A talk comprised of various threads of thought from various Smithery projects across the last eighteen months, given at the open house at Loft Digital as part of London Technology Week. Starts with some conceptual thinking, ends with some examples and approaches for you to try at home...

1. Designing
The Future
The relationship
between people
and things
John V Willshire
@willsh
Smithery, London
Loft Digital 21.6.16

4. Strategic Design
bridges disciplines and departments,
roles and responsibilities.
It seeks to change the factors around
a thing, not just the thing itself.
It makes things happen.

5. CULTURE
things
people
PROTOTYPE
STRATEGYDESIGN

6. things
people

7. Over a thousand days ago…
stars: from nasa.gov

8. pic: wikipedia.org

9. MAN OF STEEL
2013
dir. Zack Snyder

11. 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2
Worldwide admissions
1978 20101990 20021982 1986 1994 1998 2006 2014

12. 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2
Worldwide admissions
1978 20101990 20021982 1986 1994 1998 2006 2014
Superman

13. 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2
Worldwide admissions
1978 20101990 20021982 1986 1994 1998 2006 2014
BatmanSuperman

14. 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2
Worldwide admissions
1978 20101990 20021982 1986 1994 1998 2006 2014
The Schumacher-Clooney
near-extinction event
BatmanSuperman

15. 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2
Worldwide admissions
1978 20101990 20021982 1986 1994 1998 2006 2014
Spiderman
The Schumacher-Clooney
near-extinction event
BatmanSuperman

16. 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2
Worldwide admissions
1978 20101990 20021982 1986 1994 1998 2006 2014
Spiderman
The Schumacher-Clooney
near-extinction event
Iron Man
BatmanSuperman

17. 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2
Worldwide admissions
1978 20101990 20021982 1986 1994 1998 2006 2014
Spiderman
The Schumacher-Clooney
near-extinction event
Iron Man
Kenneth Branagh’s Thor
BatmanSuperman

18. 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2
Worldwide admissions
1978 20101990 20021982 1986 1994 1998 2006 2014
Spiderman
The Schumacher-Clooney
near-extinction event
Iron Man
Kenneth Branagh’s Thor
BatmanSuperman
Avengers: Age Of Ultron

19. 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2
Worldwide admissions
1978 20101990 20021982 1986 1994 1998 2006 2014
Man of Steel

20. watching as a father, not a son

21. watching as a father, not a son

24. Me, my ideas, and
fools who didn’t listen

25. Me, my ideas, and
fools who didn’t listen
My child with
my instructions

26. Me, my ideas, and
fools who didn’t listen
My child with
my instructions
A place where my ideas
will save everyone

28. It’s a
film about
parenting

29. Who’s doing
the designing?

30. Who’s doing
the designing?
Whose future
is it anyway?

31. Who are we?
http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk

32. “Suddenly, here was
an entire generation
crying out for an
evolved version of the
things they were
consuming as children”
Simon Pegg

33. “Suddenly, here was
an entire generation
crying out for an
evolved version of the
things they were
consuming as children”
Simon Pegg

37. http://simonpegg.net/2015/05/19/big-mouth-strikes-again/

38. In The Night Kitchen
Maurice Sendak

39. saraelin.com

40. 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2
*Worldwide admissions, calculated using box office adjusted for ticket price inflation
1978 20101990 20021982 1986 1994 1998 2006 2014
Hey, can we get some
Superhero films now too..?

42. Catholic Guilt Batman

43. Bro-bin Hood

44. http://joshualaw88.blogspot.co.uk

45. 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2
*Worldwide admissions, calculated using box office adjusted for ticket price inflation
1978 20101990 20021982 1986 1994 1998 2006 2014
These aren’t films.
They’re franchise wormholes.

50. DO YOU WANT SPARKLES?

51. DO YOU WANT SPARKLES?

53. DO YOU WANT SPARKLES?

55. DO YOU
WANT
SPARKLES?

56. DO YOU
WANT
SPARKLES?

57. DO YOU
WANT
SPARKLES?

58. Trapped in an
ever-repeating
present…

59. Trapped in an
ever-repeating
present…

60. Time
for
New
Stories

62. inception
interstellar

63. "I liken it to the
blockbusters I
grew up with
as a kid:
edgy, incisive, challenging."
Christopher Nolan

64. Contains Spoilishes

65. “In Earth's future,
a global crop
blight and second
Dust Bowl are
slowly rendering
the planet
uninhabitable.”
Source: Google Description

66. “Professor Brand, a
brilliant NASA
physicist, is working on
plans to save mankind
by transporting Earth's
population to a new
home via a
wormhole.”
Source: Google Description

67. “But first, Brand must send former NASA pilot Cooper and a
team of researchers through the wormhole and across the
galaxy to find out which of three planets could be mankind's
new home.”
Source: Google Description

68. We’ve seen this
movie before…

69. We’ve seen this
movie before…

70. Farmer Scientist

71. It’s a
film about
parenting

72. Prof. Brand has a massive equation

74. Me, my ideas, and
fools who didn’t listen

75. Me, my ideas, and
fools who didn’t listen
My child with
my instructions

76. Me, my ideas, and
fools who didn’t listen
My child with
my instructions
A place where my ideas
will save everyone

77. “I thought I
was prepared.
I knew the theory.
Reality’s different”

78. Do not go gentle into
that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Dylan Thomas

79. Prof. Brand Dr. Mann

80. Dr. MannsplainingProf. Brand Dr. Mann

81. Different daughters

82. Coop would have
rather stayed home

85. We need to think
less about being
‘the hero’…

88. BREAKING NEWS:
Wireframing is not a
superpower

89. If these guys build
a ship…

90. …why would they
want you on it?

93. Here’s an
alternative…

94. How do we design for a
future we can’t see?

95. ‘We’ don’t…
How do we design for a
future we can’t see?

96. How do you
design a
world of
designers?

97. Different daughters

98. METADESIGN

99. METADESIGN
“to nurture the emergence of the
previously unthinkable through
interdisciplinary collaboration”
Wikipedia

100. “to nurture the emergence of the
previously unthinkable through
interdisciplinary collaboration”

101. User-centric design
Participative design
Metadesign

102. User-centric design
Participative design
Metadesign
“You start, I’ll finish”

103. User-centric design
Participative design
Metadesign
“You start, I’ll finish”
“Let’s do it together”

104. User-centric design
Participative design
Metadesign
“You start, I’ll finish”
“Let’s do it together”
“Here - off you go…”

105. METADESIGN
Procedural
Emergence
Topologies
Synergies
Diagrams
Languaging
Interdisciplinarity

106. METADESIGN
Procedural
Emergence
Topologies
Synergies
Diagrams
Languaging
Interdisciplinarity

107. Give people the tools
to do things together…

108. people

109. IAM Barcelona 2016

110. Metamechanics

111. Jean Tinguely
1925-1991

112. http://www.vernissage.tv

113. http://www.vernissage.tv

114. http://www.vernissage.tv
if you stare
long enough,
you see how
they work

116. Stare at it,
see how
it works

117. spotting
patterns
in repeat
behaviour

118. Mechanics
“the behavior of physical
bodies when subjected to
forces or displacements, and
the subsequent effects of the
bodies on their environment”
Wikipedia

119. Mechanics:
What happens
to things
when
things happen
to them

120. Mechanics:
What happens
to things
when
things happen
to them

121. What makes the
internet go round?

122. Let’s think Small, then big…

123. “an aggregation of many individual
pieces of content”

129. Content: what’s on the cards
Design Fiction Kit: Near Future Laboratory

130. Design Fiction Kit: Near Future Laboratory
Mechanics: that they are cards

132. Deal
Shuffle
Order
Stack
Turn
Spread
Rearrange

133. card Mechanics are
about movement

134. card Mechanics are
about movement

135. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9dIQOrVhM5E - Prof. John Wood, TED, on Synergies
“The Creative Quartet” - Prof. John Wood

136. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9dIQOrVhM5E - Prof. John Wood, TED, on Synergies
“The Creative Quartet” - Prof. John Wood

137. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9dIQOrVhM5E - Prof. John Wood, TED, on Synergies
“The Creative Quartet” - Prof. John Wood
1

138. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9dIQOrVhM5E - Prof. John Wood, TED, on Synergies
“The Creative Quartet” - Prof. John Wood
1
2

139. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9dIQOrVhM5E - Prof. John Wood, TED, on Synergies
“The Creative Quartet” - Prof. John Wood
1
2
3 45 6

140. “We are currently witnessing a
re-architecture of the web, away
from pages and destinations,
towards completely personalised
experiences built on an aggregation
of many individual pieces of
content…”
Paul Adams, Intercom
@padday

141. “an aggregation of many
individual pieces of content”

142. “an aggregation of many
individual pieces of content”

143. Mechanics can be
about small things

144. Let’s zoom out…

145. but this year…

146. 1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999

151. SLOW
FAST

152. FAST
SLOW SLOW
FAST

156. THE
GEARBOX

157. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1
THE
GEARBOX
slowFast
slowFast
people
SPACE

158. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1

159. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1
Long, slow beliefs
+
Solid, static structures

160. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1
Long, slow beliefs
+
Solid, static structures
rapid interactions
+
Transient ephemera

161. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1

162. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1
The Long, Slow
Drift EasT

163. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1
The Long, Slow
Drift EasT
Cronuts
for lunch

164. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1

165. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1
Fast people
influences
slow space

166. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1
Fast people
influences
slow space
e.g. Action-based
Light displays

167. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1

168. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1
Fast space
influences
slow people

169. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1
Fast space
influences
slow people
e.g. Prototype
Marketing

170. P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
S5
S4
S3
S2
S1
the relationship
between people
and things…
slowFast
slowFast
people
things

171. Internet Mechanics:
continually moving,
always unexpected,
often unintended
http://www.vernissage.tv

172. Internet Mechanics:
continually moving,
always unexpected,
often unintended
http://www.vernissage.tv

173. “Working out how the
internet works”

174. Stare at it,
see how
it works?

175. Stare at it,
see how
it works?

176. “We wanna
see the
patterns…”

177. Pattern match
that, kids

178. Pattern match
that, kids

179. People keep
getting in
the way
http://www.vernissage.tv

180. People keep
getting in
the way
http://www.vernissage.tv

181. “In science, when human
behaviour enters the
equation, things go
nonlinear.
That’s why physics is easy
and sociology is hard.”
@neiltyson

184. Strategy is dead.
design appropriately.

185. OODA Loops

186. OODA Loops

187. OODA Loops
Observe
Orient
Decide
Act

190. Observe
Orient
Decide
Act

191. Design WITH the
mechanics, not
AGAINST them

192. Design WITH the
mechanics, not
AGAINST them

193. things

194. things
people

195. PEOPLE
(population x impact)
things
people

196. PEOPLE
(population x impact)
THINGS
(output x change)
things
people

197. Strategic Design in practice…

198. CULTURE
things
people
PROTOTYPE
STRATEGYDESIGN

199. PROTOTYPING

200. PROTOTYPING

203. CULTURE

204. CUSTOMER JOURNEY MAPS
https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/87845062-optimizing-the-customer-journey-tips-from-ecommerce-experts

207. DESIGN

209. Origin. - Cone of Plausibility, Charles William Taylor, 1990

213. STRATEGY

216. Strategic Design: approach…

217. things
people0

218. TEAM QUAL QUANT
SKETCHSCAFFOLDSTRUCTURE
0
t
p

219. EACH SPACE IS
SELF-
CONTAINED
TEAM QUAL QUANT
SKETCHSCAFFOLDSTRUCTURE
0
t
p

220. DIFFERENT PROJECTS
TAKE DIFFERENT
JOURNEYS
TEAM QUAL QUANT
SKETCHSCAFFOLDSTRUCTURE
0
t
p

221. TIME IS AN
OUTPUT, NOT
AN INPUT
TEAM QUAL QUANT
SKETCHSCAFFOLDSTRUCTURE
0
t
p

222. IMPROVE
SHARE?
OR
TEAM QUAL QUANT
SKETCHSCAFFOLDSTRUCTURE
0
t
p

223. IN SUMMARY…

224. DESIGN FOR
PEOPLE
TO DESIGN

225. DESIGN FOR
THE WAY
THINGS
REALLY WORK

226. DESIGN FOR
THE WAY
THINGS
REALLY WORK

227. DESIGN
FOR MANY
ANSWERS
TEAM QUAL QUANT
SKETCHSCAFFOLDSTRUCTURE
0
t
p

228. john@smithery.co
http://smithery.co
Thank you… Questions?