In Imagine: How Creativity Works, Jonah Lehrer writes, "Ambiguity is not a problem to be solved, but a space to be explored." This quote resonates deeply with me, as it perfectly captures my fascination with design thinking's ability to thrive in uncertain environments.
However, as my portfolio of previous work might suggest my ever optimistic vision of designs intricate role in sustainable design, this module has offered a different perspective so far.
Terry Irwin in ‘Transition Design: A Proposal for a New Area of Design Practice, Study, and Research’ envisions the eruption of ‘cosmopolitan localism’ ” a lifestyle that is placebased and regional, yet global in its awareness, and exchange of information and technology. This silently encompasses a deep and in a not yet defined way, further abstraction of the design process- owing to its fluidic nature and co-creative ambition as a field of study. I believe this module, understanding the business nature of solving wicked problems and its approach to constant testing and grounding of ideas has made an important shift in my understanding of how the wickedness is being untangled by businesses, engineers and designers. It has further instilled an intrinsic need for collaboration and the negotiation of outputs, even within my team has been an cathartic process thus far.
My team and I initially tackled the critical issue of inadequate data hindering effective ocean health monitoring. This "wicked problem" highlighted the need for cost-effective, scalable solutions for large-scale ocean monitoring.
However, through desk research and stakeholder engagement, a fascinating paradox emerged. While we struggle with a lack of comprehensive data, a wealth of oceanographic data already exists! The problem lies in its fragmented state – trapped in silos across research institutions, NGOs, and fisheries to name a few. Legal data sharing mandates exist, but a gap remains in providing specialized data products tailored to each stakeholder's unique needs. This is where we are currently.
After building on connections to various stakeholders and understanding qualitatively their insights, building a system through cultural insights from fishmongers in Billingsgate market, to zoom interviews in fisheries government bodies in the US- I have understood the importance of the language used by the top system managers and the distance at the bottom.
Within our process, System dynamics, systems thinking, and soft OR by Jay W. Forrester speaks about Causal loop diagrams. I began mapping these causual loops in our system map the system map I made for the project- it is the impact of healthy and unhealthy marine species and their impact on the fisheries system dynamics, encapsulating the points of action based on the occurrence of unhealthy fish or healthy fish species.
It might be useful for initially identifying these relationships, but they lack the precision of level and rate diagrams in system dynamics mentioned by Jay W. Forrester. Without clearly identifying the key level variables, such as cultural exchanges at fisherman markets, their understanding of their own system and the one we are modelling, and the processes (rates) that connect them, without these we can't truly understand the system's dynamic behavior. This understanding has been proven crucial for designing effective solutions to unlock the potential of the existing data for comprehensive ocean health monitoring.
In “Complexcity and Planning” By Gert De Roo and Jean Heiller, the second chapter called “Baroque Complexity: ‘If Things were Simple, Word Would Have Gotten Round’ makes me consider these aspects of our initial focus on data scarcity. Akin to the singularization of "town" and "country" in planning, masked a deeper complexity. The paradox of siloed data highlights the need to move beyond technical solutions and embrace the "disordered multiplicity" of stakeholders and their cultural contexts. Complexity theory, with its emphasis on both the "romantic" (collaboration) and "baroque" (data integration) aspects, offers a valuable framework. By acknowledging the cultural "hinterland" of stakeholders and fostering a space for dialogue, we can unlock the potential of existing data and achieve a more comprehensive understanding of ocean health. This multifaceted approach, much like the "assemblage" described by Law, requires ongoing exploration and adaptation, ensuring the long-term health of our oceans. This has helped me identify the pivot in our research and method as vital and crucial, as it not resolving the whole wicked problem but understanding it enough to expose the need for further collaboration to move forward before we invest in expensive technology, we need to make further use of the great amount of data we have. This is a step closer to the solution.
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