Nieusma, D. (2004). Alternative Design Scholarship: Working Toward Appropriate Design. Design Issues, 20(3), 13-24.

In his work , Nieusma introduces "alternative design scholarship" which are supportive solutions for technology designers to create wise and fair innovations. The aim of designers should be to contribute to appropriate design – “a theory [that] would encourage more attention to unequal power relations embodied in design by helping designers understand the many ways social power operates through design thinking and practice". In order for designers to consider and analyze social power in their design practices, five themes have to be examined.

First, diversity and universal design are about inclusion of the marginalized groups in society. It is no surprise that different people have different needs, however, the author states that “merely knowing that different needs exist is not the same as knowing what those differences imply”(p.14). Therefore, “universal design ...direct[s] our attention to a persistent narrowness in the way designers imagine users' abilities” (p. 14). Nieusma provides an example of people in wheelchairs and how although early designers did identify the physical needs of people bound to wheelchairs - they actually failed to account for their independence and psychological needs. There are buildings with back entry ramps that support access for those in wheelchairs, and yet at the same time, such design separates the disabled persons from the rest of the society who can enter through the front door.

Second, disagreement and participatory design promote the idea of certain technologies encouraging power relations. "Workplace technologies, for example, can be designed to deskill workers and centralize power in management, or they can be designed to empower workers by capitalizing on their skills” (p. 16). And participatory design operates in response to that issue because here, the overlooked groups can voice their concerns. As a result, designers can work to mediate conflicts between differing perspectives.

Third, uncertainty and ecological design is a design where uncertainty exists when attempting to understand or represent any complicated social-technical problem or design and its solution. Nieusma critiques the idea of command & control where humans (designers) are in the centre of everything. Instead, humans are just a part of the greater system such as nature. He further argues that we need to accept: “uncertainty [and complexities] can never be completely eliminated, designers need productive strategies aimed at coping with it” (p. 18). Designing "with nature" is one strategy for coping with uncertainties by designing human systems to work in conjunction with natural system. Thus, if we as designers believe we can control everything- things can go really wrong. Unfortunately, it is often done for profit: destroying our planet, poising ourselves through artificial genetically modified foods, etc. He concludes by saying that designers rather than trying to control nature, should try to understand and adapt to nature’s complexities.

Fourth, governing mentalities and feminist design which are the widely shared values, norms, expectations, and assumptions of how the world operates. And since "governing mentalities shape how people interpret cultural phenomena and how they think about their own lives and identities, coming to terms with the analytic and practical tensions associated with the persistence of such forces is a serious challenge to design thinking” (p. 19). According to the author this is where feminist design comes into play as it considers the relationship between the built world and the position of women in society. Nieusma also adds that no domain of social life, or of design, is or can be isolated from the influence of gender-based values and assumptions.

Fifth, agency and socially responsible design where agency is defined as designers' ability to work in ways that confront dominant design outcomes and empower marginalized social groups (p. 21). And socially responsible design scholars”...direct our attention to the need for considering designer agency as a key analytic variable (p. 22). Here, Nieusma discusses the idea of consumerism and market, the capitalist ideology, for profit. Of course, there are benefits of using cheap labour and there are social rewards - designers are also people who need income. However, consumerism and capitalism cause biases in design and even if the designers are aware of such biases - if they choose to go against the structure - they will be forced to face consequences because, going against social structure - going against the system - as courageous as it might be - has consequences.

According to Nieusma, together ,the five themes are supposed to result in effective technological design, when addressing the needs of the underserved groups in our society. Nonetheless, he concludes with a statement “Like democracy, appropriate design is an ongoing activity that can never be fully or finally achieved” (p. 24). Even though Nieusma does present useful solutions, he seems to be limited to Western perspectives and Western societies (bias). In addition, he does not provide enough examples - his work would benefit if he used practical examples to explain reasons behind his arguments.

Page author: Aleks Migorska