I had the opportunity to lead CMU Design Studies: Systems, a 5.0-unit course that immersed thirty-nine undergraduate design students in the world of systems thinking within the context of design. The course was carefully structured to combine theory with practice, engaging students in exploring how interconnected socio-technical systems influence design outcomes and societal challenges.
In the current century, as the distinctions between nature, culture, and the artificial become increasingly blurred, we can no longer talk about design independent of its role in determining the form and consequences of the systems in which we live and create—and that we create. In today’s world, a systems perspective is a minimal requirement for designers to participate with all stakeholders in approaching wicked challenges. Working with a systems perspective means actively modeling the complex relationships in a situation before us at whatever scale—global or local, social or technical, at the scale of nation or community. Without a systems perspective, we cannot hope to grasp enough to inform our actions and to bring about intentional change.
This course introduced key aspects of systems thinking and its application to design, engaging students in various viewpoints and methods for modeling socio-technical systems. The course also offers a brief overview of cybernetics and the critical role of conversation and collaboration in effectively designing systems. The course design comprises a mix of readings, lectures, games, class discussions, individual reflections, and a group project.
As a result, students better understand where and how design interventions, whether artifacts, services, or environments, affect the world. They saw how various systems—ecological, social, and cultural— inter-operate and be able to describe the scale of projects and systems ranging from bioregional to community-based interventions.
By the end of the course, students were able to:
Describe the value in taking a ‘systems perspective’ of the context in which a design takes place and how it can potentiate a design process.
Describe basic systems thinking concepts such as positive and negative feedback loops, hierarchy, reinforcing feedback, input, and output.
Compose systems models where stakeholders, needs, technology, and the environment of physical and living systems interact.
Illustrate the value of systems modeling for exteriorizing mental models, communicating them to others, defending their validity while expressing their limitations, collaborating on their improvement, and exploring alternatives to the system's current state to achieve a preferred state.
Collaborate in a team by effectively seeking and articulating shared values; producing systems’ models and designs; critiquing others’ and one’s own proposals; defending others and one’s own rationales for design decisions; negotiating different points of view; and seeking agreement on intentions and actions.
During the course, students were paired into groups of 3-4 to visualize interconnections and interdependencies related to large-scale, socio-technical challenges impacting Pennsylvania.
To better grapple with wicked problems, design teams, and stakeholders together need to express the dynamics and interconnectedness of a system as they see it. This is where systems mapping comes in—mapping represents consensus about a system that communicates and aids understanding while helping identify knowledge gaps, novel insights, and intervention points.
Their team’s were challenged to find compelling ways to visualize their complex problem and its multifaceted components at multiple scale levels. To do this, they needed to distinguish root causes from consequences, show interconnections/interdependencies among issues and other problem areas, and speculate on the most significant ‘leverage points for change‘ within the system (i.e., where interventions can be situated that will help resolve many issues simultaneously).
This project not only reinforced theoretical concepts but also honed students’ abilities to communicate complex ideas visually and collaboratively.
![[B2] Group 1 - Systems (F2024) - FINAL POSTER.jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ddcc0102184d87df0ee838a/1742330365113-JAAQQTCAZYN0CPCM7VNV/%5BB2%5D+Group+1+-+Systems+%28F2024%29+-+FINAL+POSTER.jpg)
