Jane Fultron Sure and Tim McGee from IDEO spoke on the amazing subject of moving design from human centered to life centered.
The sum of the entirety panel could be driven down to this quote TIm Mcgee said at the beginning of the panel.
“If all the insects in the world were to die the ecosystem would fail but if all the humans in the world were to die the ecosystems would die.”
Human centered design is where humans are the center of design whereas life centered design is based around how design elements in the eco system are created. By creating life centered design we can more efficiently interact with our environment.
The panel was broken down into three unique parts.
1) Designs that work with living matter
Tim talked about how ants transport leaves 10X thier size not to eat but to feed to a fungus that produces a separate bacteria which in turn creates a bacteria they eat. Using the fungi on our bodies we can create personalized products. It’s possible now to create cups of bacteria using lights to attract bacteria and create designs.
Don't think about ads.They're so one dimensional.Think about brand-building: firing on all cylinders makes lasting conxns #partycrash #sxsw
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2) Designs that provide a broad benefit.
By altering the environment of a caterpillar when they are weaving their cocoon designers at ideo have built architectural structures out of the moth’s silk. This new way of creating things is completely new and requires no existing materials and is an organic way to create.
3) Designs that create conditions for outcomes
Termite mounds are completely textually responsive the termites move the large mounds of dirt until the carbon dioxide and oxygen ratio is just right to make their unique structures.
The panel overall was insightful in how we need to look to our environment for inspiration. The most basic creatures are often creating the most complex systems and not interfering in the environment and instead co-existing with it. These ideas need to be further explored in how shifting from a human center design space to a life center design space we can live more synchronized with the world.