Handling Complexity: Framing a Scale of Design
Summary
Designing "at scale" assumes conceptual consensus on what the particular levels of that 'scale' actually are. In the last few years, UX professionals have specialized into UX researchers, product designers, service designers design strategists, etc. Nowadays, we're also witnessing the debut of a new term: "system designers". But do we really understand how these job titles and subthemes of UX fit within that scale of complexity in design? In this presentation, we'll introduce the basic levels of a scale of design, articulate how common UX job titles fit on the scale, and map how the work we commonly tackle in both research and design should also be informed by the scale of the problem we're addressing. We're also going to critique the (somewhat misguided) ways the current world of UX is handling the widespread growth in the complexity of our work.
Key Insights
-
•
Design complexity is best understood as a scale with multiple layers, from foundational theory to societal impact.
-
•
Traditional design scale models do not fully address the granularity required by modern design challenges.
-
•
Lower layers of design focus on artifact creation and micro-interactions, exemplified by practitioners like Aaron Draplin.
-
•
Product design is discipline-led and emphasizes precise, polished deliverables, while service design is multidisciplinary and tolerates imprecision.
-
•
Research quality decreases substantially at higher levels of the scale due to ambiguity and systemic complexity.
-
•
Designers must consider secondary users and the potential harm their designs may inflict beyond primary users.
-
•
Service design projects often span years and require broad organizational collaboration, including policy, business, and HR perspectives.
-
•
Systemic and ecosystem thinking is crucial for ethical design and to avoid commoditization of design and designers.
-
•
Organizational adoption of ecosystem-focused roles is increasing as companies recognize the need for system-level insights.
-
•
Operationalizing design at scale requires awareness of these layers, multidisciplinary teamwork, and evolving research approaches.
Notable Quotes
"While the majority of design happens in the lower half of this scale, we create gaps at the higher, systemic levels that we must address."
"Design projects in product design are led by designers, but in service design they are facilitated or co-facilitated by designers among many perspectives."
"If you see a system, you cannot unsee it — systemic awareness changes how you approach design."
"On lower layers, research spaces are limited and focused, while at higher layers, problem spaces are ambiguous and require holistic approaches."
"We tend to put the end user first, but we must also ask who we might be doing harm to beyond primary users."
"In product design, we answer questions to design; in service design, we ask the right questions to design."
"Many big companies now have roles related to ecosystem design like VP or senior managers of ecosystem."
"Service design projects often last two to three years and necessitate ongoing stakeholder collaboration."
"Focusing exclusively on design systems, sprints, and agile commoditizes design and reduces it to cookie-cutter processes."
"Being aware of the systemic lens is a big first step that changes how teams operate and design."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Slack channels with live feeds and tagging let busy developers catch key observations asynchronously."
Joanna Vodopivec Prabhas PokharelOne Research Team for All - Influence Without Authority
March 9, 2022
"Careers here are jungle gyms, not ladders; you can move laterally and explore many paths."
Louis Rosenfeld Lashanda Hodge Senongo Akpem Chris HodowanecBecoming a Civic Designer: Making the Move from Private to Public Sector
November 17, 2022
"Impact curated by France Alana was outstanding."
Bria AlexanderDay 3 Welcome
September 25, 2024
"Yesterday we touched upon topics like chatDBT, chatbots, trust, intentionality, agency, and even alien interns."
Uday Gajendar Louis RosenfeldDay 2 Welcome
June 5, 2024
"Consistency is so important that sometimes even consistency in failure works if it means I only have to learn the workaround once."
Sam ProulxOnline Shopping: Designing an Accessible Experience
June 7, 2023
"Waiting and vague communication during hiring is a painful guessing game for candidates."
Russ UngerOnboarding: The Ecosystem, not the Afterthought
November 7, 2017
"Physical prototyping is a tool to explore interaction modalities and physically connected environments beyond all things digital."
Catherine DubutBridging Physical and Digital Spaces: Approaches to Retail Service Design
March 18, 2021
"Agents set goals, plan steps, execute them, and decide when they’re done, often without user attention."
Josh Clark Veronika KindredSentient Design: New Postures for AI-Mediated Experiences (2nd of 3 seminars)
January 29, 2025
"Designers who come out of US tech need to pivot quickly toward broader inclusion or risk being outpaced by other markets."
Dantley DavisLeadership & Diversity—A Fireside Chat with Dantley Davis
September 17, 2020
