Logic would dictate that tech innovations can only add value to our lives; that, when they are widely adopted, it must be because they are good enough to be good forever.
Alexandra Schmidt explains how technology impacts the drivers of change at play in our society, such as public interest, democratic governance, or individual rights. She does it from a designer’s perspective, which is always a tug of war between opposites: me/we, present/future, benefit/harm, etc.
Take one of those opposites: intended benefit versus unintended harm. I used to bring to class a big, sharp, kitchen knife when I wanted to discuss its use and misuse with my industrial design students. I asked them to gather in a circle, shoulder to shoulder, and hold the knife for a few minutes, in turn. In the kitchen, we use the knife as it was designed to be used, but an unexpected new context quickly sends the knife holder on a thinking spiral that reveals the object’s dark side: it can also be misused to harm others.
Deliberate Intervention brings you to a place of reckoning that questions how technology adds value to our volatile society. It is an invitation to reflect on how social context, culture, and variable time horizons transform the world and how those transformations, activated by technology, can drift to dark places. If you believe that, even if we can’t predict the future, at least we can design it, this book may change your mind.
Alexandra’s understanding of design at the deep level of its social implications supports the claim that what we may design today with the best of intentions will likely evolve into something quite different tomorrow. Savor that thought—one of the golden nuggets of this book—if you agree that, although imperfect, the practice of design is still the best chance we have to add value to the lives of many.
This book is a journey at different altitudes that invites you to reflect on what you read from your own personal experience: is design really compatible with policymaking? Is harm the side effect of large-scale structural change? Is it ethical to stick to a laissez-faire approach to the urgent challenges we are facing?
Tick tock, tick tock…
Whether you decide to fly high or wander close to the ground, Deliberate Intervention will help you come up with new questions; that’s what it was designed for.
—Enrique Martínez is a designer and strategic innovation adviser
