Urban Prototyping + Civic Dreams

Prototypes in Urban Space Make A Thing

See What Happens

Image from

Breaking Down Design Practice

Prototyping 07.10.2015@readywater

Point of Design #1: (Try to) Make sense of

people and things

Point of Design #2: Make a thing

Point of Design #3: Critical analysis of

outcomes via things

Point of Design #4: Iterate

Designed Outcomes & Why to prototype

Prototyping 07.10.2015@readywater

And you may ask yourself “Well...How did I get here?”

Image by Daniel Sieradski/culturebot.org.

We fetishize the act of design & object creation

And often make a thing to fulfill an observed or

defined need

Image from Vladimir Vyatkin/AP

But we often don’t take responsibility for the

emergent result

Image from Sebastiano Tomada

What of the logistics of design outcomes?

How might we shift design outcomes

towards a designed outcome?

Some Examples

Prototyping 07.10.2015@readywater

Walk [Your City]

Image from Adam Lovelady

The Chime

Image from Mark de Pape

Lava Mae

Image from TheGuardian

P-Cycle

InSite

[murmur]

Image from Gabe Swaney

Mayor Mockus

Detour

Throne Speech

__________ prototype that explores ______

Prototyping 07.10.2015@readywater

Service+Paper: Financial Goals

Image from The Get Set

Code+Data: Mobility and Information

Image from SVDS

Physical: Infrastructure and

Behaviour

Image from Hamilton Tactical Urbanism

Physical: Urban Space and

Experience

Image from Ghost Bikes

Space: Behaviours and

Community

Image from washingtonsquareparkblog

Code+Device: Wellness and

Awareness

Code+Space: Form, Light, and Group Dynamics

Space+Code+Form: Emotion and Memory

Prototyping serves a goal poking at emergence.

Continuously. Needling away at it to paint

a picture of behaviour.

Prototyping is the most basic exercise of sense

making for design.

Cycling in SF: An evolving outcome of

actions & prototypes

Image from Paul Mackie

Activism and Form

Image from Fourbarrel

First Bikelane in SF, 1971

Image from Ann Diaz SF Bikes

Wiggle Protest: Action

Image from SF Bike

Wiggle Protest: Policy

Image from SF Bike

Wiggle Protest: Outcome??

What assumptions are you making?

How can you test those assumptions?

What’s the least effort way to

create that experiment?

Make it. Observe. Repeat.

Thanks

alb@ideo.com @readywater

Prototyping 07.2.2015@readywater