managing complexity

JUSTINTAUBER.COM | @BRTRX

03.2017MANAGING COMPLEXITY - A TOTAL DESIGN METHODOLOGY

MANAGING COMPLEXITY A Total Design Methodology

DESIGN METHODOLOGY

Should:

✓ Help you understand the situation you’re in, and how to respond effectively

✓ Help you decide which design methods to use

Should not:

Be a specific technique

Be inflexible - “one-size fits all”

is a “logic of design methods”

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

IT DEPENDS!

COMPLEXITY AS A DESIGN METHODOLOGY

a “logic of methods” based on the kind of complexity we’re dealing with

CYNEFIN Pronounced Ki-ney-fin

Welsh for “a place where you feel at home”

A framework for characterising different kinds of complexity

Image source: https://i.imgur.com/XRhkKaz.jpg

Dave Snowden (IBM/Cognitive Edge)

“Cynefin is a Sense-Making Framework”

MANAGING COMPLEXITY - A TOTAL DESIGN METHODOLOGY 03.2017

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED

COMPLEX

ORDEREDUNORDERED

MANAGING COMPLEXITY - A TOTAL DESIGN METHODOLOGY

“Patterns are temporary and unpredictable” “Things happen for a reason”“Retrospective coherence” “Cause and effect”

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED

COMPLEX

Is this a real pattern or just a projection?

We’re often pessimistic about unordered domains

“Learning to recognize and appreciate the domain

of unorder is liberating,

because we can stop applying methods designed for order

and instead focus on legitimate methods that work well in

un-ordered situations.”

- Dave Snowden

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED

COMPLEX

• Cause and effect is clear • Behaviour is predictable

• Clear options / standard responses • “Best practice” dominates • Process-based decision-making

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED • Causes and effects are hard to see • Problems are solvable, but require

specialist knowledge

• Competing models, heuristics • Look for elegant solutions, not

necessarily perfect ones • Decision-making by consensus

among experts

COMPLEX• Un-ordered, evolving • Cause and effect aren’t clear • Perceive only emerging patterns

• Can’t control outcomes directly • Leaders must be adaptable • Entrepreneurs vs bureaucrats

CHAOS• No perceivable order • Dangerously unstable • Response time is critical

• Crisis management • Authoritarian leadership

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED

COMPLEX

BEST PRACTICE

EXPERTISE

RAPID RESPONSE

EMERGENCE

CATEGORISE

ANALYZE

STABILISE

PROBE — RESPONDSENSE —

— RESPONDSENSE —

— SENSE — RESPOND

Collapse / Breakdown

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED

COMPLEX

DISORDER Where are we?

APPLYING CYNEFIN

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED

COMPLEX

PRESCRIPTION

TRIAGE

DIAGNOSTICS

Collapse / Acute Event

Medical Treatment

“Stop the bleeding”

“Test to understand” “Set a course of treatment”

“Treat and monitor the patient”

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED

COMPLEX

USABILITY TESTING

IX DESIGN

BRAND CRISIS

USER RESEARCH

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED

COMPLEX

USABILITY TESTING

IX DESIGN

BRAND CRISIS

USER RESEARCH

DON’T CHECK YOURSELF INTO HOSPITAL FOR A HEAD COLD

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED

COMPLEX

VALIDATE

PROTOTYPE

HELPDESK

CUSTOMER VALUE

LEAN Innovation

AGILE Improvement

CX Immunisation

LEADERS

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED

COMPLEX

CATEGORISE

ANALYZE

REMIXTEAM MEMBERS

• Decide between methods

• Decide what sort of role to play

• Understand our strengths and weaknesses

• Broaden our relevance to our organisation

• Be more proactive about risk on large projects

We can use the Cynefin framework to:

CYNEFIN AS A DESIGN METHODOLOGY

MAKE IT YOUR OWN

• Annotating wireframes for a development team

• Testing an existing site to identify usability problems

• Conducting a series of design thinking workshops to identify new service opportunities

• A/B testing designs for a checkout process

• Conducting a card sort

• Testing a new navigation design

• Running a product design sprint

• Developing personas for an intranet redesign

Which domain is your Cynefin, your natural home? Where do these scenarios belong?

JUSTINTAUBER.COM

CYNEFIN FRAMEWORK (C) COGNITIVE EDGE

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED

COMPLEX

BEST PRACTICE

EXPERTISE

RAPID RESPONSE

EMERGENCE

SENSE - CATEGORIZE - RESPOND

SENSE - ANALYZE - RESPOND

ACT - SENSE - RESPOND

PROBE - SENSE - RESPOND

PRESCRIPTION

TRIAGE

DIAGNOSIS

Thanks

Justin Tauber Email: justin@justintauber.com Web: justintauber.com Medium: @brtrx

* Returning to Sydney May 2017

Further reading on Cynefin: Dave Snowden’s company Cognitive Edge

A Leader's Framework for Decision Making (HBR) Complex Acts of Knowing (Snowden 2002)

Image credits: Cross by Zaff Studio from the Noun Project

a ginormous flock of birds by jeromebettis (imgur) Airplane by Valery from the Noun Project

geese by Sarah JOY from the Noun Project Billiards by parkjisun from the Noun Project

forest fire by Peter van Driel from the Noun Project Dave Snowden speaking at UX Brighton 2016 by UX Brighton (via Wikipedia)

#totaldesign@brtrx

PHYSICAL STANCE

DESIGN STANCE

POLITICAL STANCE

INTENTIONAL STANCE

OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED

COMPLEX

Respond based on known forces and configurations

Respond based on assumed roles & functions

Respond based on perceived power relations

Respond based on assumed beliefs and desires

“What will happen next?”

“How does it work?”“What is it trying to achieve?”

“Is it friend or foe?”

BONUS! Daniel Dennett’s STANCES mapped onto the Cynefin domains

managing complexity - a total design methodology

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