Design for Complexity

Using systems and transition thinking in design

Designers are increasingly involved in design initiatives that contribute to tackling complex societal challenges, related to domains such as health & wellbeing, safety, sustainability, and inequality. While designers have unique skills and expertise to contribute to this context, it also requires new design approaches, such as ‘systemic design’ and ‘transition design’.

Date
9-10 April 2025

Group size
8-16 participants

Location
Industrial Design Engineering,
TU Delft

Deadline
7th of April 2025

Curriculum

In this master class you will learn to refine your skills to design for complex societal challenges; by combining the distinctive strengths of designers to frame problems, humanise challenges, and learn through experimentation, with principles and practices from systems thinking, complexity and transition theory.

You will participate in various hands-on activities to explore what it means to perceive the world systemically, and apply novel and practical systemic design principles and methods to a complex design case. You will also learn about the theoretical background of those practices and principles. Together we will reflect on the role of designers who aim to contribute to making our complex world a better place, and their position working within or alongside public, social, and/or private sector organisations.

This IDE Master Class is formally known as Design for Complexity.

Learning Objectives

You will learn to:

Recognise systemic ways of looking at the world and its challenges using perspectives from systems thinking, complexity and transition thinking;
Distinguish different types of complex problem contexts and recognise when it is appropriate to apply designerly practices;
Apply design principles for complex societal challenges that build on the unique strength of designers to ‘humanise’ systems;
Apply methods and practices to design for and explore complex challenges systemically to a specific design case;
Reflect on the role of designers in the context of complex challenges and societal transitions.

Jotte de Koning

Jotte de Koning is an Assistant Professor of Design for Sustainability at IDE, TU Delft. Her expertise lies in the field of transitions and sustainability. Her research is focused on co-creation processes between different actors in the transition process. She explores how methods from the field of Participatory Design and approaches of Design thinking are relevant for different stakeholders in sustainability transitions.

Sine Celik

Sine Celik is Assistant Professor of Network-driven Systemic Change at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering. Her research focuses on the role of social dynamics when designing for complex societal challenges. Sine's work operates at the intersection of systems thinking, network science and social design. She experiments with various design frameworks and network analysis techniques to unravel how design(ers) can set the conditions for empowering and impactful relationships between (human and non-human) actors that enable systemic change.

Programme

Day 1

9:00	Welcome and coffee
9:30	Introduction and overview
10:00	Workshop - Experiencing a systemic worldview
12:30	Lunch at the Porceleyne Fles
13:30	Lecture - Complexity & Systems thinking
14:15	Introduction Case
14:45	Apply Systemic Design Tools to Case
17:00	End of the first day

Day 2

9:30	Lecture - Transition Thinking
10:00	Apply Transition Thinking Design Tools to Case
11:00	Lecture - Social Networks
11:30	Apply Social Network Tools to Case
12:30	Lunch at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering
13:30	Finalise Case Study and Discuss Results
15:15	Reflecting on the Role of Designers in Societal Transitions
16:30	Wrap Up
17:00	Closing and Drinks

Practical Information

After the course
Two months after the course, a pre-set consultation timeslot will be offered to all participants to share experiences and ask questions to the IDE Master Class. The format and the timing will be discussed with the participants during the IDE Master Class.

Costs Master Class

€ 950	standard
€ 850	for members of BNO, KIVI IO, HumanFactorsNL
€ 750	for IDE alumni

Courses are VAT-free
Lunch, drinks, material and book are included

Reduction

€ 100	for each additional Master Class per organisation in 2025
€ 100	if you register before the 15th of January 2025