ITDS 1114 Chapter 1 Notes PDF

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ITDS 1114: Design Appreciation
Lecturer: Professor Gregory Tew
Chapter 1: Welcome to Design Appreciation ...

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ITDS 1114: Design Appreciation Chapter 1: Welcome to Design Appreciation 

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Design Appreciation: studying the effects designs have on our daily lives o How diff designs improve our lives’ qualities, efficiency, etc. o How future designs effect our future  Designs to build a more sustainable world etc. Hunter-gatherers vs modern day o Hunter-gatherer lifestyles  independent, self-sufficient, doing only what is necessary and enjoying life after completion of necessary tasks  Emphasis on experiences > possessions  Experiences in hunting is essential for survival etc.  Nomadic lifestyle o Modern day lifestyle  reliance on complex system of both humans and objects  Focus almost completely on possessions, almost 0 emphasis on experiences  “focus on possessions” in modern day lifestyle is caused by design  Designs produce endless stream of products which attract out attention o Clothes, toys, appliances etc.  Lifestyle fixed in a permanent spot, seldom moving, with supporting systems around the spot  Roads, infrastructure, Amazon to deliver stuff to us Knowledge in “hunter-gatherer lifestyle” o Lifespan of modern humans  not a reliable indicator on which lifestyle is correct. o Researchers believe there is value in living a minimalist life (like hunter-gather)  Lifestyle that depends on complex system is risky  If the system “fails”, all human activities will grind to a halt  Ex: Great Depression Current system and “design decision” o Each simple transaction we have today relies on individual design decisions o Design decisions rippled out and rely on one another  Example: buying food,  Decision involved: harvesting, packaging, ethical and food safety standards etc. o some decisions may be troubling (worker exploitation to harvest) but we seldom can avoid one troubling decision in order to make a transaction successful o design problems can often be solved using diff solutions  however, solutions ranged from easiest (short-term) to complicated (involving multiple agencies)  complex solutions: implementation of labor laws, working conditions that are in line with basic human rights etc. What this course teaches us o To make decisions by asking questions that extend beyond simply participation in the complex system in current day  System involves making, selling, buying Climate change as a design problem o Requires a lot of efforts to solve

Difficult to solve because all the solutions are complicated, expensive, and requires people to deviate from habits  Keeping the global temp. below 1.5 C requires 2.5% of the world’s GDP  Reducing carbon emission by 45% by 2010  Renewable energy sources for 85% of global electricity by 2050 Design appreciation is not just about looking at individual designs o Not just about comparing design A to B o But it is about appreciating how designs influence all aspects of our lives o Design is subjective  Not just one right answer,  Different opinions can exist based on diff perspective o

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