Transitional Design

Relationships of conflict or alignment can occur in a number of areas such as use of natural resources, economic issues, political/governance issues, technology and infrastructure but can also center around beliefs, values and cultural norms. Since all of these contribute to the problem in question, they can also become leverage points for... See more

in framing problems (the most powerful stakeholder groups usually frame the problem);

Fairness/Cheating; Care/Harm; Authority/Subversion; Loyalty/Betrayal; Sanctity/Degradation; Liberty/Oppression. We become polarized from each other when our moral foundations are too different from one another.

Remember that some stakholder groups will be non-human (other species) or even non-living (such as rivers, mountains, soil, etc.).

What is the role of the designer in drawing together matters of concerns, rather than mere matters of facts, and help articulating individual interests in such a way as to constitute common interests? What would it mean for designers to embrace differences, even conflict, as inherent to the political project that is design?

Beyond sortition, a savvy practitioner might consider ways to more actively bring in people who are socially disadvantaged. These strategies include minimizing barriers to participation, recruiting through trusted messengers, and partnering with associations in the community. Best practices for more involved deliberative processes often include... See more

An imbalance in power relations among stakeholders affected by wicked problems is a barrier to problem resolution. Power dynamics permeate societal systems; its structures, cultural norms, material artifacts and technologies etc;

Identifies and considers all stakeholder groups: Understanding and addressing the social roots of a wicked problem demands that all stakeholder groups are identified and their concerns integrated into the problem frame.