Every designer has shipped a fix that broke something somewhere else. This expedition went looking for the pattern behind that, across five places that seem to have nothing in common: childhood, healthcare, AI, interface design and music.
The props
On the guitar, I strummed one simple pattern to play a tune. It worked, until it turned monotonous, and that was the new problem. Adding a few more chords fixed it, until the new pattern created the next problem. The whole loop, played out in sound.
I also wore a t-shirt showing the nine layers of a chicken egg. An egg is a chicken's solution to making another egg, and that was where the expedition started.
The pattern
- Problem
- Solution
- System change
- New problem
Explored through childhood, healthcare, AI, interface design and music.
A moment from the room
I asked for a show of hands: who has solved a problem, only to create another one? About half the room put a hand up. Afterwards, many people shared how they recognised the pattern in their own work, and one asked when I would be doing a TEDx talk.
In their words
"A huge thank you to Werner R. van Zyl (DBL) for a thought-provoking session on The Problem with Solutions."
The question I left the room with
Where in your own life are you treating the symptom, while ignoring the loop that creates it?
Bring this expedition to your teamA talk, workshop or lunch and learn, with the props, in English or Afrikaans.
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