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Design for Dasein: Understanding the Design of Experiences
The rise of experience design and service design is familiar to anyone involved in design practice. This shift from the design of artifacts to the design of intangible services and experiences calls for a new understanding of design's place in the world. If experience designers are unique in their ability to "design an experience," then understanding the nature of experience should be a priority. This book aims to build on our current understanding of experience design through the lens of phenomenology, a practical philosophy of human existence, interaction, and experience.
Design for Dasein draws from (post)-phenomenology, object studies, philosophy of technology, hermeneutics, design thinking, and design theory to argue that experience design is a phenomenological endeavor, and that phenomenology is a designerly endeavor.
This book is written for readers who stand in the middle of academic and practitioner poles. It attempts to bridge the gap between detached academia and non-critical practice by offering theoretically-grounded understanding of experience design.
Design for Dasein draws from (post)-phenomenology, object studies, philosophy of technology, hermeneutics, design thinking, and design theory to argue that experience design is a phenomenological endeavor, and that phenomenology is a designerly endeavor.
This book is written for readers who stand in the middle of academic and practitioner poles. It attempts to bridge the gap between detached academia and non-critical practice by offering theoretically-grounded understanding of experience design.
185 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
36 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Wendt
2 books10 followersThomas Wendt is an independent design strategist, author, facilitator, activist, educator, and speaker based in New York City. He splits his time between client engagements and independent scholarship.
His client work includes building sustainable human-centered design capabilities through workshops, training programs, and coaching, along with projects encompassing early stage design research, co-design, and service design. Thomas has worked with clients ranging from large companies to nonprofits and activist groups.
Thomas’s first book, Design for Dasein, deals with the relationship between experience design and practical philosophy. It explores the emerging practice of designing experiences through the lens of phenomenology, a philosophical perspective concerned with how humans experience the world. His second book, Persistent Fools: Cunning Intelligence and the Politics of Design, explores the role of cunning intelligence and deception to make more socially, culturally, and ecologically sustainable design decisions, as well as a means of resisting oppressive design.
Thomas speaks at conferences across the world and is published in both academic journals and practitioner publications on topics such as philosophy of design, design theory, sustainability, design research, design thinking, and the politics of design.
His client work includes building sustainable human-centered design capabilities through workshops, training programs, and coaching, along with projects encompassing early stage design research, co-design, and service design. Thomas has worked with clients ranging from large companies to nonprofits and activist groups.
Thomas’s first book, Design for Dasein, deals with the relationship between experience design and practical philosophy. It explores the emerging practice of designing experiences through the lens of phenomenology, a philosophical perspective concerned with how humans experience the world. His second book, Persistent Fools: Cunning Intelligence and the Politics of Design, explores the role of cunning intelligence and deception to make more socially, culturally, and ecologically sustainable design decisions, as well as a means of resisting oppressive design.
Thomas speaks at conferences across the world and is published in both academic journals and practitioner publications on topics such as philosophy of design, design theory, sustainability, design research, design thinking, and the politics of design.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 10, 2015
“Design practices cluster together and strip apart so quickly that we can hardly make sense of them, resulting in trivial arguments over whether experience designers should be able to code, and training programs teaching experience design as if it were a trade.”
Following the sardonic author of this book on twitter feels tiring at times, but there's a lot of criticism of today's design practices that resonates well within me. When hearing about a book that goes «beyond recipe books, case studies, and the often decontextualized “best practices”», I was sold – and I bought the book the day it was out. It just took some time to find the time to read it.
It's not that surprising that I find the book familiar as I've got similar background (eg. political philosophy, social sciences, ethnographic methods and ux design in my case) and many conclusions in the book are similar as these drawn from institutional design: the most important being that the real practice of an institution (or a use of a product) is more than just its designer's intent.
When taken seriously in experience design, this changes a lot of established practices and goals: “users assume the role of designer and reinterpret the solution to better fit their purposes” (loc. 2717 in Kindle version), therefore (for example) the «usability testing cease to be about creating perfection or removing “un-intuitive” features, and instead about observing coping strategies. The ways that users cope with problems are the core insights for usability and future design» (loc. 3614).
«Situated design methods go beyond a more sterile version of problem solving, and into the complex systems of experience. Instead of “solving problem a with solution b,” it moves into the complex spaces of interaction to determine multiple potential solutions to a constantly shifting problem space.» (loc. 3485)
Design for Dasein does not reveal any big new truth, Wendt just walks along the arguments, applies (post-)phenological observations on the design and use practices, frequently using powerful examples and presents all resulting conclusions in fine detail. The value of the book lies in its carefully slow pace – though it never feels exhausting, being peppered with various examples and metaphors, very funny at times.
I'm leaving out all the heideggerian, post-phenomenologist and ANT-related theory in this review – that's the basis of all the (often conflicting and developing) arguments and attempts to bring theory and practice together (as neither of these can exist on its own) and to describe the reality of designing well: that means to be able to discuss design and become better at doing it. That's why you read it :)
I can recommend the book to basically anybody who is able to read a UX book without colourful pictures and feels that 1) their design practice has become a repetitive routine of disconnected tasks or 2) that their design practices aren't rooted in consistent principles. Or anybode else who uses the word “design” few times a week.
I'm sure that the book does not provide a stable platform for argumentation as its lines of reasoning need to be discussed and disrupted, but it's the first step into a discussion, in which an attempt at creating something like that may occur.
Of course, without any possibility of being succesful at that attempt :)
***
Two more excerpts:
«It is concerned with how we experience the chair on which we are currently sitting and, perhaps more importantly, the shift in consciousness from before you read the previous sentence to after. It is likely you were not conscious of the chair (if you are currently using one), and it was operating as a ready-to-hand means of sitting. Now that you are conscious of it as an object, the relationship has switched to the present-at-hand, and you reflect on the chair as an object.» (loc. 651)
«Common design practices such as sketching and prototyping are excellent ways to enact theoretical knowledge, but I’ve found that many designers fail to recognize the importance of writing.» (loc. 3101)
Following the sardonic author of this book on twitter feels tiring at times, but there's a lot of criticism of today's design practices that resonates well within me. When hearing about a book that goes «beyond recipe books, case studies, and the often decontextualized “best practices”», I was sold – and I bought the book the day it was out. It just took some time to find the time to read it.
It's not that surprising that I find the book familiar as I've got similar background (eg. political philosophy, social sciences, ethnographic methods and ux design in my case) and many conclusions in the book are similar as these drawn from institutional design: the most important being that the real practice of an institution (or a use of a product) is more than just its designer's intent.
When taken seriously in experience design, this changes a lot of established practices and goals: “users assume the role of designer and reinterpret the solution to better fit their purposes” (loc. 2717 in Kindle version), therefore (for example) the «usability testing cease to be about creating perfection or removing “un-intuitive” features, and instead about observing coping strategies. The ways that users cope with problems are the core insights for usability and future design» (loc. 3614).
«Situated design methods go beyond a more sterile version of problem solving, and into the complex systems of experience. Instead of “solving problem a with solution b,” it moves into the complex spaces of interaction to determine multiple potential solutions to a constantly shifting problem space.» (loc. 3485)
Design for Dasein does not reveal any big new truth, Wendt just walks along the arguments, applies (post-)phenological observations on the design and use practices, frequently using powerful examples and presents all resulting conclusions in fine detail. The value of the book lies in its carefully slow pace – though it never feels exhausting, being peppered with various examples and metaphors, very funny at times.
I'm leaving out all the heideggerian, post-phenomenologist and ANT-related theory in this review – that's the basis of all the (often conflicting and developing) arguments and attempts to bring theory and practice together (as neither of these can exist on its own) and to describe the reality of designing well: that means to be able to discuss design and become better at doing it. That's why you read it :)
I can recommend the book to basically anybody who is able to read a UX book without colourful pictures and feels that 1) their design practice has become a repetitive routine of disconnected tasks or 2) that their design practices aren't rooted in consistent principles. Or anybode else who uses the word “design” few times a week.
I'm sure that the book does not provide a stable platform for argumentation as its lines of reasoning need to be discussed and disrupted, but it's the first step into a discussion, in which an attempt at creating something like that may occur.
Of course, without any possibility of being succesful at that attempt :)
***
Two more excerpts:
«It is concerned with how we experience the chair on which we are currently sitting and, perhaps more importantly, the shift in consciousness from before you read the previous sentence to after. It is likely you were not conscious of the chair (if you are currently using one), and it was operating as a ready-to-hand means of sitting. Now that you are conscious of it as an object, the relationship has switched to the present-at-hand, and you reflect on the chair as an object.» (loc. 651)
«Common design practices such as sketching and prototyping are excellent ways to enact theoretical knowledge, but I’ve found that many designers fail to recognize the importance of writing.» (loc. 3101)
February 6, 2015
Some interesting things being said, but for some reason I had a hard time getting through it. Perhaps because the writing style was a bit different than typical design academia and a bit more liberal arts? I don't know. I didn't agree with everything, and sometimes had a hard time figuring out what exactly was trying to be said, but there's a lot of interesting history and philosophy being applied to design thinking.
April 25, 2018
I really loved this book although it required some space and time for focused reading. I think it's a very good and much needed reflection on what does it mean to be a designer.
May 5, 2015
Much needed, juicy snack for the mind, although there could be over-theorizing and/or over-interpreting.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews