1. Rethinking System Diagrams
From Arranging Components to Organizing Action,
Thought, and Possibilities
Soojin Jun, Miso Kim
Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Joonhwan Lee
Neowiz corp., Korea
6. audience
communication common goal
graphics
Designing interaction value
products
service principle
context
system
7. Outline
• Overview of system & system diagram
• 4 kinds of system diagrams & their organizing principles
• Case Study: The USPS Domestic Mail Manual Project
9. What is a system?
sustēma: reunion, conjunction or assembly
10. What is a system?
“ As opposed to the analytical, summative and machine
theoretical viewpoints, organismic conceptions have evolved in
all branches of modern biology which assert the necessity of
investigating not only parts but also relations of organization
resulting from a dynamic interaction and manifesting
themselves by the difference in behavior of parts in isolation
and in the whole organism.”
Ludwig von Bertalanffy, “An Outline of General System Theory” (1950, p134)
11. Shifting focus of a system
system of things how human experiences system
12. Shifting focus of a system
“ By definition, a system is the totality of all that is contained, has
been contained, and may yet be contained within it. We can
never see or experience this totality. We can only experience our
personal pathway through a system.”
Richard Buchanan, “Design Research and the New Learning” (2001, p12)
13. “ We create symbols or representations that attempt to express
the idea or thought that is the organizing principle.”
Richard Buchanan, “Design Research and the New Learning” (2001, p12)
14. System diagrams are about relationship
“ Diagram not only represents the related correlates, but also, and
much more definitely represents the relations between them, as
so many objects of the Icon.”
Charles S. Peirce, “Prolegomena for an Apology to Pragmatism” (1906, 4:316)
15. A system diagram as a visualization of the
organizing principle of the system
The key to system diagrams is not simply to represent a
relationship among things, but to understand the relationship
of how the system is organized.
16. 4 KINDS OF SYSTEM DIAGRAMS
Photo by Brenda M, Flickr
17. Condition that facilitates
participation in the
transcendent idea
symbol
Rule that guides SYSTEM as Function that supports
decision making relationship possibilities of action
issue affordance
Law that holds together
individual components
hierarchy
18. Condition that facilitates
participation in the
transcendent idea
symbol
Rule that guides SYSTEM as Function that supports
decision making relationship possibilities of action
issue affordance
Law that holds together
1
individual components
hierarchy
19. System as a law that holds together individual
components
“ Hierarchic systems have some common properties independent
of their specific content. Hierarchy is one of the central schemes
that the architect of complexity uses.”
Herbert A. Simon, The Sciences of the Artificial (1969, p184)
21. Condition that facilitates
participation in the
transcendent idea
symbol
Rule that guides SYSTEM as Function that supports
2
decision making relationship possibilities of action
issue affordance
Law that holds together
individual components
hierarchy
22. System as a rule that guides decision making
A system as "constructs of rules and procedures which are
meant to serve the desired end."
Focus on the agency that operates the system
Issues as places where different positions are assumed;
decisions should be made.
Werner Kunz & Horst Rittel, “How to Know What Is Known” (1984), “Issues as Elements
of Information Systems” (1970)
24. Condition that facilitates
participation in the
transcendent idea
symbol
Rule that guides SYSTEM as Function that supports
3
decision making relationship possibilities of action
issue affordance
Law that holds together
individual components
hierarchy
25. System as a function that supports possibilities
of action
“ The perceptual capacities of the organism do not lie in discrete
anatomical parts of the body but lie in systems with
nested functions.”
Affordance as a relationship between a living animal and its
environment and their ever-changing interaction.
James J. Gibson, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception (1979, p205, p127)
27. Condition that facilitates
4
participation in the
transcendent idea
symbol
Rule that guides SYSTEM as Function that supports
decision making relationship possibilities of action
issue affordance
Law that holds together
individual components
hierarchy
28. System as a condition
4
that facilitates participation
in the transcendent idea
System as a rule System as a function
that guides SYSTEM as that supports
decision making Relationship possibilities of action
System as a law that
holds together individual
components
29. System as a condition that facilitates participation
in the transcendent idea
This transcendent idea can be spiritual, ethical, aesthetic, or
cultural; it serves as a vision that motivates humans to
participate because “an ideal of beauty, truth, or justice” offers
them meaning and values.
Richard Buchanan, “Children of the Moving Present” (2001, p82)
30. System as a condition that facilitates participation
in the transcendent idea
The lunchbox method of brining to
light new relationships through
such combinations employed by
the Japanese in everything, from
flower arranging and food
preparation to company structure.
Kenji Ekuan, The Aesthetics of the Japanese
Lunchbox (1998)
31. Tokyo subway map (http://japan-guide.com) Wurman’s Tokyo subway map (1984)
32. CASE STUDY: The United States Postal Service
Domestic Mail Manual Transformation Project
33. The United States Postal Service Domestic
Mail Manual Transformation Project
DMM 100
DMM 200
DMM 57
DMM 300
41. RATE TREE DIAGRAM- DISCOUNT Letter Flat
Shape Each unique rate (excluding weight)
is represented by a path. The grey
boxes are the final end points where Letter size Postcard size Letter size and Postcard size
the rates live.
First Class Standard First Class Standard Bount Printed Matter Media Mail Library Mail
Class
Regular Nonprofit Regular Nonprofit
Machine
Nonautomation Automation (Nonautomation) Automation Nonautomation Automation (Nonautomation) Automation
Compatability
Presorted ? Carrier Route Presorted Enhanced Carrier Route ? Enhanced Carrier Route Presorted ? Presorted Enhanced Carrier Route ? Presorted Carrier Route 5-Digit Basic 5-Digit Basic
Sortation
Level 3-Digit 5-Digit AADC
Mixed
Basic 3/5
High
Saturation Basic
Mixed
3-Digit 5-Digit AADC
Automation
3-Digit 5-Digit ADC
Mixed
Basic 3/5
High
Saturation Basic Basic 3/5
AADC Density AADC Basic ADC Density
DBMC DSCF DDU Zone DBMC Zone DDU DSCF
Destination DBMC DSCF DDU
Local, 1 & 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1&2 3 4 5
Rate structure analysis diagram
56. Conclusion
• Situational change in how system diagrams will be used.
• Users need to understand the organizing principle of complex
information systems in order to take action.
• Designers facing the increasing need to work in collaboration –
system diagram as a shared structure to support group work.
• Need for high-level thinking to foster different modes of thought.
