Let’s face it, the challenges our society is currently facing are complex, multilayered, and deeply intertwined. Our old ways of doing are not enough.
We have to radically change our approach to innovation and the way we design services. It needs to include a more systemic view.
From human-centred design to planet-centred design
We have to start at the core. Let’s get ourselves, our projects, and our customers out of the centre.
Traditionally, there have been various drivers for innovation: technology-driven, profit-driven, user-driven, and more. The last one has been practised a lot by designers; it’s what we call ‘human-centred design’.
We believe we have to go beyond human-centric design to innovate for the challenges of today. Human-centred ways of working have systemically overlooked the effect of our designs on other, “non-human people” or actors, as we refer to them in System Thinking.
System Thinking helps us see this, zoom out, and holistically appreciate and explore the entire (eco)system. Helping us to comprehend the bigger picture and design from there.
From human-centred design to planet-centred design.
A first glimpse into a System Thinking case with Ubbink
Last January, Rodney van der Knaap, Anna van der Togt and myself, partnered up with Ubbink Netherlands; a manufacturer of products for building construction and installation.
Part of their product portfolio focuses on flue gas pipes and discharge systems. Upcoming legislation around replacing gas boilers will impact the demand for these products. They expect this part of their portfolio to shrink considerably in the coming years.
Ubbink realised that the introduction of more climate-conscious legislation around building materials and practices will increasingly be commonplace, and they reached out to us. They wanted to rethink their portfolio strategy to be more future-proof. They asked our Livework team to help them understand what the future might hold for them and how they can best start preparing for that.
We decided to start with this exploration focusing on the roof. A lot of climate mitigation and adaptation measures are expected to affect what the roof of the future might look like — think solar panels, green roofs, water retention roofs, etc — so it seemed like a good place to start.
To enrich our service design process, we used System Thinking and system tools to approach this challenge. I’ll show you how we did it, but let me start with explaining the basics.
What is System Thinking?
For us at Livework, System Thinking is a lens of thinking and looking at the world around us. A way of trying to comprehend the entirety of a system and understand how the different actors interact with and influence one another. It is almost the opposite of a linear approach.
For us at Livework, System Thinking is a lens of thinking and looking at the world around us.
- Stein Wetzer
An (eco)system — whether it is an organisation, a city, an industry, or a part of society — can be seen as an interdependent network of self-interested actors jointly creating value in a way that no single actor would be able to do. (Adner, 2006; Bogers, Sims, West, 2019)
Systemic thinking provides a way to understand the bigger context or “ecosystem” in which a project or organisation is situated rather than solely focusing on the direct context.
It helps to identify and appreciate interconnections and relationships within the ecosystem, recognizing the dependencies and feedback loops* between various actors. For example, Ubbinks’ dependency on partners in their sales channels to bring their products to market.
It facilitates a deep understanding of where in the system to intervene because intervening without considering the broader context in which problems exist can trigger unintended consequences elsewhere, often leading to new, more severe problems.
System mapping provides a holistic way to identify the root causes of a challenge as well as leverage points to unlock change.
*feedback loops are circular (loops) processes of cause & effect (feedback) that influence a system’s behaviour. Instead of thinking linearly, it recognizes that as the cause (A) leads to an effect (B), B will also affect A. A well-known feedback loop is, for example, central heating. The thermostat (A) influences the heater (B), and the produced heat (B) influences the workings of the thermostat (a).
Feedback loops are used to model dynamic systems in a holistic manner conceptually, mapping how variables (i.e., factors, issues, processes) influence one another.
intervening without considering the broader context in which problems exist can trigger unintended consequences
- Stein Wetzer
Why did we apply System Thinking in our work with Ubbink?
The building environment in the Netherlands is complex. Complex, in this case, means that the relationship between cause and effect is not always clear and can only be perceived in retrospect (Snowden, 2002).
This complexity, together with the human, interconnected, open, and dynamic qualities of this challenge, makes it an ecosystem challenge (Dorst; 2015).
Therefore to explore how Ubbink can maintain its relevance on the roof, we decided to use System Thinking and map the current system and actors involved in the roof ecosystem.
How did we do it?
To create a holistic Actor Map (see explanation in next section), speaking to Ubbink employees would not be enough. This would result in a view that is too biased to their own view. This is why we decided to speak to different actors across the system to co-create this ecosystem — like installers, contractors, wholesalers, engineers, government or ecologists specialising in the built environment. This decision was made based upon our experience that co-creating with the client can be too subjective and invites a less holistic perspective (Rempt, Celik, Wetzer; 2023).
We started with a first sketch (see image below) and took this to 12 interviews with different actors across the ecosystem.
During these interviews, we iterated the system map continuously, adding actors, moving clusters, separating clusters, and adding interactions and hurdles.
The visuals below show the development of the Actor Map throughout the project, showing some of the insights it brought us. However, the last version of the Actor Map can not be seen as “the truth”; it is just a representation of what we see as the most useful system overview for the purpose of this project.
What value did System Thinking bring to our project?
The Actor Map visualized the complex environment Ubbink operates in. It opened up new ways of looking at their (future) portfolio and identified threats and opportunities for their innovation efforts. This informed the development of 3 concept directions that explicitly consider the different actors and their roles in the ecosystem.
What’s more, the interviews with the different actors in the system were very positively received, where Ubbink clients, partners, and users felt heard and engaged.
Zoom in: What is Actor Mapping?
Actor mapping is a visual way to use systemic thinking. Here are some of the main characteristics:
Key Takeaways from this article
I think about the future and try to seek connections within & between ecosystems and connect this to ‘now’. Combining this with empathy, I aim to create a positive impact, for human beings, organizations, and overall our planet.
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