operationalizing wicked problem solving to create desirable futures

Gav in Me l l es , Facu l ty o f Des ign , Sw inburne Un iver s i ty , Aus t ra l i aS te fan Ho lml i d , Computer Sc ience Depar tment , L i nköp ing Un iver s i t y , Sweden Mat t i as A rvo la , Computer Sc ience Depar tment L i nköp ing Un iver s i ty , Sweden

OPERATIONALIZING WICKED PROBLEM

SOLVING TO CREATE DESIRABLE FUTURES: THE DESIGN AGENDA

Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies, AUT

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This year marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of “Dilemmas in a general theory of planning” (1973), a seminal paper in which Rittel and fellow planning professor Melvin Webber formally presented the thesis that numerous problems in planning, management, and policy-making are by nature wicked, and stand in sharp contrast to the problems of engineering and sciences. They identified 10 properties typical of wicked problems

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MULTIPLE REASONS TO ENVISION


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Indeterminacy in problem formulation

Non-definitiveness in problem solution

Non-solubility Irreversible

consequentiality Individual

uniqueness

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40 YEARS AGO TODAY …


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SIMON VS.RITTEL & WEBER? POPULAR CONFUSIONS AND

MISUNDERSTANDINGS


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Eng ineer ing , medic ine , bus iness , arch i tec ture , and pa int ing are concerned not w i th the necessary but w i th the cont ingent not w i th how th ings are but w i th how they might be in shor t , w i th des ign

Ar t ifi c ia l sys tems and adapt ive sys tems have proper t ies that make them par t i cu lar ly suscept ib le to s imulat ion v ia s impl ifi ed mode ls .

We have usua l ly thought o f c i ty p lann ing as a means whereby the p lanner ' s c reat ive ac t iv i ty cou ld bu i ld a system that wou ld sat i s fy the needs o f a popu lace . Pe rhaps we shou ld th ink o f c i ty p lann ing as a va luab le c reat ive ac t iv i ty in wh ich many members o f a communi ty can have the oppor tun i ty o f par t i c ipat ing i f we have w i ts to organ ize the process that way.

Des ign for d i s tant fu tures wou ld be who l ly imposs ib le i f remote events had to be env is ioned in de ta i l . What makes such des ign even conce ivab le i s that we need to know or guess about the fu ture on ly enough to gu ide the commitments we must make today.

We can v i ew th e mat te r qu i t e sy mmet r i ca l l y. A n a r t i f a c t can b e th ough t o f a s a meet i n g po in t an " i n te r f ace" i n t oday ' s t e rms b e tween an " i n ne r " en v i ron ment , t he sub s tan ce and o rgan i za t i on o f t he a r t i f a c t i t se l f , an d an ' ' ou te r " en v i ron men t , t he su r roun d ing s i n wh i ch i t op e r a tes . I f t he i nn e r env i ronment i s app rop r i a te t o t he ou te r en v i ron ment , o r v i ce v e r s a , t he a r t i f a c t w i l l s e r v e i t s i n tend ed pu r p ose . Th us , i f t h e c l ock i s immun e to bu ff et i n g , i t w i l l s e r v e as a s h ip ' s ch ron omete r.

Feed back mech an i sms , on th e o th e r han d , b y con t i n ua l l y resp ond ing t o d i s c repan c ies be tween a sy s tem 's ac tu a l and d es i red s ta tes , adap t i t t o l on g - r an ge fl uc tua t i on s i n t he env i ronment w i thou t f o recas t i n g . I n wh a tev e r d i rec t i ons th e en v i ron men t ch an ges , t he f eed back ad ju s tmen t t r ack s i t , w i th o f cou r s e some d e lay.

Thu s the t r ad i t i on a l d efi n i t i on o f t he p ro f ess i on a l ' s ro l e i s h i gh l y comp at ib l e w i th bou nd ed r a t i ona l i t y , wh i ch i s mos t comf o r tab le w i th p rob lems hav ing c l ea r- cu t and l im i ted goa l s . B u t a s k n ow led ge g rows , t he ro l e o f t h e p ro fess i ona l comes und er qu es t i on in g . Dev e lopments i n t echn o log y g i v e p ro f ess i on a l s t h e p ower t o p roduce l a rge r an d b road er eff ec t s a t t he same t ime tha t t hey become more c l ea r l y aware o f t he remote cons equen ces o f t h e i r p resc r i p t i ons .

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CONTINGENCY, ARTEFACTS, AND SOME OTHER (ECONOMIC)

THOUGHTS


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In spite of its many achievements, however, working with wicked problems is still an evolving and, to a large extent, emerging enterprise in a stage of enlightenment. Much of its research and scholarship, as substantive as it may seem, remains largely a repetitive description of the social reality of wickedness, rather than well-grounded theoretical explorations or empirical investigations. The focus has been placed upon raising awareness, preaching for acceptance, and advocating creative adaptation strategies and innovative approaches. But little has been reported on exactly how these ideas and proposed approaches can be operationalized

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PROBLEM


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How to get from principles to practice

Dialogue, col laboration and technology

Participation hinted at in Rittel & Weber

Central to social planning and the resolution of the human-centred problems of the art ifi cial sciences

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OPERATIONALISING: COLLABORATION, VISUALISATION,

DIALOGUE


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CASE STUDIES IN URBAN SPACES IN LINKOPING


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New tools for health is an cluster based in East Sweden, the aim of which is to create new products and services that result in more effi cient healthcare and increased independence – with the home as a base. In partnership with other stakeholders that support innovation, we support mobile solutions based on information and communication technology within four focus areas: patients with diabetes and heart fai lure, as well as fal l prevention and to ensure that the elderly feel safe and social ly included. The ideas may come from companies, innovators, researchers or employees in working in the care/healthcare sector.

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CASE 1: PROJECT BACKGROUND

http://www.newtoolsforhealth.com/


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A persona is an archetypical users based primarily on ethnographic studies of real users. A persona consists usually of a couple of pages of description of demographics, behavioural patterns, goals, abilities, attitudes and environments, as well as personal details that are included to make the persona come to life. It is also given a name to make it easy to refer to and envision as a real person. (Blomquist & Arvola, 2002; Cooper, 1999; Pruitt & Adlin, 2006)

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FOCUS ON PERSONAS


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PostcardsDialogues around

mapsGroup interviewsInformal

observations and interviews

Walking quizPersonas and

scenarios03/07/2013

(PARTICIPATORY) DESIGN PROCESS


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There i s noth ing wrong w i th the memory so fa r. Then i t ' s worse w i th n ight v i s ion . Torsten works out regu lar ly together w i th some f r iends . He has seen some o ld peop le who were a lone and s topped eat ing proper ly. Anna , h i s w i fe , i s fee l ing much better now than before when she was in great pa in . She re l ies less on the wa lker now. There i s luck i ly an e levator in the house.

Torsten want contact w i th government offi cia ls , pharmacy or doctor in person . Phone i s a l l r ight , but i t ' s bet ter to meet them. He says : ”As long as I can go to a pharmacy and I w i l l do you so.” S ince Anna became i l l , the apartment i s fu l l o f ass i s t ive equ ipment , and i t occas iona l ly goes wrong when us ing i t .

They l i ve in a renta l apar tment o f 72 square meters , two rooms and a k i tchen. The area i s good but i t fee ls a l i t t le less sa fe than i t d id before .

Torsten has a ce l l phone. The fi rst one he got f rom one o f the sons who wou ld buy a new one. He i s not so in terested in t ry ing out serv ices supported by mob i le phone or computer. Actua l ly , he doesn ’ t have a computer. Torsten understands we l l how mechan ica l eng ineer ing works , but the new techno logy i s more d iffi cu l t . He uses a manua l when he w i l l l earn someth ing , o r he wants to be to ld face- to - face how new th ings work . Somet imes he gets he lp f rom the ch i ld ren . I t i s worry ing i f the techno logy makes d i rect human contact decrease .

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MAPPING WHAT IS

Figure 1. Torsten, senior gentleman, born 1926 and married to Anna [Illustrator: Stefan Nygard]


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Figure 2. Tough job. Åke comes to hel Anna up and says, ”God morining!” ”Oh, who are you?, she replays. Åke thinks, ”these things always work diff erent ly”. ”Ouch, my arm!”, Anna says as Åke helps her up. ”oops,” he thinks, ” I didn’t know she had a sore arm”. ”My name is Anna”, Anna says. ”Too bad I don’t have t ime to get to know them better, but. . . what now?”, Åke thinks as Annas husband Toersten comes into the room and shouts, ”Hey you! Who are you?” Åke helps Anna into her wheelchair and Torsten asks: ”You are not a thief are you?” Åke thinks to himself : ”Oh, this is tough. I ’m just doing my job.” As he walks out he says to himself, F i fteen minutes late and gett ing shouted at . This doesn’t feel good. . .” [ I l lustrator: Stefan Nygard]

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PROBLEMATIC DAY SCENARIOS


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Depicting fear and anxiety of local environments

Generating considerations for technology interventions

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INSECURITY IN THE LOCAL PARK


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Figure 3. Who gives care? Translation: Åke goes to work and places the mobile device in the ”who gives care” holder. He is careful with Anna’s injured arm, since the mobile device has informed him of a note from an earlier care giver: ”OBSERVE: - The arm is sprained. - The husband’s name is Torsten. Talk to him!” Meanwhile, Åke is introduced to Torsten, who thinks that he seems rather nice. The work is completed on time and Torsten says: ”See you!” Yeah, have a nice day!, Åke replays. [I l lustrator: Stefan Nygard.]

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TOWARDS WHAT SHOULD BE


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Desireable futures and wicked problem solving a common agenda

Positions are falseley dichotomized and misunderstood especially in terms of the economic discourse and Deweyan pragmatism inherent in Simons work

Operationalising principles into practice involves range of techniques and methods, including familiar design tools, , which also build on bounded rationality, scenarios …

Collaboration, visualization, dialogue already familiar characteristics to design and integrate the broader stakeholders (local society, health practitioners) in problems

Personas generated through a range of methods inform scenarios of current and future use

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SUMMARY


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Ackoff , Russell, "Systems, Messes, and Interactive Planning" Portions of Chapters I and 2 of Redesigning the Future. New York/London: Wiley, 1974.

Camillus, J.C.; "Strategy as a Wicked Problem," Harvard Business Review, Vol. 86, 98-101 (2008). http://hbr.org/2008/05/strategy-as-a-wicked-problem/ar/1

Conklin, Jeff rey (2006). Dialogue mapping : building shared understanding of wicked problems . Chichester, England: Wiley. ISBN 0470017686.

Rittel, Horst W. J.; Melvin M. Webber (1973). "Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning". Policy Sciences 4: 155–169

Levin, Kelly; Cashore, Benjamin; Bernstein, Steven; Auld, Graeme (23 May 2012). "Overcoming the tragedy of super wicked problems: constraining our future selves to ameliorate global climate change". Policy Sciences 45 (2): 123–152

"Tackling Wicked Problems: A Public Policy Perspective". Australian Public Service Commission. 25 October 2007.

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REFERENCES

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Business_Review

http://hbr.org/2008/05/strategy-as-a-wicked-problem/ar/1

http://hbr.org/2008/05/strategy-as-a-wicked-problem/ar/1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0470017686

http://www.uctc.net/mwebber/Rittel+Webber+Dilemmas+General_Theory_of_Planning.pdf

http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications-and-media/archive/publications-archive/tackling-wicked-problems

operationalizing wicked problem solving to create desirable futures

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