Talk:Systemic design

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May Richings (talk · contribs) This user has declared a connection. ((Optional) I am a researcher who is also a member of the Systemic Design Association, executive editor of Contexts—The Systemic Design Journal, and editor RSDsymposium.org. I am engaging with this page as someone knowledgeable about systemic design, and to update related information.)

Industrial design

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Systems

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Hello,

I'm Massimiliano Cavallin, I've studied Systemic Design at the Politecnico di Torino. :) I've seen this page under construction in the LinkedIn thread so... let's give it a go!

I'd structure the page as follows:

Introduction (copy and paste from the existent material, that sounds a good brief introduction to Systemic Design to me) Systemic Design is a recent initiative in design that integrates systems thinking and human-centered design, with the intention of helping designers cope with complex design projects. Systemic Design is being developed within design practice and through the Systemic Design Research Network. Systems Oriented Design is an example of a Systemic Design

History when did SD research started, key figures

Key Points systemic view of project, connections, flux of informations/material

Research institutions" the RSD, the univeristy"

Examples? successful projects maybe?

Further developments where the research is pointing to?

external links well, this should be a default feature of the page

Systemic Design is already in the Design template under Approaches that is a good thing :)

I'll be back on this page soon!

Awambawamb (talk) 11:12, 1 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Massimilano, Many years later, I am reviewing your suggestions. Thank you for these and I will take them into account as I am doing page updates. Cheryl May Richings (talk) 15:33, 3 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

History

I think the history needs more structure and to concentrate on overall development, rather than noting so many individuals. Hinterlander1 (talk) 18:13, 30 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for this comment. I will take this under advisement as I am updating pages. Many thanks, Cheryl May Richings (talk) 15:34, 3 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Conflation between discipline and organization

I've noticed that this article conflates the academic discipline of systemic design with the Systemic Design Association (SDA), a specific scholarly organization. This creates confusion about the scope and history of the field versus the activities of one particular association.

Specific issues

Research groups section: The SDA is listed alongside university research labs (Georgetown, Brighton, etc.), but it's an international membership organization, not a research group
Symposium history: The RSD symposium is presented as definitional to the field itself, when it's actually an activity organized by the SDA
Publications: The special issues table and the Contexts journal are SDA publications/activities, not general field developments
History section: Much of the "history" is actually organizational history of SDRN/SDA rather than the intellectual history of systemic design as a discipline

Proposed solution

I'm developing a separate article for the Systemic Design Association in my user space. Once complete, I propose:

This article (Systemic Design) should focus on:
- Theoretical foundations (design methods movement, systems thinking, complexity theory)
- Key methodologies and approaches (gigamapping, systems-oriented design, etc.)
- Applications and case studies
- Academic programs worldwide teaching systemic design
- Brief mention of scholarly organizations including the SDA

New article (Systemic Design Association) would cover:
- Organizational history (SDRN → SDA)
- RSD Symposium proceedings and venues
- Contexts journal
- Membership structure and governance
- SDA-specific activities and publications

This follows the pattern used for other disciplines (e.g., Economics vs. American Economic Association).

Comments and suggestions welcome before I proceed with these changes. UnkleFester (talk) 18:29, 17 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I have created a new page for the Systemic Design Association. I will be working on revising the Systemic Design page to better reflect its status as an article about a theoretical approach and a set of methodologies. UnkleFester (talk) 22:28, 27 December 2025 (UTC)[reply]