Class Reflection 2.11.2013

Thinking in Systems - Chapters 1 and 6
Donella H. Meadows

First off - 
Here's the Ted Talk Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the secret to happiness which continues from the last discussion we had about flow. 

Today's discussion was recapping Meadow's theories on System Design. It was a very broad reading, with many, MANY examples, but hardly any examples that could directly relate to our current project. Overall, we wished there was one more complex example carried throughout the reading that was an in depth example of what she is trying to explain.

The first question brought up in discussion regarded How do we keep everyone involved? It is hard to say for sure how this is answered without a particular product in mind, but in general it would depend on the user. With that being said, how is it possible to create a product that isn't too generic that it doesn't hold the attention of the user long enough, but isn't too specific that only one specific group is heavily engaged? This is the problem that arises, but us as designers have to address and solve someway that makes sense, and makes for a successful product. One method to solve this problem is to create boundaries and depth within those boundaries. You can also limit the agency (what information offered to the audience) which is crucial to the level of engagement. Too much information may overwhelm, too little can bore. Depth is more specifically the elements, interconnections, and the purpose of the product.

Then we went on to talk about Stock and try and figure out what it is. Most of the ideas and examples we came up with were more emotion based, rather than tangible objects. Some of the examples were:

• Goodwill and badwill
• Emotions
• Demographics
• User as stock (?) 
• Needs 
• Interest level / knowledge level / data and information - wisdom and how to apply it
• Skills 

From this list, we decided that data and information helps evolve the goodwill/badwill/emotions and needs and interest levels of the user. This is important in keeping the users engaged, as well as growing as a user, 

Is a system always dynamic, or is there a case where it can be static? What happens if a system becomes static? Some systems may appear to stay static if looked at a small time period, but most cases, the system can/will change over a long period of time (somehow). So is it a case of evolve or die? ...Or is it a case of evolve or become outdated? I believe there is no successful system that hasn't evolved somehow. It may be something small, but usually the small updates help the product in some way. This brings up adaptable vs. adaptive. Adaptable is the more popular choice because it is a system that the user can customize, while adaptive is a system designed to comprehend what the user is doing and helps guide them in the correct direction. Sometimes users get frustrated with this design style because it isn't tailored for them, but rather they have to learn to adapt to the system. 

Finally, we discussed leverage points from the reading. Meadows discussed twelve topics, in this case from most important to least important, of leverage points that are influential on changing a system's design. 

They are:

1. Transcending Paradigms: Accepting the existence of paradigms and having the ability to live and deal with them. 
2. Paradigms: The mind set of the system. It is the reason the system exists and what it is doing. It can also be the perspective of the system
3. Goals: Tweaking the purpose of the system. It can be subtle and users can play a key role in changing the goal. 
4. Self Organization: The power to add, change, or evolve the system structure that can be changed by the designer and/or the user. 
5. Rules, incentives, punishments and constraints: These combined with the changes below can be very effective and change the overall system. 
6. Information Flows: The input between different designers and users. Changes in the people involved and inputing information can change ideas for the project. An example of this type of interaction comes from GoogleDocs. 
7. Reinforcing Feedback Loops: We only talked about the example of the bathtub water, and temperature of the water can be adjusted this way.
8. Balancing Feedback Loops: Similar to number seven, the balancing of the levels of water can be adjusted to help maintain a steady stock with flow still happening.
9. Delays: The ability to set a certain time for a system to start working. 
10. Stock and Flow Structures: The physical arrangement of each element can help improve the structure and feedback of the system. 
11. Buffers: One example was Amazon.com and how they store your information after you buy a product for the first time. Instead of filling out the contact/purchasing information every time, Amazon will save it and fill the information out for you. The website can also show items you have previously purchased with recommendations to buy other items. 
12. Numbers and Constants: The data and information quantities. This is the least effective leverage point, but often the most common because its is easy to change.