Designing for Hacking, Designing for Death

by March 16, 2005

Design for use is assumed. Design for ease of use is expected. What’s next?

Design for hacking is part open source and part Web 2.0. While creation by end users is possible, growth and change are the primary components under user control. The designer’s deliverables are a set of building blocks or governing rules that enable construction and modification.

Design for death accounts for products after use ceases to be the primary value. What happens to a product without interactions? Can the vested interests of users survive (identity, history, compiled data, learned behaviors)?

"If companies know they're going to see these things again, will they design them differently? You bet they will." - Bruce Sterling