Design for a Better World: Meaningful, Sustainable, Humanity Centered
About this book
How human behavior brought our world to the brink, and how human behavior can save us.The world is a mess. Our dire predicament, from collapsing social structures to the climate crisis, has been millennia in the making and can be traced back to the erroneous belief that the earth's resources are infinite. The key to change, says Don Norman, is human behavior, covered in the book's three major themes: meaning, sustainability, and humanity-centeredness. Emphasize quality of life, not monetary rewards; restructure how we live to better protect the environment; and focus on all of humanity. Design for a Better World presents an eye-opening diagnosis of where we've gone wrong and a clear prescription for making things better.Norman proposes a new way of thinking, one that recognizes our place in a complex global system where even simple behaviors affect the entire world. He identifies the economic metrics that contribute to the harmful effects of commerce and manufacturing and proposes a recalibration of what we consider important in life. His experience as both a scientist and business executive gives him the perspective to show how to make these changes while maintaining a thriving economy. Let the change begin with this book before it's too late.PART I Artificial1 Almost everything artificial has been designed2 Our artificial way of life is unsustainable3 Why History matters4 Precise -but artificial- measurements5 If technology got us into today's situation, maybe technology can get us out6 This book: Meaningful, sustainable, and humanity-centeredPART II Meaningful7 The need for meaning8 Measurement in the physical sciences9 Measuring what is important to people10 The Gross Domestic Product11 How did the world get into today's quandary12 Human behavior and economicsPART III Sustainable. Reverse and repair the harm done to the ecosystems of the world.14 How did the world get into today's quandary?15 Sustainability has multiple components and implications16 Design Products, Sustainability, and the Circular Economy17 The practical difficulties of Implementing Circular Design18 Sustainable, robust, and resilient Systems19 People's understanding of systems20 Working with complex sociotechnical systems21 It's not too latePART IV Humanity Centered22 Moving from humans to humanity23 Democratizing design and development24 People designing for themselves25 DesignX: An approach to large, complex systems26 Where incrementalism (muddling through) fails27 Incremental modular design28 When large, multidisciplinary projects are necessary29 Dealing with scale30 Design: Necessary but not sufficientPART V Human Behavior31 Why change is difficult32 People will mobilize for a common goal33 What must change34 The dominance of technology35 The future of technologyPART VI Action36 What can be done?37 What can we do?38 The major points of this book AcknowledgmentsNotes