Managing Complexity - A Total Design Methodology

JUSTINTAUBER.COM | @BRTRX
03.2017MANAGING COMPLEXITY - A TOTAL DESIGN METHODOLOGY
MANAGING COMPLEXITY
A Total Design Methodology

DESIGN METHODOLOGY
Should:
✓ Help you understand the situation
you’re in, and how to respond
effectively
✓ Help you decide which design
methods to use
Should not:
Be a specific technique
Be inflexible - “one-size fits all”
is a “logic of design methods”

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

IT DEPENDS!

COMPLEXITY AS A
DESIGN METHODOLOGY
a “logic of methods” based on the
kind of complexity we’re dealing with

CYNEFIN
Pronounced Ki-ney-ﬁn
Welsh for “a place where you feel at home”
A framework for characterising different kinds of complexity

Image source: https://i.imgur.com/XRhkKaz.jpg
Dave Snowden
(IBM/Cognitive Edge)
“Cyneﬁn is a
Sense-Making
Framework”

MANAGING COMPLEXITY - A TOTAL DESIGN METHODOLOGY 03.2017
OBVIOUS
COMPLICATED
CHAOS
COMPLEX

ORDEREDUNORDERED
MANAGING COMPLEXITY - A TOTAL DESIGN METHODOLOGY
“Patterns are temporary and unpredictable” “Things happen for a reason”
“Retrospective coherence” “Cause and effect”
OBVIOUS
COMPLICATED
CHAOS
COMPLEX

Is this a real pattern
or just a projection?
We’re often pessimistic
about unordered domains

“Learning to
recognize and appreciate the domain
of unorder is liberating,
because we can stop applying
methods designed for order
and instead focus on
legitimate methods that work well in  
un-ordered situations.”
- Dave Snowden

• Cause and effect is clear
• Behaviour is predictable
• Clear options / standard responses
• “Best practice” dominates
• Process-based decision-making
OBVIOUS

COMPLICATED • Causes and effects are hard to see
• Problems are solvable, but require
specialist knowledge
• Competing models, heuristics
• Look for elegant solutions, not
necessarily perfect ones
• Decision-making by consensus
among experts

COMPLEX• Un-ordered, evolving
• Cause and effect aren’t clear
• Perceive only emerging patterns
• Can’t control outcomes directly
• Leaders must be adaptable
• Entrepreneurs vs bureaucrats

CHAOS• No perceivable order
• Dangerously unstable
• Response time is critical
• Crisis management
• Authoritarian leadership

OBVIOUS
COMPLICATED
CHAOS
COMPLEX
BEST PRACTICE
EXPERTISE
RAPID RESPONSE
EMERGENCE
CATEGORISE
ANALYZE
STABILISE
PROBE — RESPONDSENSE —
— RESPONDSENSE —
— SENSE — RESPOND
— SENSE — RESPOND

Collapse
/ Breakdown
OBVIOUS
COMPLICATED
CHAOS
COMPLEX

DISORDER
Where are we?

APPLYING CYNEFIN

OBVIOUS
COMPLICATED
CHAOS
COMPLEX
CARE
PRESCRIPTION
TRIAGE
DIAGNOSTICS
Collapse
/ Acute Event
Medical
Treatment
“Stop the bleeding”
“Test to understand” “Set a course of treatment”
“Treat and monitor the patient”
REMIX

OBVIOUS
COMPLICATED
CHAOS
COMPLEX
USABILITY TESTING
IX DESIGN
BRAND CRISIS
USER RESEARCH
REMIX

DON’T CHECK YOURSELF INTO
HOSPITAL FOR A HEAD COLD

OBVIOUS
COMPLICATED
CHAOS
COMPLEX
VALIDATE
PROTOTYPE
HELPDESK
CUSTOMER VALUE
LEAN
Innovation
AGILE
Improvement
CX
Immunisation
REMIX

LEADERS
OBVIOUS
COMPLICATED
CHAOS
COMPLEX
CATEGORISE
ANALYZE
ACT
PROBE
REMIXTEAM MEMBERS

• Decide between methods
• Decide what sort of role to play
• Understand our strengths and
weaknesses
• Broaden our relevance to our
organisation
• Be more proactive about risk on
large projects
We can use the Cyneﬁn framework to:
CYNEFIN AS A
DESIGN METHODOLOGY

MAKE IT YOUR OWN
• Annotating wireframes for a
development team
• Testing an existing site to identify
usability problems
• Conducting a series of design
thinking workshops to identify
new service opportunities
• A/B testing designs for a checkout
process
• Conducting a card sort
• Testing a new navigation design
• Running a product design sprint
• Developing personas for an
intranet redesign
Which domain is your Cyneﬁn, your natural home?
Where do these scenarios belong?

JUSTINTAUBER.COM
CYNEFIN FRAMEWORK (C) COGNITIVE EDGE
OBVIOUS
COMPLICATED
CHAOS
COMPLEX
BEST PRACTICE
EXPERTISE
RAPID RESPONSE
EMERGENCE
SENSE - CATEGORIZE - RESPOND
SENSE - ANALYZE - RESPOND
ACT - SENSE - RESPOND
PROBE - SENSE - RESPOND
CARE
PRESCRIPTION
TRIAGE
DIAGNOSIS

Thanks
Justin Tauber
Email: justin@justintauber.com
Web: justintauber.com
Medium: @brtrx
* Returning to Sydney May 2017
Further reading on Cynefin:
Dave Snowden’s company Cognitive Edge
A Leader's Framework for Decision Making (HBR)
Complex Acts of Knowing (Snowden 2002)
Image credits:
Cross by Zaff Studio from the Noun Project
a ginormous flock of birds by jeromebettis (imgur)
Airplane by Valery from the Noun Project
geese by Sarah JOY from the Noun Project
Billiards by parkjisun from the Noun Project
forest fire by Peter van Driel from the Noun Project
Dave Snowden speaking at UX Brighton 2016 by UX Brighton (via Wikipedia)
#totaldesign
@brtrx

PHYSICAL STANCE
DESIGN STANCE
POLITICAL STANCE
INTENTIONAL STANCE
OBVIOUS
COMPLICATED
CHAOS
COMPLEX
Respond based on known forces and conﬁgurations
Respond based on assumed roles & functions
Respond based on perceived power relations
Respond based on assumed beliefs and desires
“What will happen next?”
“How does it work?”“What is it trying to achieve?”
“Is it friend or foe?”
BONUS! Daniel Dennett’s STANCES mapped onto the Cynefin domains
NEW

Managing Complexity - A Total Design Methodology

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