The DBW project results in an exploratory essay that examines a complex problem and proposes sustainable strategies for addressing it. The DBW is challenging because it requires you to conduct a careful, detailed, systematic examination of the topic you choose. The emphasis on complexity demands that you reach beyond obvious interpretations of the challenges we encounter and of the strategies we might engage to address them. This project develops over 4 stages.
This project requires 3 prototype and 1 final submissions. All files are submitted to a Design for a Better World folder in your shared course space on Dropbox.com.
For each submission stage, you'll post a set of project documents. By your final submission stage, your folder should contain 23 files for my review. For the full list of core and supporting documents/files, see Submission Requirements.
SVSU's standards for Category 10 General Education courses (of which this is 1) emphasize critical thinking (including critical reading and writing), deep engagement with ideas, and understanding how to locate, assess, and draw from appropriate, published knowledge resources. Many courses at this institution follow a pattern similar to the one we are following. That is, we began with a writing project that emphasized developing and organizing ideas, but that drew on your personal knowledge and experiences as evidence to support the assertions you presented in the Design Autobiography. We now evolve the complexity of the project to include the other points of emphasis for Gen Ed Cat 10.
In the segments that follow, I define wicked problems, discuss strategies for identifying problems to explore in the DBW project, ponder what it means to seek complexity, and frame some important strategies for drawing on published resources. Invest some time in considering these important learning pathways.
By the time you engage in crafting your arguments about wicked problems and sustainable solutions, you will have completed 3 workshops that help you practice strategies for developing an understanding of such things: Heuristic Ideation + Roses & Thorns (Workshop 5), Vision Cone (Workshop 6), and Articulation Mapping (Workshop 7).
The wicked problem classification was defined by Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber in 1973 in an article published in the Policy Sciences journal. In short, wicked problems are challenges that seem impossibly complex, or for which there are no obvious or easy solutions. Thus, any strategies we propose to address a wicked problem must themselves be complex, multidimensional, and challenging to implement. Further, the solutions to wicked problems must be viewed at the outset as plausible but not predictable, meaning we can hope they contribute to improving things, but that we won't know for sure they will until they prove to have positive impact upon implementation.
Pause for a moment to ponder some of the challenging, complex problems we face here in the United States right now: political division; extreme economic stratification; gun violence; social inequity; climate change. None of these challenges are easy to understand, let alone solve. All of these problems are long-standing issues that themselves are made up of many, many challenges that emerged over time. Even tracing the histories of these problems presents challenges.
An essential obstacle to grappling with these problems is actually our national habit of presenting all problems, even complex ones such as these, as obvious in their origins and equally obvious in their solutions. However, history demonstrates that simplistic approaches are never adequate to addressing complex problems. In Design for a Better World, Don Norman talks about what it means to develop solutions to the most-challenging of problems we face as a species. In that wording is actually part of the solution -- that we think not as a culture, or nation, or political party, or member of a religious organization, but rather that we think as human beings. That element alone seems to be an impossible task these days.
Your selection of a problem to discuss is an important one. You make your life easier if you follow similar guidance to that I offered when you embarked on the Design Autobiography. That is, opt for a problem that is already in some way familiar and meaningful to you, perhaps even one that you have given thought before this semester.
However, let me also offer a word of caution here. Familiar problems with which we feel a personal connection can come with blind spots. That is, our ties to issues that drive conversation can make it difficult for us to listen carefully to the positions offered, or to judge impartially the actions taken by people who do not hold the same convictions we do. The more deeply personal our own thoughts on a topic, the more difficult it may be for us to represent other viewpoints accurately, thoughtfully, or respectfully.
For example, people who hold deep political or spiritual convictions may not be willing or able to see that those beliefs may contribute to the problem. That may be true of an incredible variety of ideals, values, and beliefs. We must all enter conversations about our cultural surroundings with open minds, prepared to discover uncomfortable truths, and willing to invest in learning about and perhaps being changed by the knowledge we acquire on that journey. We must remain capable of holding a problem at arm's length, so to speak, so we might determine with clarity and respect the depth and nuances of the challenges inherent to that problem. This can be very difficult to do.
If the notion of admitting that you must grow and change is uncomfortable for you, then you are welcome to explore topics here that are complex but that do not seem likely to challenge your personal convictions. However, if you seek growth and maturation of your ideas, values, and perspectives, then perhaps this assignment presents you with opportunities to do so.
The overarching theme for this whole project arc is complexity. Push yourself beyond the temptation to revisit simple ideas or solutions that others have proposed as ways to simplify the problem and guarantee results. That strategy represents the opposite goal of what this project demands of you. During the Vision Cone method workshop, you are challenged to identify the obvious, easy solutions and put them in a box. Do the same here. Seek complexity. Rise to the challenge of complex problems by demonstrating your awareness of how to recognize complexity and to develop strategic approaches to address it. Your ability to do so contributes directly to your final project grade through the Quality of Inquiry score.
One of the biggest challenges for maturing writers is understanding what it means to write in a way that contributes to a conversation. This is what we mean when we talk about writing from sources. We situate our own ideas in context with and in connection to the discussion that is already happening. Even when we attempt to start a new conversation, we do so by drawing on the people who are already discussing topics that are adjacent or parallel to the topic we hope to shift the focus toward. We do not cite other voices as an exercise, but rather as an indication that we understand what has been said, by whom, and with what purpose so that we might make our own space to contribute.
Draw on Norman's arguments in Design for a Better World, but recognize that this is only a beginning place. During this learning exploration, we discuss several contributions to thinking about complexity and problem solving in a variety of documents and media formats. Use these and other source materials to build your own understanding of the problem you examine and to inspire the kind of solutions you develop.
The kind of problems we have set for exploration here are ones that many people have likely been talking about for as long as we have recognized that the problem exists. The freshest perspectives may not appear in books. Seek relevant perspectives wherever they appear. Read blogs. Listen to podcasts. Watch TEDTalk videos. Search for documentaries or docuseries that explore connected issues. Challenge the ideas you encounter. Use those ideas to challenge your own.
Deliverables: memo, essay
Document scope: 150 words (memos), 1000 to 1250 words (Stage 1 & Stage 2), 2000 to 2500 words (Stages 3 & 4)
Project value: 550 points (50 each for Stages 1, 2, & 3; 400 for final submission)
Evaluation rubric: _Eval_DesignForABetterWorld.pdf
Recommended tool(s): Microsoft Word
The DBW project asks you to craft an essay that explores the impact of a complex problem and then proposes workable solutions to that problem. The process of arguing these positions will draw on work from relevant strategies that we practice during workshops as well as from Donald Norman's Design for a Better World.
Your essay will develop over 4 stages. For Stage 1, you'll explore what it means to understand a complex problem. Thus, Stage 1 is called Wicked Problems. For Stage 2, you'll propose strategies for addressing that problem. Thus, Stage 2 is called Sustainable Solutions. When you combine these essay segments together into a coherent argument for Stage 3, it will become a comprehensive discussion of the topic: Design for a Better World. Stage 4 offers you the opportunity to revise and refine your DBW essay for final submission and evaluation.
For the first project, I required you to follow a specific process for developing version 1.0 of your essay. If that process was a positive experience, or one that you see has merit even if it might have gone more smoothly with more practice, then please feel free to follow a similar path for this project. If you prefer to apply other strategies for developing ideas that do not involve the use of audio recording, you are free to pursue whatever path works for you.
Revisit the Vision Cone and Articulation Map analysis strategies as you engage with this project. Whether or not you choose to explore a topic here that you used as a focus for either of those workshops, conduct a new examination as you begin this work. Although you may be able to build on the thinking you did during the workshops, allow yourself the space to reexamine the topic. Your ideas and arguments will benefit from conducting a new analysis.
The Articulation Mapping process sets you up to immediately begin crafting the Wicked Problems stage of the DBW essay. The Vision Cone process results in the development of ideas that directly parallel the full Design for a Better World project, and so includes the ideation you need to anchor your discussion of Sustainable Solutions. In combination, these methods help you build and refine your approach to this project.
Following Norman's recommendation to designers, we begin this project by seeking understanding of the problem we want to address. Your Wicked Problems essay should incorporate all of the discussion elements listed below.
Do not include the standard MLA assignment block at the top of your essay that identifies the class, the assignment, and so on. That is an unnecessary element here.
For each part of the problem, include the following elements.
Identify the shaping forces. Give a name (e.g., key word, key phrase) to each force that you discuss as contributing significantly to the problem. Draw on the elements from your articulation map that help explain how each force contributes the problem.
Explain the important details about those forces. Identify the communities (e.g., companies, government organizations, special interest groups), systems (e.g., professions, industries, technologies), and values (e.g., ideas, emotions, attitudes) that shape the problem. Emphasize putting the problem in human terms by focusing on things people do, things people say, and things people think and believe relevant to the problem.
Use the demonstration doc as a guide. Check out the demo doc that I provided through Canvas as you begin and continue your work on this essay segment. It offers recommendations for how to build your prototype.
Don't get hung up on the intro. This essay does not need a traditional introduction. You'll craft a new beginning later for the full DBW that replaces anything you devise during this first stage. Thus you may begin by identifying the problem, as the outline above directs you to do.
Draw on supporting resources. Draw on any source material that is appropriate for helping you describe the problem, frame the arguments and perspectives expressed by people/groups relevant to the discussion, or to frame your own understanding of the problem. Emphasize Norman's discussion of problems and solutions from Design for a Better World.
Where is the conclusion? This essay is a moment in a longer journey, and thus needs no conclusion. Anything that you write toward that purpose would likely be replaced or eliminated in the final submission anyway.
A memo of transmittal introduces the document it accompanies, providing context for its audience(s). You will craft such a memo for each stage of the DBW project. All of these memos should be addressed from you to me.
Your Stage 1 memo should incorporate the following content and design elements.
Consult the sample documents (see SVSU Canvas Files: Project Support) for additional guidance.
Your Sustainable Solutions essay should incorporate all of the following discussion elements. Note that you do not need to reintroduce the problem you are working with. You can get right into the discussion of the program of solutions you propose.
Again, do not include the standard MLA assignment block at the top of your essay that identifies the class, the assignment, and so on. That is an unnecessary element here.
For each proposed strategy, include the following elements.
Use the demonstration doc as a guide. Check out the demo doc that I provided through Canvas as you begin and continue your work on this essay segment. It offers recommendations for how to build your prototype.
Don't get hung up on the intro. As was true of the Wicked Problems essay prototype, this essay does not need a traditional introduction. You'll craft a new beginning later for the full DBW that replaces anything you devise during this first stage. Thus you may begin by identifying the problem, as the outline above directs you to do.
Draw on supporting resources. As you did with the Wicked Problems essay, draw on any source material that is appropriate for helping you describe solutions, establish their plausibility or merit, or to frame your own understanding of the situation. Again, emphasize Norman's framing for problems and solutions from Design for a Better World.
Where is the conclusion? This essay is another moment in a longer journey, and thus needs no conclusion that repeats or recycles details from the essay itself. Anything that you write toward that purpose would likely be replaced or eliminated in the final submission anyway. The conclusion of this essay is your discussion of progress.
Your Stage 2 memo should incorporate the following content and design elements.
Again, consult the sample documents (see SVSU Canvas Files: Project Support) for additional guidance.
Your final submission for this project combines Stages 1 and 2 into a coherent exploration of a wicked problem and your proposal of strategies that might help address that problem. You have developed your discussion of the problem. You have developed your discussion of possible solutions. For Stage 3, you need to combine these elements together into a solid, strategic essay.
Your final submission should include a revised, refined version of the combined elements from Stages 1 and 2. Attend to the following details of content and strategy.
Do not include the standard MLA assignment block at the top of your essay that identifies the class, the assignment, and so on. That is an unnecessary element here.
Your Stage 3 memo should incorporate the following content and design elements.
Again, consult the sample documents (see SVSU Canvas Files: Project Support) for additional guidance.
Your Stage 4 memo should incorporate the following content and design elements.
Again, consult the sample documents (see SVSU Canvas Files: Project Support) for additional guidance.
This section offers guidance for how to interpret the project and how to proceed with your work on it. Consider the following strategies.
Detail matters. Detailed explanations matter. Respond to complexity with coherence and confidence that is anchored in a comprehensive understanding of the problem and some of its possible solutions. Develop your initial attempts to frame the problem and propose solutions. Continue to expand upon and refine your discussion stage by stage.
You establish your writer ethos with the way you present your discussion. Be as specific and concrete as you can throughout your essay. The more details you incorporate into your discussion, the more reader-aware you appear to be. That helps establish and maintain your credibility and authority. However, it is also important to focus on the details that truly matter for understanding you and your relationship with this design. Focus on the details that are important to understanding these things.
Remember that academic (and professional) contexts value highly the ability to write and speak with economy, directness, and professionalism. Another way of saying this is to make every word count. Stay focused on the details necessary to understand the design and your relationship with it. Write and rewrite until your explanations make sense, until they represent careful, concise, professional communication.
Edit carefully, seeking to express your ideas clearly and concisely. Edit out loud with the intent of writing in such a manner that your sentences sound focused and confident. Strive for high levels of professionalism and consistency in your work. Refine your essay continuously throughout the stages of development.
The revisions and refinements you make from the first version to the final submission may help you understand your writing process, and therefore your professional development in more-sophisticated ways. Archive your early versions of projects throughout your academic career, so you are able to examine your growth and maturation along the way.
Read and attend carefully to these submission guidelines. Failure to do so may result in delays in receiving feedback on the early stages of your project, or in points lost on the final evaluation of your essay.
Create a project folder inside your shared class folder on Dropbox.com. Remember, I can only view files that you place inside the shared folder. Until you place files in that space, you have not in practice submitted them.
Name the folder Design for a Better World.
Note. Do not share this folder with me. By placing it in your class folder, you have already shared it by default.
Pay attention to file types. Make sure all of the files listed below are available to me in the project folder by the Stage 1 submission date. Model your filenames on the listed examples:
Note. Do not share the individual files with me. By placing them in your project folder, you have already shared them by default.
Pay attention to file types. In addition to the files from Stage 1, make sure all of the files listed below are available to me in the project folder by the Stage 2 submission date. Model your filenames on the listed examples:
Note. Do not share the individual files with me. By placing them in your project folder, you have already shared them by default.
Pay attention to file types. Keep the required files from the submissions for Stages 1 & 2 in the same folder. Make sure the files listed below are also available to me in the project folder by the DBW Stage 3 submission date. Model your filenames on the listed examples:
Note. Again, do not share the individual files with me. By placing them in your project folder, you have already shared them by default.
Pay attention to file types. Keep the required files from the submissions for Stages 1, 2, & 3 in the same folder. Make sure the files listed below are also available to me in the project folder by the DBW V2 submission date. Model your filenames on the listed examples:
Feedback files. If you participated fully in the peer review process, you should have 2 review forms that you completed for peers in the class (that is the first pair listed above), and 2 more complete forms with commentary & recommendations from your peers (the second pair of review forms listed above). Replace the text YourLastName for these with your last name. Replace the text PeerLastName for these with the last name of the peer whose work you reviewed, or with the last name of the peer (or Writing Center tutor) who reviewed your DBW V1 (Stage 3).
Note. The final feedback file listed above (i.e., YourLastName - FeedbackDBW.txt) is the feedback file that you receive from me in response to your complete DBW essay (V1, Stage 3).
Note. Again, do not share the individual files with me. By placing them in your project folder, you have already shared them by default.
Take the time to organize your work as directed here and to name each file properly. This helps me keep track of your work, and makes clear which files are meant to represent the on-going and final stages of project development. If I cannot locate or identify files when I complete your final project assessment, it will result in points lost.
This section describes the standards by which your prototypes (e.g., Stages 1, 2, 3) and final project submissions will be evaluated.
There are 50 possible points for each of these project stages. You will earn points according to the following standard.
Remember that if you fail to submit any of the prototype versions for the DBW project, I may not be able to offer you valuable feedback to assist in the revision process, and you will earn 0 points for Revision in the final assessment.
The final project submission is worth 400 possible points. You will earn points according to the standard described on the policies page (see Policies for a description of these categories).
The specific areas of emphasis for the DBW project are drawn from this description and our discussions of the project (including the supporting teaching materials that I provide to you along the way). Review the project rubric (_Eval_DesignForABetterWorld.pdf) for the specific qualities and characteristics emphasized in each evaluation category.
Remember that I will only post the point values for projects on the Grades page in SVSU Canvas. I will provide the supporting details relevant to that evaluation in your class folder in a project-specific file. Look for a Microsoft Word file in your shared class space on Dropbox with a filename that that follows this pattern:
YourLastName_Eval_DesignForABetterWorld.docx.
This material has evolved over many years of teaching & research, and is protected by U.S. copyright laws.
If you are here because of random chance, or because this content came up in a search, then please feel free to explore the site. If you are a teacher or other professional in any context who would like to use any of my course content in your work, I grant you permission to do so with the following limitations.