A6DaraCunninghamMattSmithKateStarbird

A6DaraCunninghamMattSmithKateStarbird

To-Do

please create an answer via the form for this assignment addressing the following issues:

• which was the most interesting idea/concept you learned from the article? what is the relationship of this idea/concept to your own work and own thinking?
• which is the most prominent meta-design environment you can think off? Why?
• analyze one computational environment in detail from a meta-design perspective? (if you can't think of a better one: analyze Microsoft-Word)
• argue in which sense the American constitution may be considered as a success example for meta-design

Most interesting idea/concept

I think the idea of social creativity, bringing the many hands, minds, and experiences of multiple individuals into a design task is a powerful concept, especially in the era of Web 2.0. We have the tools to bring people together and the Internet seems to be a perfect medium for inspiring collaboration and co-creation of artifacts, social environments, software, etc. Social creativity can also be harnessed in smaller, closed systems with more specific problems to be solved (the EDC). Our creative power can be so much stronger when many people are "brought to the table" for design.

Most Prominent Example

The World Wide Web is itself a massive meta-design environment. The seeds for this now vital network of communication, protocols and network structure, were planted by research in the mid-20th century, and were opened up for commercial use in the late 1980s. The 1990s saw a period of evolutionary growth. Consumers of information quickly became creators of information. Groups of developers, professional and hobbyist, produced content as well as tools that allowed others to create content. HTML allowed talented amateurs to participate in the creation of new content. WYSIWYG editors were developed that allowed total amateurs to produce their own pages.

The Internet has been co-created by a massive amount of people. New end-user tools, including simple editors, blog hosting sites, and social networking sites, open up the door of participation to new users. One could suggest that Web 2.0 is a re-seeding of the Internet, a new perspective (enabled by new technology and higher processor/internet speeds) that is spawning a new wave of evolution.

Detailed Analysis

Google's sketch up is a good environment representation of meta-design integration. As a start up company the original sketch up group created the basic tools for users to use that would allow them to create 3-D models which then after being absorbed by Google allowed the users become the designers. The community that evolved around Google sketch up and Google earth allowed Google to take user input in the second level of meta-design and allow for design testing in new versions of sketch up addressing the needs and wants of the users. Since then Google has made efforts keep the users involved in the development of the programs and catering to needs. Google sketch up also allows for users to create, develop and manipulate Google earth and Google 3D warehouse.

American constitution as Meta-Design

In 1787, the U.S. Constitution was adopted and ratified, laying the foundation for government in the newly formed United States. According to Wikipedia, it is currently the "shortest and oldest written constitution of any major sovereign state." These facts are evidence to the document's relationship to "meta-design." It is short, and does not overly specify the details of governance. Instead, it lays a framework that defines particular constraints of the governing structure: the three branches and how they relate, federal power vs states' rights, etc. It also offers the flexibility of change. Article 5 details the process for making amendments. Since its adoption, there have been 27 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The provision for amendments allows the U.S. government to adjust the Constitution as time and circumstance require. This "meta"-design has perhaps contributed to the longevity of the U.S. Constitution as a relevant and powerful document / framework.