Evidence  at  scale    

 Evidence  at  scale    

 Organia'onal  learning,  new  possibili'es,  evidence  at  scale    

 Evidence  at  scale    

Prototyping  details  of  user  interac=ons  with  touchpoints  aGer  RCT  builds  holis=c  understanding  of  a  solu=on  

Early  stage  prototyping  

Lucy  Kimbell.    2017.  Drah    

Holis'c    evidence  for  implementa'on  

Some questions

h"p://www.samsung.com/global/galaxy/galaxystory/s6-­‐inside-­‐stories/ux/  

What comes with the culture of ‘agile’ policy making rooted in the ‘new spirit of capitalism’?

Are people from design culture equipped to design the right experiments in policy or strategic settings?

How can large organisations develop design capacities alongside other kinds of experimentation?

How do organisational routines shaping professions, rewards and competences enable or disable experimentation?

Recommended