Our stories blend and mingle with each others' stories. That's part of what makes human relationships so complex. Devising legislation that fits all of us, interfaces that work for all of us, products we can all use-well,that's a complicated project. As Rob Tannen points out in this issue of the Review, sometimes it's better to hide the complexity within the product or process so that it becomes simpler and more intuitive to use. What's the point of including a 50- or 100-page booklet with a new camera or a new cell phone? No one's going to read it. And what's the point of bloating a new piece of legislation or or regulation into a 2,000-page opus? Inevitably, someone will find a loophole. (For more on this, read Alan Siegel's interview with Philip Howard, as well as Siegel's call to action in our keynote article.)

Articles

The Complexity Crisis 

Alan Siegel

An Interview with Philip Howard
Philip Howard

Battling the Demons of Complexity: Design Thinking in a Business Context
Matt Mayfield, Miguel Martinez; Catherine Pansard; Rebecca Serr

Executing Strategy: What Designers can Teach Project Managers
Kieran Duck

Public-Sector Chief Design Officers, anyone?
Marco Steinberg

Embracing Complexity: A Framework for Healthcare Design
Scott Stropkay and David Siedzik

Framing the Vision for Engagement
Heather McGowan

Redesigning Graduate Education
Rob Tannen

 

Reflections on Service Design, Frameworks, and the Service Organization
Jacqueline Wechsler