Saved by Paul Sturrock and
How to solve a problem
When I was younger and felt lost and alienated by life, I was always stretching for a solution, something that could get me out of my predicament. I applied to university, I switched majors, I started companies. But I wasn’t paying attention to the context. I didn’t see who I was or how the world works, and it didn’t strike me that I could map this... See more
Henrik Karlsson • How to solve a problem
If you map the context well enough, the solution will reveal itself.
Henrik Karlsson • How to solve a problem
So what should you do? Well, here’s the useful thing about Alexander’s definition of good design as design that fits the context: it tells us where we should look if we want to find a proper solution to the problem.
We should look at the context.
We should look at the context.
Henrik Karlsson • How to solve a problem
But when I think in terms of understanding the problem, or mapping the context , rather than solving it, I’m put in a state of mind that makes it easier for me to get it right. Being curious about the problem counteracts my confirmation bias and helps me see through to the deeper layers of the context where the better solutions hide.
Henrik Karlsson • How to solve a problem
understanding the context of a problem is crucial to coming up with solutions
In most situations, there are a near infinite number of potential answers, yet only a few that are good. Luckily, each constraint that you map reduces the search space, making it easier to see what the right answer is.
If you map the context well enough, the solution will reveal itself.
If you map the context well enough, the solution will reveal itself.
Henrik Karlsson • How to solve a problem
Every problem cries in its own language
Go like a blood hound where the truth has trampled
—Tomas Tranströmer, “About History”
Go like a blood hound where the truth has trampled
—Tomas Tranströmer, “About History”
Johanna Karlsson • How to solve a problem
it wasn’t a specific moment like that. It was more the cumulative effect of spending 36 years trying things and failing and learning a little bit here and there, and—mostly over the last four and a half years—having a few conceptual breakthroughs. Most of the insights, interestingly, came after my wife Johanna decided to turn the derelict grounds... See more
Henrik Karlsson • How to solve a problem
Finding form-context-fit is like solving a Sudoku. To figure out which number should go into a square, you look at the other numbers in the same row—it can’t be one of those numbers; that’s one constraint. Then you look at the numbers in the same box; it can’t be one of those either. Once you’ve figured out all the numbers that are not allowed, you
... See moreHenrik Karlsson • How to solve a problem
a design is good if and only if the form (of the solution) fits the context (of the problem).