[p2p-research] Fwd: Ideology in design for work

[Michel Bauwens]

Mark is looking for employment, see below for his motivations.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mark Whiting <mark.whiting at gmail.com>
Date: Mar 26, 2008 8:13 PM
Subject: Ideology in design for work
To: Michel Bauwens <michelsub2004 at gmail.com>




Dear Michel,




I am writing to provide you with a snippet of text which I think helps
describe the kinds of problems and kinds of solutions I am interested
in. You had mentioned that it may be advantageous to give this to you
so you could forward it to people in your network who might be
interested, for the sake of my employment. I would be really grateful
if you can still help me in this regard.  I am also not sure if the
format and context and appropriate, so if you think otherwise I will
adjust the text presently.




I have included the text in line in the email.




I think my ultimate goal in design is to use contextually aware and
honest information in order to improve human happiness and progress. I
envisage this being done through the development of elegant
designed-systems and the implementation of appropriate strategies, or
simple and strait forward strategies that really suit the need they
are designed to provide for. Below are five points that contribute to
my approach to this outlook:




First, I believe in the generation of a fundamental knowledge schema
derived from investigating the underlying problems that cause the
problems we usually set about solving. Essentially, I think a good
comprehension of problems and ways to represent them clearly are
invaluable but uncommon tools in the design process.




Second, I strongly uphold a sense of  "honest" information: quite
simply, the clarity, relevance, and truthfulness of data and how it is
used to make decisions.  I think "honest" information and systems are
a key to both good human interaction and truly sustainable design. One
aspect of design that exemplifies this idea, to me, is the design
ideology which drives open formats: they are designed to do just
enough and no more in order to maximise transparency of intention,
simplicity of interface, and extensibility of data.




Third, I find great pleasure in approaching problems with all the
available resources and information while maintaining a strong
willingness to discard traditional methods of finding solutions. I
think history is one of our greatest design tools, whether it be used
through bio-mimicry or simply studying the Ancients, for example. I do
believe that the current level of historical sensitivity and
appreciation is low. This is not to say that design should be an
archaeological exploration; I simply think that we are not referencing
our ancestors' creative solutions and processes enough.




Fourth, I see it as a goal of humanity to approach life as a
potentially meaningful expedition. Having lived and travelled in
poorer parts of the world and befriended people from a variety of
cultures and a myriad of lifestyles, I increasingly believe that the
progress many Westernised countries uphold comes only at a grave cost
to human happiness.  People I have met in these non-Western societies
appear happier and more engaged with their own lives; despite the
differences in medicine, technology, and economy that are often used
to make poorer and less "developed" nations seem disadvantaged. My
hope is to help  globally normalise the notion of progress, as a way
of improving a life's expedition - to increase the actual quality of
life, as opposed to the standard of living as typically measured by
GDP,  poverty rate, income inequality quotients, etc.




Finally, and in some ways a combination of the previous points, my
hope is to use clear, fundamental knowledge with empathetic and honest
ideologies to create designed-systems that are globally conscious, to
be used realistically and advantageously to improve value for all
involved parties. I think this could lead to better, more holistic and
human centred, design outcomes while allowing designers new kinds of
creative input into solutions, including maximising appropriateness of
solutions for any specific market.




I know this outlook, both generally and with all of the limited
specificity I provide, is common among many individuals and is often
seen as being idealistic. However, with the five elements of
methodology I have mentioned and a boundless passion for simply making
things better through design and innovation, I believe the
difficulties can be reduced. I think there is a good model to roll out
improvements to anything considerable by design or innovation and
while I think that model is well represented in the
appropriate-technology school of thought, more complete outcome for
more diverse audiences can be facilitated by universally appropriating
solutions for their contexts. Most fundamentally I think working to
help build a better future though design and innovation is my goal in
whatever role I take.




If there is interest in a more résumé like document please see my
LinkedIn profile, and my existing service list. I have also started to
put some of my physical design projects into my Coroflot portfolio. I
hope this is helpful.




Many Thanks,

Mark Whiting

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