how to design within complex systems

1. How to educate for a wicked world?
Prof. Dipl. Ing. Jurgen Faust
IED Comunicazione
Chief Academic Officer IED

2. What is design?
“Everyone designs who devises courses of
action aimed at changing existing situations
into preferred ones.”
Herbert Simon

3. The marketing communication process:
PRINCIPLES A DESIGN PROCESS
 Promotion Decisions
 Targets of Marketing
Promotions
 Objectives  Problem descriptions-
briefings
 Types of promotion (mix)
 Research
 Communication Participants
 Development
 Communication Delivery
 Implementation
 Obstacles
 Keys to be effective
 Characteristics of
Promotions
 Intended Audience
 etc.

4. Mechanical model?!

5. We live in a wicked world!
“For complex situations, also in communication, there is no
definitive statement of "The Problem."
The problems coming out of briefings are often ill-structured
because an evolving set of interlocking issues and
constraints makes it impossible to structure them well.”
(Rittel and Webber, 1973 )

6. We live in a wicked world!

7. Wicked problems briefing
Analyze the situation…
It can be described in different
ways and then you will project
different solutions…
there is no one way to
formulate the problem!

8. Solutions to wicked problems…
… cannot be true or false,
although they can be good or
bad…

9. Explanation to wicked problems
… there is always more than
one plausible explanation for a
wicked problem…

10. Testing solutions…
… there is no single right or
true test for a solution to a
wicked problem…

11. And…
… every wicked problem is
unique…

12. Wicked problem education
“Learning is any change in a
system that produces a
more or less permanent
change in its capacity for
adapting to its
environment.”
Herbert Simon

13. IED-XL (40 years) future learning model
 Make the classroom to a real communication studio
 Blurry the time between school and live
 Coach them in project based environment
 Involve students in real projects
 The student is the actor
 Train faculty to be coaches
 Give students access to technology whenever needed
 Give students a global exposure
 Engage them in intellectual and future discussions with social responsibility
 Students need how to learn
 Students need to learn to work in teams
 And… students need to work with wicked problems