UnSee

New Knowledge Joins the Chat

UnSee Update #5 // October 2024

Words by: Riccardo Torta

The month of October was marked by the creation of new content and knowledge for the research. Most of it was internal, but some external dissemination activities allowed us to gather new pieces of the big picture. It was also a month of gatherings as we had the chance to see each other all together after a few months and also to interact with a knowledgeable public for the first time during our conference paper presentation. Just like in September, our didactic activities are progressing and we are inevitably embedding some of the learnings from this research into the work with students.

Figure 1: RSD13 Paper Presentation

Within our course, we are pushing to incorporate systemic and future perspectives while working on a service design project by including the idea of crafting a long-term vision [Fig. 2]. Inspiration from this comes from the ways of working of the practitioners we have interviewed, but we are asking students to interpret it more iteratively: this translates into re-discussing the long-term vision with every concept iteration. In this way, besides being asked about new value systems, research questions and HMWs, the students are challenged to present their long-term vision for the transformation of the system they are working in. Each group is contributing to a wider transformation with localized experiments and services by keeping a dual focus on the current system capabilities and a transformative vision for the future.

Figure 2: Transition model for our Final Studio’s Students
Besides these activities, we kept on working with the content. We were able to gather new results by synthesising the findings from our internal workshop and scanning the interviews once again with new coding rounds. What emerged was then clustered into three main areas. With the principles, we wanted to collect new qualities, principles and values that are being practically implemented into the service design process coupled with Systemic Design and Design Futures. These are the drivers that we recognize are helping practitioners redirect their way of designing. We mapped as well the process challenges connected to the different moments across the design process in which we saw recurring practices and tools being used. Finally, this resulted in highlighting the emerging tensions that manifested across the design process encompassing different views, framing and ways of being and knowing of futures and systems. The structure of this work was shared with the whole group and allowed us to understand the next steps for the research, a pivotal point in which we will be investing time for the next months is going through a process of validation with both experts and practitioners from which we hope to gather new knowledge and solidify the existing one.
Figure 3: Our sunny office, with the insights mapped on the wall
The final part of this month was dedicated to presenting the early-stage results of UnSee, and we were able to do so thanks to our paper publication at the RSD13 conference. On the 18th of October, Beatrice Villari and Riccardo Torta presented our paper to an audience of systemic design experts, from which we gathered new and interesting insights. To have a sneak peek of the presentation, you can check out the file attached under this text, if you happen to have a look, let us know what you think, every feedback is important to us.

Right now we are starting the validation process and we are looking forward to meeting new and old friends and expanding the knowledge even more. If you want to be part of this process, which includes having an early look at the findings, reach out to us!

So far so good, see you in the near future.