Module 1: Wicked Design Problems
[My dad, brother, and I, pictured above]
In the next example I'm expanding into a realm that has less to do with the design of a "product" although I'm choosing to share about it because it entails all of the same types of challenges that a designed product might, and that is raising children. I chose this also because childhood is something that literally every living person experiences and a notably large percentage of people eventually become parents. I believe it’s an extremely important “problem” to decipher in that it collectively imposes a high impact on the world.
First off, “successful parenting” is entirely subjective. Each parent and each culture (and indefinite sub-cultures) have their own definition… A parent’s main objective could be a multitude of things, like to ensure happiness, independence, worldly success, etc… The subjectivity of the concept means there is no “true or false” and no “right and wrong” way to do it. Nor is there any “immediate or ultimate test” to determine successful parenting.
The questions a parent must ask themselves is infinite… What is the “right” level of dependence that a child should maintain? At what age should a child be able to things on their own? How much “risk” should a parent allow to support a child’s mental and emotional growth? What type of learning environment is best for my child? What are the most important values I’d like to instill in my child?
Also, the nature of genetic and environmental diversity and how this plays together with the natural plasticity of our brains, each child has the capacity to be entirely unique, which requires an infinite and ever-changing list of new problems to solve and therefore there’s no way to exhaustively define the problem.
These infinite problems must be solved with “one-shot solutions”—brains develop over time and there is no way to undo or erase a child’s prior experiences.
Raising kids presents the “no stopping rule” because there is no real end point or finality to the goal—kids continue to grow and change and where parenting is “done” is left up to each individual. Even once kids are grown and into adulthood, parental support throughout a persons' life may prove useful.
“Every problem is a symptom of another problem” in that parenting overlaps with a multitude of other “wicked problems” such as education, social equality, and healthcare to name a few.
REFERENCES:
Nelson, H. G., & Stolterman, E. (2012). The design way: Intentional change in an unpredictable world (2nd ed.). MIT Press.
