ABSTRACT
Design is not what it used to be. No longer can we say that we are delivering products or even solutions. Today, designers are consultants, and mediators–we are problem-framers and solvers. The way that we think about and practice design is changing and as designers we will constantly need to adapt to that reality. We can’t merely come up with “a solution” but instead we need to increasingly focus on energies on deliberating, evaluating, and being critical not just about the solutions that we are proposing, but on the questions that we are asking. Throughout this book, I have tried to encourage an approach to design that challenges our assumptions about the proposals that we make in design. That creates a role for designers that is both critical and creative, and that uses research and design thinking not only to support a design solution, or answer, but also maybe more importantly to challenge our own belief in it. Topics in this conclusion consider the future of design through the paradox of impact, design as a social activity, and design and automation.
