A Few Words with Nathan Shedroff

("Experience Design" by Nathan Shedroff)

Nathan Shedroff’s presentation on “Sustainable Innovation” held in a design lecture at UC Davis, introduced a possible solution for sustainability through a list of rhetorical questions such as: What’s a more sustainable world look like? What’s a more meaningful world look like? and What’s a post-consumer world look like? Ultimately, these questions do not have a finite answer, and are open to interpretation, and are best answered through a Socratic seminar. The main idea is to compile potential solutions, or hypotheses, that people make and come to the basic conclusion, or answer, that there is indeed no such thing as a sustainable design, but rather, a potentially more sustainable design. In this modern day and age, there is a constant race and competition for the best product. However, in order for innovation to take into effect, there must be an incentive for designers to partake in new investments. According to Shedroff, the service to users or customers is part of the sustainability principles. The next generation is the driving force behind new frontiers within technological advances and design systems. Essentially, the message to take home is: design something today that will benefit the future of tomorrow.

Shedroff’s presentation examined sustainability under a microscope. He used visuals such as and simple examples in order to give the audience a better understanding of the definition of sustainability. The discussion was very thorough and didactic; first, beginning with a basic ven-diagram of a successful system consisting of: design, sustainability, and business, then, rhetorical questions regarding what a sustainable world looks like, and finally, a break down of sustainability principles, frameworks, tools, and design strategies. Shedroff communicated his idea effectively because the topic easily relates to the audience, and his method of conveying ideas from simple to complex allows the audience to follow along and think, instead of being spoon-fed.