Reflexive Design

I posted thoughts on Twitter about my obsession with reflexive design - Why do we design the way we design? This "thread" 🧵 is about questions rather than answers to let us reflect on the theory and practice of design.

"What is design?" What are the necessary and sufficient conditions for definition of design? A definition is a reflection of your thinking and approach towards design. I think everyone should have their own definition. But is there a universal one?

Next, how do we design? What internal and external factors influence our decisions? Can we construct a metacognitive model for our approach? Or is this a futile question that will never have a definite answer? May be we can have a fallibilist approach here?

Design evolves. But how do we understand this evolution? Can we construct abstract structures rooted in mathematics to understand it? As esoteric as it sounds, I've also made some attempts there. And yes, it has been a struggle.

Design is considered as tacit knowledge. The "designerly ways of knowing" is taken as an internal process, hidden and black boxes. I think we need to investigate this further. The answers are never binary.