September 8, 2021
When looking at the demographic data of the College of Design and the University as a whole, I wasn’t very surprised to see that more than 60% of students and faculty are white. This did not come as a shock to me as NC State is deemed as a Predominantly white institute (PWI). Something that I did find interesting from the College of Design is that even as a smaller college, in comparison to the college of Humanities and Textiles, the same demographic trends follow in strong correlation to the Universities data. This alone showed me that NC State has a long way to go with increasing diversity on campus and in classrooms. One question that I asked myself is “how does NC State define diversity and if there is and bias on their definition?” I will say that I appreciate the fact that NC State is providing data transparency to its students and community members, however it should be noted that the most recent data found and used is from 2020.
Based on what I have read, watched, listened to, and talked about in earlier design courses, I’ve learned that design in itself is too general to place in a neat aesthetically pleasing box. Design is more so about the people, the perception of society and its impact on others. In seeing how in the past design has been stuck in a colonized mind frame in colleges, businesses, and large corporation, it has made me think a about the purpose design is supposed to bring. Instead of thinking about design intention, we as designers both in the past and future are taught to use to design to make money not to really think about our moral obligations when sending out our design work into the world. Even how it’s safe to say that if we don’t decolonize design and recognize it for all that it is, history will be doomed to repeat itself.
In knowing that design has a larger purpose in changing humanity, it shows that we as designers of all trades have a lot of weight to carry. In having conversations about innovation, morality and human-centered design, I want to be able to be a part of that future where design can truly change the lives of people in the future. However, in looking towards the future, I have to acknowledge the past and present mistakes that design has been a part of. In knowing the past failures and misrepresentations in design culture, it will help me, and others change the narrative of design practices and procedures so that we can provide designs that will help solve the problem and not just another temporary solution. Just as Tania Allen mentioned in her book that “We cannot make assumptions that design will always improve a given situation. And we must make a distinction between improvement of a current situation that is equally balanced with a critical consideration of projections for future impact.” (Allen, 3)
As I looked upon the demographic data, I noticed that I was looking at the wrong information that would help me find the answer to the question “What is missing in design education?” The initial response would be that there is not enough diverse backgrounds in the College of Design and in other businesses, but I think that solving that would only be the beginning. What I realized was that although bringing in diverse people is good, diversifying the design tools needed to work is the bigger problem. When I looked at my past design classes syllabus, I found that over 60% of books that faculty suggest reading are written by White Authors. Although the books and articles are well written and helpful, there not showing up different perspectives but rather similar bias opinions in design. I see this as big gap that needs to be filled in the coming future. How can we change diversity inclusion eternally when we haven’t solved it internally by what we teach and learn?
My education and exposure that I have gained today has started to shape my understanding of design and design studies by showing me that design is not just about aesthetics, paintings, money, or simplicity, rather it’s about the people that have or will be impacted. Design in a way has a lot of complex parts to it but as a society we need to understand the complexity within its tools, ideologies, and technologies so that we can move forward and fill the gaps within our own design culture for future designers.
Work Cited
Allen, Tania. “Introduction.” Solving Critical Design Problems: Theory and Practice, 2019, p. 1–6.
“Institutional Stragety and Analysis: Diversity.” NC State University, https://isa.ncsu.edu/facts-comparisons/factbook/diversity/.
“Spring 2021 Enrollment Report.” NC State University, https://report.isa.ncsu.edu/IR/Students/EnrollmentData/sp21enrol/index.htm.
October 3, 2021
I see technology as an advantage for Mathangi Arulpragasam (M.I.A) because it was a way for her to amplify the voices of refugees and to bring forth problems that were being overlooked by western media at the time. As much as technology helped M.I.A bring these problems to light, it also set her back from others who criticized her music and activism methods as a Tamil woman. She stirred up much controversy with her music videos, lyrics and performances that caused her to be looked at as a terrorist in the media and on various social platforms. As I was researching about M.I.A, I came across an article where she discusses technology and data manipulation where she said that “things that are now mainstream news [is] everywhere now [a]nd it’s ongoing. [Were] basically losing our liberties… Leaving a very negative way to look at it.” This reminded me of Nicolas Carr and how he argues in the Glass Cage that our reliability on technology in design can lead us into automation bias as well as “risk exclusion of humans in design”, thereby taking out originality. Both Carr and M.I.A would probably agree that as good as technology is, it’s still very much flawed.
I think that access to technology can help us level the playing field in design, however I think that we as designers have to open to new ideas and concepts that are being introduced in technology. Technology has a major impact on how we learn and interact with each other. Technology has the ability to help us create new things, share stories and bring hidden problems to the light but we have to be open and willing to learn from diverse groups of people and their cultures. We have to start embracing technology in global terms and not just in western ideals. I think that technology may be creating a larger gap in design by the algorithms that are put into place that restrict us from what we actually want to see or blinds us to bigger issues. Another way technology creates a larger gap is through how it can restrict us from physically interacting with one another at times. It’s easy to find research and stories about other cultures and their values but it’s different from hearing them firsthand and empathizing with them. Technology has a long way to go but I think that by closing some of these gaps for the sake of design practices, we can act upon including diversity in design.
November 2021
We would like to improve the relationship between ourselves and our pollinators, But in doing so requires thinking and working cautiously. Evident from what we have observed in our relationship with bees, our interactions can result in significant consequences for bees and vice versa. In Chapter 9 of John Thackara's book In The Bubble: Designing in a Complex World, Thackara suggests that "Learning from the principles of nature can save a lot of time and cost... We can learn how natural systems optimize, rather than maximize, their use of materials. We can learn, like nature, how to create artifacts that sense and respond to their local situation." (Thackara 196)
Take for example the fight against the spread of disease, a topic that has become very relevant in recent years due to COVID-19. Aside from the fact that our society makes effort to stop the spread of deadly diseases, Bees have diseases that they must deal with as well. Bees in their own habitats have been discovered implementing disease prevention strategies and survival tactics of there own that we as humans can learn from. Our strategies may not intend to copy or mimic these systems, but rather do like Thackara describes in Chapter 9: to "[understand] both the principles of its operation and the specificities of its context and design from there" (Thackara 197). From understanding the systems in which bees work and operate in we can develop inspired initiatives that improve our systems and conditions, protect the systems and conditions of bees and overall strengthen our relationships to the environment we occupy and the symbiotic relationship between humans and bees.
Humans should develop a stronger mutual relationship than just the exploitative commensalistic relationship we had had with bees for centuries (1). We must design not just to give us the opportunity to utilize bees as pollinators to our advantage. We must also be inclusive to bees with our design, striving to implement practices that protect them and their environments so that they may thrive with us.
November 30 2021
I think the format of the test went well and it was easy for me and the participants to go through it quickly. The feedback on Canva from the participants showed that Canva could improve on enlarging their icons around the in-app purchase elements to help users know that this element is not free. Another thing I noticed was that Canva could be more specific at their available free and costing printing options and limit their pop-up count for users. What did not work was my creation of Task 3 and 4 as it gave confusion and stopped the flow of work of the participants. If I could change anything to the test, I would rephrase my pre-interview questions and task to make it appeal to all types of users (new or experienced) and ask for feedback of the usability test itself in addition to the product I'm testing. If I was working with a larger group of people I would have shortened the task for the participants and had some participants design together and some work individually. I would've also focused more on how they collaborated and interacted with each other and Canva’s interface.