ABOUT THE BOOK
Designing Tomorrow draws on global trends, academic research, and case studies to explore how designers and decision-makers can leverage strategic design tactics to drive positive change in organisations.
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Understand the value of implementing a life-centred approach to innovation for your organisation.
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See the larger systems within which the things we design exist.
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Identify unintended consequences and learn how to envision futures.
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Establish impactful partnerships and find out how to get buy-in for responsible innovation.
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Drive a positive impact by building small 1% changes into your practice.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I: CHANGE
Chapter 1: The Limits of Good Design – The Titanic & the Canyon
Chapter 2: Hidden Impacts of Design Decisions – Highways & Cobras
Chapter 3: Towards Responsible Innovation – The Rise of Strategic Design
PART II: NETWORKS
Chapter 4: Understanding the Larger System – The Elephant & the Glass House
Chapter 5: Identifying Unintended Consequences –Ripples & Infinite Regret
Chapter 6: Capturing Diverse Perspectives – Biases & Bubbles
PART III: INTERVENTIONS
Chapter 7: Visualising the Impacts – Planes & Bullet Holes
Chapter 8: Envisioning Futures – The Long Now
Chapter 9: Implementing Change – Seeds & Provocations
PART IV: PARTNERSHIPS
Chapter 10: Enabling Effective Collaboration –Watersheds & DNA
Chapter 11: Getting Buy-in – Obstacles & Alliances
Chapter 12: Becoming a Strategic Leader – A Manifesto
MEET THE TEAM
Martin Tomitsch
AUTHOR
Martin Tomitsch is a Professor and Head of the Transdisciplinary School at the University of Technology Sydney and a founding member of the Life-centred Design Collective. He grew up on an organic dairy farm in the Austrian Prealps before moving to Vienna to study information technology. While on exchange in Stockholm, he discovered what was then called ‘user-centred design’, which led him to complete a PhD in human-computer interaction and his first academic post at the University of Sydney’s Design Lab. Martin has taught design, innovation, and creativity for over 20 years. His other books include Making Cities Smarter and Design Think Make Break Repeat.
Steve Baty
AUTHOR
Steve Baty is a strategic designer with over 25 years experience as a business founder, keynote speaker, awards judge, Interaction Design Association (IxDA) president, conference organiser, and UX Book Club founder. He has worked with hundreds of clients in digital systems, e-commerce, UX, service design, and strategic design. Steve is co-founder of Meld Studios, an award-winning agency based in Sydney with clients from across the world, and UX Australia, which hosts industry conferences for designers and leaders, and CEO of the Australian Design Council. Steve is driven by his desire to see a sustainable and just world in which everyone has an opportunity to thrive, well into the future.
Alan Chen
ILLUSTRATOR
Diana Ayoub
DESIGNER
Jacquelyn Hole
EDITOR
Verity Borthwick
COPYEDITOR
WHY WE WROTE THIS BOOK
Martin and Steve decided to write this book after listening to each other’s talks at the UX Australia conference in August 2021. Hearing Steve share insights from his practice about the far-reaching impact design can create, Martin recognised the connection between his research on life-centredness and strategic design practice.
Our objective for the book became to combine Martin’s academic knowledge with Steve’s industry experience. We both feel passionate about design and its potential to drive positive change. We believe that we owe it to future generations to enable this change.
We also realise that we have contributed to the issues discussed in the first three chapters through our research, teaching, and practice. This experience provides us with perspective as well as a responsibility to change what we do and become part of the solution.
We hope this book can offer the tools and strategies needed to build and share the stepping stones for shifting us to more sustainable ways of living. Thank you for joining the 1% change movement and driving positive change in your organisation.