1. CREATING _____
RADICALLY ____
BETTER ________
FUTURES ______
Image credit: NASA / Hubble

2. FEB 23 2011
SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS / NYC
MFA / IXD LECTURE SERIES
VILLE TIKKA
WEVOLVE.US
Image credit: NASA / Hubble

3. Image credit: NASA / Hubble
1

4. TURBULENT
TIMES
AHEAD

5. THE WORLD IS CHANGING FASTER THAN
EVER BEFORE. NO KIDDING.
ANTICIPATING THE CHANGE HAS
BECOME A CRITICAL CAPACITY FOR
EVERY CREATIVE ENDEAVOR FROM
SERVICE DESIGN TO PRODUCT
INNOVATION AND URBAN PLANNING.

6. OUR FUTURE IS TBD BY :
CLIMATE CRISIS, SOCIAL WEB, ARTIFICIAL
INTELLIGENCE, STEM CELLS, POLLUTION,
PANDEMICS, SENSING ENVIRONMENTS,
RECESSION, PEAK RESOURCES, SENSORIAL
ENHANCEMENTS, POPULATION GROWTH,
POVERTY, AUGMENTED REALITY,
ETC MAJOR FORCES AND DEVELOPMENTS.

7. “EXTREME IMPROBABLE EVENTS ARE THE
NORM RATHER THAN THE EXCEPTION.
THEY DOMINATE THE WORLD.”
WE CAN’T PREDICT THESE EVENTS BUT
WE SHOULD BUILD ROBUSTNESS AGAINST
NEGATIVE ONES AND BE ABLE TO BENEFIT
FROM THE POSITIVE ONES.
-Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
Author of The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

8. THE GOOD NEWS :
BIG PROBLEMS AND MAJOR
CHALLENGES – BOTH THE ONES WE
C AN ANTICIPATE AND THE ONES WE
C AN’T – TRANSLATE INTO HUGE
OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPLORE AND
CREATE NEW AND BETTER WAYS OF
LIVING AND DOING :

9. ARK – CONCEPTUAL MULTIPURPOSE
BUILDING FOR 10.000 PEOPLE, DESIGNED
TO WITHSTAND NATURAL DISASTERS
/by Alexander Remizov
Image credit: REMISTUDIO/ALEXANDER REMIZOV

10. ROLLING MASTERPLAN –
CITY ON RAILS TO REORGANIZE
URBAN SPACE AND ADJUST CITIES
/by Jagnefalt Milton
Image credit: http://www.jagnefaltmilton.com

11. BUT IT’S NOT ABOUT ARCHITECTURE
ONLY. DIGITAL SOLUTIONS AND
SYSTEMS HAVE BECOME A CRUCIAL
FRONTIER OF INNOVATION WHERE
WE EXPLORE BETTER WAYS TO
TACKLE MAJOR PROBLEMS.
THE SCOPE OF DIGITAL (DESIGN) IS
CONSTANTLY BROADENING :

12. SOCIETY
COMMUNITY
PEOPLE
X
SERVICES
PLATFORMS
ECOSYSTEMS

13. BETAVILLE – COLLABORATIVE
ONLINE ENVIRONMENT FOR
PARTICIPATORY URBAN DESIGN THAT
ALLOWS ANYONE TO JOIN
DEVELOPMENT OF REAL CITIES
/by Brooklyn Experimental Media Center,
NYU & Hochschule Bremen

14. GIVE A MINUTE – VIRTUAL SUGGESTION
BOX AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
PLATFORM THAT AGGREGATES IDEAS
AND FACILITATES CONVERSATION
/by Local Projects, CEOs for Cities &
Rockefeller Foundation

15. Image credit: NASA / Hubble
2

16. ANTICIPATE
CHANGE
& IDENTIFY
OPPORTUNITIES

17. TO BE ABLE TO CREATE RELEVANT
AND MEANINGFUL SOLUTIONS &
SYSTEMS WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND
THE WORLD AND PEOPLE WE ARE
DESIGNING WITH AND FOR ON
DIFFERENT LEVELS :

18. SOCIETY & ECOSYSTEMS
SOCIETY
> ECONOMIC / POLITICAL /
FUTURES RESEARCH, ETC
------------------------------------------
COMMUNITY
COMMUNITY & PLATFORMS
> SOCIO-CULTURAL
RESEARCH, ETC
PEOPLE
-----------------------------------------
X
PEOPLE & SERVICES
SERVICES
> HUMAN CENTERED
DESIGN / MARKETING
RESEARCH, ETC
PLATFORMS
-------------------------------------------------
HUMANS & INTERACTION
> USABILITY / HUMAN FACTORS
ECOSYSTEMS
RESEARCH, ETC

19. THE BROADER WE GO OR THE BIGGER
SYSTEMS WE DESIGN, THE MORE WE
NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE FUTURE
CONTEXT AND SOCIO-CULTURAL
REALITIES IN ADDITION TO THE MORE
STABLE BEHAVIORS AND HUMAN
PRINCIPLES.

20. THE
PROCESS :

21. FIRST WE NEED TO RETHINK THE
SYSTEMS WE LIVE IN AND TAKE A
BIRD’S GAZE TO THE ISSUES WE ARE
FACING.
THIS HOLISTIC TOP-DOWN
RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS IS NEEDED
TO ENSURE THE FRESH FOCUS FOR
THE WORK.

22. THE METHODS INCLUDE :
RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS OF THE
SOCIAL, TECHNOLOGICAL,
ENVIRONMENTAL, ECONOMIC AND
POLITICAL MACRO FORCES AND
SYSTEMS, DONE IN COLLABORATION
WITH LEADING EXPERTS.

23. IDENTIFYING SYSTEMIC ISSUES :

24. DEFINING A FRESH FOCUS :
ALEX BOGUSKY :
Introducing Common – part community, part
incubator and part media-channel – a “living
network for a new brand of capitalism that
spreads love and prosperity to all
stakeholders.”

25. THEN, WITH A CRISP NEW FOCUS IN
MIND WE SHOULD MEET THE
VANGUARD OF CHANGE TO IDENTIFY
AND DEFINE NEW OPPORTUNITIES.
THIS BOTTOM-UP RESEACRH AND
ANALYSIS GETS US UNDER THE SKIN
OF THE ISSUE TO SEE HOW CHANGE
C AN AND SHOULD HAPPEN.

26. SOME OF THE METHODS ARE :
INTERVIEWS OF THINKERS AND DOERS –
REAL AND VIRTUAL ETHNOGRAPHIES –
OBSERVATIONS – IMMERSIONS INTO
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, CURIOUS ARTICLES,
QUIRKY BLOGS, EXPLORATIVE REPORTS,
ART EXHIBITIONS – ETC.

27. TO IDENTIFY NEW CONCRETE
OPPORTUNITIES WE SHOULD EMBRACE
FUTURES THINKING :
ART
CULTURE
TECH

28. WE CAN CONNECT AND COLLABORATE
WITH THE ONES WHO ARE ON THE CUSP
OF CULTURAL, ARTISTIC OR
TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE – PEOPLE
WHO DARE TO THINK DIFFERENTLY AND
DEVELOP NEW IDEAS ABOUT FUTURE
AND ACTIVELY EXPERIMENT WITH NEW
MEANS TO GET THERE.

29. THEN
DESIRABILITY
DEFINE WITH
DESIGN
THINKING :

30. DESIRABILITY > HOW PEOPLE GIVE
MEANING TO THINGS AND WHAT THEY
FIND RELEVANT.
VIABILITY > WHAT KIND OF MODELS OR
SYSTEMS ARE VIABLE AND SUSTAINABLE.
FEASIBILITY > WHY SOME
TECHNOLOGICAL ENABLERS WILL
SUCCEED AND WHY OTHERS WON'T.

31. Image credit: NASA / Hubble
3

32. BE
THE
CHANGE

34. FIRST :
DON’T CREEP – LEAP. BE WILLING
TO THINK DIFFERENTLY.
“WE CAN’T SOLVE PROBLEMS USING
THE SAME KIND OF THINKING WE USED
WHEN WE CREATED THEM.”
- A lbert Einstein

35. EXPLORE THE TOTAL OPPORTUNITY
SPACE FOR INNOVATION :
INCREMENTAL
EVOLUTIONARY
REVOLUTIONARY

36. INCREMENTAL CHANGE MIGHT RESULT
TO BACKWARD CHANGE IN THE LONG
RUN.
EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE CREATES
SHORT TERM SUCCESS – BUT THAT’S IT.
ONLY THINKING THE UNTHINKABLE
CREATES THE CAPACITY TO START A
NEW ERA!

37. Sunglasses
by
Jeremy
Sco1
X
Linda
Farrow
SS2011

38. SECOND :
ORCHESTRATE & COLLABORATE.
EMPOWERING PEOPLE AT THE
VANGUARD OF CHANGE IS THE SAFEST
BET FOR SYSTEMIC RADICAL INNOVATION
THAT CREATES DESIRABLE, VIABLE AND
FEASIBLE MEANS FOR FUTURE.

39. OPEN COLLABORATIVE PROCESS ALLOWS
MULTIPLE ENTRY POINTS FOR
PARTICIPATION :
PROBLEM &
IDEATION &
EVALUATION &
INSIGHT
CONCEPTING
ITERATION
DEFINITION

40. THIRD :
DO GOOD – DO WELL.
ECOSYSTEMS THAT CREATE VERSATILE
VALUE – SUCH AS FINANCIAL, SOCIAL, AND
CULTURAL CAPITAL – AND DISTRIBUTE THE
VALUE ARE LIKELY TO BE MORE VIABLE AND
SUSTAINABLE IN THE LONG TERM.

41. MAKE PROFIT
DO HARM
X
DO GOOD
MAKE LOSS

42. FOURTH :
TAKE THE LONG AND BROAD VIEW.
MORE THAN EVER BEFORE “A DESIGNER
IS AN EMERGING SYNTHESIS OF ARTIST,
INVENTOR, MECHANIC, OBJECTIVE
ECONOMIST AND EVOLUTIONARY
STRATEGIST”
-R. Buckminster Fuller

43. MARRY DESIGN THINKING WITH
FUTURES THINKING.
FUTURES
THINKING
DESIGN
THINKING

44. CREATE _______
RADICALLY ____
BETTER ________
FUTURES ______