making sense of messy problems - systems thinking for interaction designers
TRANSCRIPT
Making sense of messy problems
Johanna Kollmann @johannakoll ! Interaction 16, Helsinki
Systems thinking for Interaction Designers
Illustration by David Wicks: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sansumbrella/467998944/
The next 4 hours of your life:
Introduction to Systems Thinking
Tools for modeling systems
Systems behaviour over time
Changing systems
Systems Thinking?
In the past the man has been first; in the future the system must be first. !~ Frederick Winslow Taylor (1911)
In the past the man has been first; in the future the system must be first. !This in no sense, however, implies that great men are not needed. !~Frederick Winslow Taylor (1911)
“At the root of every seemingly technical problem is a human problem.”
~ Taiichi Ohno
http://visitmix.com/work/descry/awebsitenameddesire/
“Systems-‐based thinking is the process of understanding how things influence one another. !Then drawing on that knowledge to create efficiencies of process, infrastructure and communication.”
~ Abby Covert
“A system is
~ Donella Meadows
a set of elements or parts
oGen classified as its funcHon or purpose.”
that is coherently organized and inter-‐connected in a paKern or structure that produces a characterisHc set of behaviors,
Peter Checkland
Human activity systems
Soft Systems Methodology
Leverage points…
…places within a complex system where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything.
…are often counterintuitive.
Systems Thinking & UX
1) Modeling
2) Behavior over time
3) Change
1) Modeling
Mental Model
System Model
Conceptual Model
Personas from Design Jam London, by Jeff Van Campen http://www.flickr.com/photos/otrops/tags/designjamlondon/
Flickr User Model by Bryce Glass http://www.flickr.com/photos/bryce/58299511/
!“Only by building a model of customer behaviour and then showing our ability to use our product or service to change it over time can we establish real facts about the validity of our vision.”
~ Eric Ries
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Rich Picture
1. Construction of the Humber Bridge (adapted from Stewart and Fortune, 1994) © The Open University
2. Distance Learning Situation © Wood-‐Harper et al, Information Systems Definition: The Multiview Approach, Blackwell Scientific Publications 1985
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Rich Picture elements
Stakeholders
Worldview
Connections
Conflicts
2. Distance Learning Situation © Wood-‐Harper et al, Information Systems Definition: The Multiview Approach, Blackwell Scientific Publications 1985
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Rich Picture elements
Stakeholders
Worldview
Connections
Conflicts
2. Distance Learning Situation © Wood-‐Harper et al, Information Systems Definition: The Multiview Approach, Blackwell Scientific Publications 1985
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Business Model Canvas
Job seekers
Recruiters
Jobs
Candidates
Manage, promote platform
Platform
Manage and develop platform Marketing costs
Job ads Hiring fee
2) Behavior over time
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Flows
inflow outflow
information feedback, control
stock
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Feedback loops
George’s ability to solve problems
Number of problems solved
Number of remaining problems
Time available per problem
Project in trouble
Management pressure to solve
problems
R1 R3
R2
Need to involve Paul
B1
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Behavior over time graphs
inventory
days
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Behavior over time graphs
inventory
days
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Cohort analysis
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Cohort analysis
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Custom tools to monitor interactions
by @lukew
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Photo by Anders Zakrisson http://www.flickr.com/photos/anders-‐zakrisson/4982281184/
DATA
MEANING
3) Change
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
inventory
days
Flows and loops
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
10. Numbers (subsidies, taxes, standards).
9. Material stocks and flows.
8. Delays
7. Balancing negative feedback loops.
6. Reinforcing positive feedback loops.
5. Information flows.
4. The rules of the system (incentives, punishment, constraints).
3. The power of self-‐organization.
2. The goals of the system.
1. The mindset or paradigm out of which the goals, rules, feedback structure arise.
1) Modeling 2) Behavior over time 3) Change
Leverage points
Take-‐aways
The ‘worldviews’ that people and elements in the system hold
The processes that are necessary to deliver value to customers
!How to gather and visualize information holistically
How user-‐centered design and empathy help to reduce uncertainty
!What is the right level for the impact you are aiming for?
What enables the change, where are conflicts, who can be your change agent?
This matters because
Business trends.
Humane systems.
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. !We will not solve the problems of the world from the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. More than anything else, this new century demands new thinking: !We must change our materially based analyses of the world around us to include broader, more multidimensional perspectives. !~Albert Einstein
Resources
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries !Systems Thinking, Systems Practice and Soft Systems Methodology by Peter Checkland !Thinking in Systems: A Primer by Donella Meadows !Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur !Donella Meadow’s article Places to Intervene in a System can be found at http://www.developerdotstar.com/mag/articles/places_intervene_system.html !Peter Senge is a key systems thinker, I haven’t included any of his material directly, but read about this perspectives especially on organisational change. Check him out. !For the design geek in you, read up on Buckminster Fuller’s Design Science. !Peter Morville’s Intertwingled.