1. Sebastian Deterding‟s
“What Your Designs Say About You”
By Trevor Romney

2. Sebastian Deterding
Sebastian Deterding is the speaker who I
am going to Evaluate.

3. Sebastian Deterding
Deterding's thesis is that "We cannot not persuade.
Any piece of design in the world has a persuasive
component." He then speaks about morality and
values in regard to design, and on weighing the
benefits and consequences that our designs may
present to the consumer.

4. “What Your Designs Say About
You”

5. “What Your Designs Say About
You”
• According to Sebastian, everything we put out there is a
form of persuasive technology.
• Even objects that we use in our daily lives persuade us
to act in certain ways that the setting around us dictates
as „normal.‟

6. “What Your Designs Say About
You”
Sebastian
suggests that even
an object “as
innocuous as a set
of school chairs is
a form of
persuasive
technology.”
The arrangement and design of the seats in a classroom
suggests that teaching in this setting is meant to be done by one
teacher for many students. It suggests that learning is done
while sitting, and that notes are to be taken. The orderly
arrangement may suggest that moving while learning is
discouraged.

7. Sebastian Deterding
Sebastian uses his
subject matter most of all
to demand the attention
of the audience. I
wouldn't say that any of
the slides or that the
dynamism of his person
grabbed me, but the
ideas that he
immediately throws out
on the table are thought
provoking, and hard to
ignore.

8. Sebastian Deterding
Using relativity to our own
lives, backed up by renowned
philosophers and scholars,
Deterding certainly keeps you
thinking throughout the entire
speech. He presents more
ideas than just his thesis, and
presents it with a point of view
that lets you fill in the blanks
with what your own values and
morals dictate that make it feel
much less like he is imposing
information on you, and more
like he is having an open-
ended conversation.

9. Dynamic Rating:
3
As I mentioned before, Sebastian Deterding doesn't jump out and
grab you with physical dynamism. I also wouldn't say that the ideas are
something entirely new to me, but certainly used in a sense that steers
it to the creative industries. I would rate him a 3 out of 5 in dynamism.
However, an average dynamic score doesn't make this speech any less
interesting or thought provoking to me.

10. Sebastian Deterding
Sebastian follows many of the
rules set out by Garr Reynolds on
PowerPoint presenting in that he
uses appealing images with a lot of
negative space. He presents his
ideas in a way that compliment his
speech, not which distract from it.

11. Sebastian Deterding
What I like specifically
about Mr. Deterding's
presentation is that while he
presents, he doesn't make
you feel like he is trying to
make you change your
thinking at all. He simply
points out ways that our own
ways of thinking can be used
to effect those around us, and
possibly how we can limit the
way we do that to reduce
negative effects on
participants in our

12. Sebastian Deterding & Sir Ken Robinson
Comparing “What Your Designs Say About You”
to “Schools Kill Creativity”

13. Sir Ken Robinson
Robinson is certainly a bit
more radical and perhaps
more dynamic in his
presence. He speaks with
the intention of provoking
change in existing
systems, and uses
persuasive methods of
presentation to get
information across.

14. Sebastian Deterding
Deterding is much less
about causing change, as
simply pointing out that
everything we produce will
effect the consumer. I don't
even feel like his intention
was to say, "Please do the
right thing and present
uplifting messages." But
simply to point out that no
design is created without
some consequence to the
consumer.

15. For Future Presentations:
It is appealing to me to be presented with
information without a constraint on how it
should be perceived, what I must do with it, and
how it should effect my work. Certainly some
subjects should be presented in a more forceful
manner, but remember that some people don't
necessarily like being told exactly what to take
from the words you say. If you let your
audience take their own message away, while
still maintaining a thesis, I feel that the
information they take will be something they
remember and appreciate.