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Leverage points and Victor Papanuk
In discussing Donella Meadows’ chapter on leverage points (downloadable PDF here) from Thinking in Systems, our class asked which leverage points are most accessible to us as designers. A leverage...
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WTF is an MFA in DSI
I’ve had to trim down my explanation of DSI to communicate what we’re studying to relatives, family friends, and those intrigued strangers met at bars, parties, and events. Framing it in a business...
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A poster of social innovation methods
For our Fundamentals of Social Innovation final assignment, I created a large poster that shows both how the content we learned this semester is connected and concepts and sources for future reference....
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DSI launches column on GOOD.is
The students and faculty of SVA DSI launched our new column at Good.is today. We’ll be posting a few times a month about what we’re learning, creating, and ideas we have for designing a better world....
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Social design in 1788: the Brookes slave ship diagram
This post originally written for a Game Design class assignment to analyze a work in non-gaming media that was created with social impact in mind. Man’s inhumanity to man, Make countless thousands...
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Nature deficit disorder and a New Year’s resolution
One of my resolutions this year is to avoid email first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It’s a frightening addiction to reach for my phone before I fully open my eyes. This is proving...
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Something wicked this way comes: using systems thinking in design
From my article on systems thinking for the MFA Design for Social Innovation column at GOOD.is. Read the full post here. In 1973, social scientists Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber defined wicked...
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Designing a strategic board game about bees
What is no good for the hive is no good for the bee. —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations PLAYERS: 2 AGES: 16+ COMPONENTS: board, pieces, bees, die OBJECTIVE: kill the queen or occupy your opponent’s hive...
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How Ultimate Frisbee exemplifies cooperative game design
The more I learn about entrepreneurship, social resilience, and systems dynamics like emergence and self-organization, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about how Ultimate Frisbee is a fascinating...
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Co-designing a community garden in Richmond
Originally written for the SVA DSI News and Events page. Read the full post here. How we got our hands dirty co-creating in Richmond By Sara Cornish When our program chair Cheryl Heller was asked to...
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My left foot
wiblog: The Whole Earth Catalog was inspired by the question, “Why haven’t we seen a photograph of the whole earth yet?” The question had been induced by an acid trip, when founder Stewart Brand...
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Come Out and Play: The Joy of Novice Game Design
Dodging a volley of spells, he leaps over a fallen teammate and finally reaches his enemy’s end zone. Once safely inside the hula hoop, he holds up the jagged half of the golden tablet. Victory is...
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Talking Scrum with IBM Design
It was unusual to see three corporate suits in an art school. What was more unusual was that these executives were sitting on stools amidst an earnest crowd of design students, answering questions...
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Prospect and Refuge: The State of Social Innovation
At both human and sub-human level, the ability to see and the ability to hide are both important in calculating a creature’s survival prospects…Where he has an unimpeded opportunity to see we can call...
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