For quite some time I have had the pleasure to work with Zeljko Obrenovic on the topic of design complexity. We recently self-published a book on the topic, called "Design Instability - notes on design complexity". It is a short book that explores the complexity of design and why design is not easily simplified.
We describe the book like this:
"Designers deal with an overwhelmingly rich reality, undetermined requirements, highly intricate
social situations, lack of information, as well as lack of resource and time restrictions. Every designer is faced and challenged by this complexity. Discussing complexity in design, however, is difficult, as complexity is a very loaded and often vaguely defined term.
With this book, we want to better describe and give a structured definition of what design complexity may mean. We believe that such more structured overview can help researchers and practitioners to better understand some of the experiences designers are going through while designing. We also believe that in the education of designers it is useful to picture design complexity as an essential part of design that has to be accepted and dealt with, and not as a problem to avoid. We believe that a more structured understanding of design complexity can make such education possible.
A central thesis explored in this book is that complexity characteristic for design activities emerges from an inherent *instability of design activities*. We will argue that this instability is a consequence of messy, dynamic, highly interdependent and unpredictable dynamics between design situations, design outcomes, and design resources.
Design situations, design outcomes and design resources are complex structures that are not independent of each other. They are also continuously changing, in great part due to forces that are beyond designers' control."
You can find more information here: https://leanpub.com/notesondesigncomplexity
We describe the book like this:
"Designers deal with an overwhelmingly rich reality, undetermined requirements, highly intricate
social situations, lack of information, as well as lack of resource and time restrictions. Every designer is faced and challenged by this complexity. Discussing complexity in design, however, is difficult, as complexity is a very loaded and often vaguely defined term.
A central thesis explored in this book is that complexity characteristic for design activities emerges from an inherent *instability of design activities*. We will argue that this instability is a consequence of messy, dynamic, highly interdependent and unpredictable dynamics between design situations, design outcomes, and design resources.
Design situations, design outcomes and design resources are complex structures that are not independent of each other. They are also continuously changing, in great part due to forces that are beyond designers' control."
You can find more information here: https://leanpub.com/notesondesigncomplexity
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