Design in the Age of Information: a Report to the National Science Foundation (NSF)
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University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Departmental Papers (ASC) Annenberg School for Communication 7-31-1997 Design in the Age of Information: A Report to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Daniel Boyarski Reinhart Butter Klaus Krippendorff University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Richard Solomon James Tomlinson See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers Part of the Communication Commons Recommended Citation (OVERRIDE) Boyarski, D., Butter, R., Krippendorff, K., Solomon, R., Tomlinson, J., & Wiebe, W. (1997). Design in the age of information: A report to the National Science Foundation (NSF). K. Krippendorff (Ed.). Raleigh, NC: School of Design, North Carolina State University. Retrieved from http://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/ 96 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/96 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Design in the Age of Information: A Report to the National Science Foundation (NSF) Abstract The Information Age is upon us - it has become a global force in our everyday lives. But the promise of significant benefits omfr this revolution, which has been driven largely by technologists, will not be realized without more careful planning and design of information systems that can be integral to the simultaneously emerging user-cultures. In cultural terms, information systems must be effective, reliable, affordable, intuitively meaningful, and available anytime and everywhere. In this phase of the information revolution, design will be essential. Disciplines Communication | Social and Behavioral Sciences Author(s) Daniel Boyarski, Reinhart Butter, Klaus Krippendorff, Richard Solomon, James Tomlinson, and Walter Wiebe This government publication is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/asc_papers/96 Design in the Age of Information A Report to the National Science Foundation (NSF) By: Daniel Boyarski . Reinhart Butter Klaus Krippendorff (Editor) Richard Solomon James Tomlinson (Principal Investigator) Walter Wiebe Raleigh, North Carolina July 31, 1997 Ingrid Limmer (Typography) This report is a compilation of the proceedings, notes, and added material from a 1996 workshop, Design@2006, held in Raleigh, North Carolina, supported by the National Science Foundation, Interactive Systems Program, under Grant No. IRI~ 9529141, with additional funding from North Carolina State University. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this report do not represent a consensus of the steering committee, nor do they necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or North Carolina State University. The body of the report is uncopyrighted material: please distribute freely. Papers in section 7 may be copyrighted; questions about reproduction of papers should be directed to the authors (see appendix A). 500 copies of this report were printed and distributed by: Design Research Laboratory School of Design North Carolina State University Campus Box 770 1 Raleigh, NC 27695~7701 Tel 919~515~7337 Fax ·919~515~7330 email [email protected] 2 Design in the Age of Information o Preface 0.0 Acknowledgements 5 0.1 Executive Summary 5 1 Introduction 1.0 Overview 13 1.1 NSF on Design 14 1.2 Workshop Goals 15 1.3 Initial Targets for Discussion 15 1.4 Organization of the Workshop and Report 16 1.5 Steering Committee 17 2 Rising Technological Opportunities 2.0 Predicting Technological Developments 19 2.1 Connectivity 23 2.2 Communication and Processing Costs 23 2.3 Imaging 24 2.4 Sound Processing 24 2.5 Miniaturization of Transducers 24 26 Technologies in Need of Stimulation 24 2.7 Technologies that can but may not happen 24 3 New Design Principles 3.0 The Role of Stakeholders/Users in Design 27 3.1 The Axiomaticity of Meaning 28 3.2 The Centrality of Human Interfaces 28 3.3 Multi-sensory Involvement 28 3.4 The Need for Variability to Match Diversity 29 3.5 Cooperation and Multi-disciplinarity 29 36 The Heterarchy of Complexity 30 3.7 Design Discourse 30 3.8 Second-order Understanding 30 3.9 The Delegation of Design 31 4 Designing Design Education 4.0 Preface 33 4.1 Educational Structures 34 4.2 Interdisciplinary Design 34 43 Human-Centered Attitude 35 4.4 Reflection on Practice / Building a Design Literature 33 4.5 Design Education Tomorrow 36 4.6 Early and Late Learning of Design 36 4.7 Summary 36 3 5 Key Research Issues 50 Preface 39 5.1 A Research Paradigm for Design 39 5.2 A Second-order Science of the Artificial 40 5.3 A Semantics for Interfacing with Artifacts 42 5.4 Multi-disciplina rity 44 55 Information 45 5.6 Coordination Theory 46 5.7 Evaluative Techniques for Design 47 5.8 Federal Support for Research in the Design of Human-centered Systems 48 6 Reports From Working Groups 6.0 Overview 51 6.1 Information Design 52 6.2 Design Methodology and Techniques 55 6.3 Desigh Education 57 6.4 Design in the Future 60 6.5 Collaborative Design of Collaboration 62 7 Selected Workshop Papers 7.0 List 65 7.1 New Design Principles 67 7.2 Design Education 101 7.3 Future of Designing 131 7.4 New Design Tools 149 Appendices A. List Of Workshop Participants 175 B. Funding Options. An Example from NSF 180 C. Design and Management of Information Networked Technologies. An Example from NCSU 182 D. A Visualization Research and Outreach Program. An Example from NCSU 184 4 0.0 Acknowledgements 0.1 Executive Summary This report 'IS an effort by the steering committee, The Information Age is upon us ~ it has become a editors, advisors and participants, to discuss the role and global force in our everyday lives. responsibility of designers in the Information Age, and to stimulate new ideas, dialogue and research. But the promise of significant benefits from this revolution, which has been driven largely by Special thanks are due to the National Science technologists, will not be realized without more careful Foundation, which provided funding and the planning and design of information systems that can be opportunity to bring many outstanding thinkers and integral to the simultaneously emerging user-cultures. In practitioners together, and especially to Gary W. Strong, cultural terms, information systems must be effective, Program Director of Interactive Systems at the National reliable, affordable, intuitively meaningful, and a.vailable Science Foundation for his contextual and intellectual anytime and everywhere. In this phase of the support as well as excellent participation in the information revolution, design will be essential. workshop. This report is the result of a 1996 workshop held in Charles Moreland, Vice Chancellor of Research, Raleigh, North Carolina and offers some answers to Outreach and Extension at North Carolina State questions posed by NSF: University, and Marvin Malecha, Dean of the School of (1) What can designers do expertly and what would be Design, provided assistance by defraying some of the their unique contribution to these developments? costs associated with the workshop and with developing (2) What are the principles that govern design in the and printing the report. future of an information society? (3) What kind of research would be needed to make Thanks also are due to Austin Henderson, George design a partner in the emerging information Cybenko, Reinhart Butter, Walter Wiebe, Patrick Purcell, society? and Frank Galuszka for extracting what was significant (4) How can we help design to make the contributions from the freewheeling discussions and writing the it can, whether by financing programs for working group reports. Significant contributions were developing new approaches to design, supporting made by Richard Solomon, Klaus Krippendorff and Dan new educational initiatives, or underwriting Boyarski, who went through all the papers, group research projects that are likely to move the reports, and their own workshop notes and put them national information agenda ahead? together in the form of predictions, design principles, educational implications and a research agenda for In the introduction to this report, in 1, we identify design in the next decade. four "transformations" that form the ground on which the role of design in an age of information can be Recognition and thanks are due to Deborah Walker, understood: who did extensive work on compiling, formatting, and • Digitalization enables us to compose artifacts with proofreading the report as well as coordinating the extremely small and numerous units and to information flow between individuals. Also thanks to compute at staggering speeds. Beth Hesler for providing support services for the • Networking enables us to link these units across workshop. Thanks to Ingrid Limmer who created the time and space and bring people that would typography and cover graphics for the report and put a otherwise never know of each other together with designer's touch to its appearance, and to the NCSU heretofore unimaginable resources. graduate students who took notes and transcribed them • Equity of access is not just a prerequisite of the for the report. new technology, which is more beneficial to each user the more people participate. It might just be Special recognition is given to Klaus Krippendorff the criterion by which we could realize our for his editorial leadership in the final editing of this democratic ideals in ways the industrial age could report. not. These technological possibilities are redefining 5 citizenship, creating new institutions, and There are many political and business issues that transforming work. will arise to affect design decisions, ranging from the • Information technologies require considerable lack of universal access to the unknown impact of future creativity of their users and enable an increasing IT on travel patterns, alternative urban environments, number of people to be become involved in physical shopping, manufacturing logistics, and processes that previously were the privilege of employment. Understanding externalities beyond mere professional designers. In effect, design is being technological change must be part of a design distributed, is becoming common, a way of living profession's toolkit.