CreativeMornings PRESERVE @mprove 2019

For our upcoming event, we will explore the global theme PRESERVE with innovation and interaction designer Matthias Müller-Prove.

If we do not know where we are coming from, we do not know where we are heading.

The beauty in our world deserves to be cherished, sustained, and rediscovered.

Preservation begins with asking deep questions and turning our attention to our own history as designers and innovators. Are we focusing enough on the history of design to understand how we got to where we are now and envision where it is we are going in the future? Join us to find out!

Abstract

Preserving our common computing and interaction design history does not mean to shelf the stuff into a museum’s archive and forget about it. Nor does it mean to put it onto a pedestal and worship the software and hardware artefacts of pe-digital-historic times. Knowing about our design roots simply provides an (un)fair advantage to learn from mistakes and failed attempts of generations of designers that preceded us. Sometimes it even turns out, that the original systems are far superior over the current gear and platforms. Understanding the pure vision, even if ahead of times, is key for innovation now.

Did you know for instance that the roots of graphical user interfaces, hypertext, tablet computing, augmented reality, groupware are more than 50 years old? Understanding the motivation is even more stunning. As Douglas Engelbart remembered his goals in 1960 [interview 2000]:

“[The world is] getting more complex than ever at a more rapid rate that these problems we’re facing have to be dealt with collectively. […] So if I could contribute as much as possible, so how – generally speaking – mankind can get more capable in dealing with complex urgent problems collectively, then that would be a terrific professional goal.”

Are we making progress – as a species on our blue planet? Are we tackling the right design problems to stay here for the next couple of generations? Let’s face the issues and approach solutions to fix Spaceship Earth.