Jonathan Letourneau, MDesMDes: Master of Design Studies
I build and optimize UX capabilities for agile innovation teams within large organizations, leveraging UX research methodologies
to inform service delivery decisions for generative AI and emerging technologies.
Innovation Analyst | Mass General Brigham Emerging Technologies and Solutions (MGBETS)
UX Researcher | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Information Designer | Self-employed
Metaverse Curation and Relations Strategist | American Medical Extended Reality Association (AMXRA)
05. Complex System Mapping & Intervention
MDES 234—34/2
RoleDesign Strategist and ResearcherDurationThree MonthsTeamTwoAudienceConsumers with Disposable Income ObjectiveUntangle the interconnectedness of a system-level wicked problem into a focused solution at the consumer-level.Approach Use different relationship mapping techniques to uncover unique insights buried within the data.Challenges Finding creative ways to create behavioral nudges.
Overview
DiscoveryTwo weeks of secondary research and documentation
System Mapping
Analyzed data using relation mapping techniques such as STEEP Framework, Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) Mapping
Framing The ProblemIdentify the solution direction with a “How Might We” statement
Create User Personas and Journey Maps
Visualize how a solution may solve the problem
Solution CreationLeverage the theory of change and a behavioral expert to scope the solution
Starting with the Problem
Water is a critical resource in need of active protection. Our project team sought to understand the wicked problem of water availability and usage at the system level. Part of the complexity of this project is that the water system is considered a wicked problem. These are a class of problems that are uniquely difficult to solve. For more information, please review the key facets of wicked problems below.
Wicked Problems
The concept of wicked problems was introduced by design theorists Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber in 1973 to highlight the complexities and challenges in addressing planning and social policy problems. These problems have 10 unique characteristics that explain how uniquely challenging they are to solve:
There is no definitive formulation of a wicked problem
Wicked problems have no stopping rule
Solutions to wicked problems are not true-or-false, but good-or-bad
There is no immediate and no ultimate test of a solution to a wicked problem
Solutions to wicked problems trigger ripple effects that are neither reversible, nor stoppable
Wicked problems have no clear solution, and perhaps not even a set of possible solutions
Every wicked problem is essentially unique
Every wicked problem can be a symptom of another problem
Every wicked problem can be explained in numerous ways. The choice of explanation determines the nature of the problem's resolution
The planner (designer, policymaker) has no right to be wrong
I love a challenge. For me, solving wicked problems is a captivating process and the ability to have unique perspectives on important problems.
Mapping the Water System
Taking notes and annotating key findings only shows you half of the problem. To facilitate effective conversations around wicked problems or complex systems, a visual is invaluable. Our team used several mapping techniques to understand the scope of water systems from multiple angles before we felt confident to select our topic space.
STEEP Framework
The first mapping approach was the STEEP framework. This was a natural first step because it is also a great place to start when conducting exploratory research. STEEP (Social, Technological, Economical, Environmental, and Political) breaks down key facets of a topic into manageable components and provides balance. The balance helps mitigate the tendency for researchers to focus too heavily on one subject.
In this context, a drawback of this approach is the limited time and resources our two-person project team had. The resulting graph painted an informed picture of macro factors influences freshwater, but was too high level to make decisions from.
Freshwater Shortages Visualized with the STEEP Framework
Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) Mapping
MLP Mapping is an approach that adds relevant structure and story to complex systems research. While the STEEP framework is effective at identifying the range of research, the MLP map gives the research shape and meaning. This is achieved by two key attributes: First, the research is divided into three sections: Landscape, Regime, and Niche.
Landscape
This perspective refers to macro-level forces that influence the regime and niche. These are global trends, environmental issues, societal values, and political and economic conditions.
This can be seen in the status of the global internet in 2024
Regime
The regime level represents the dominant system (the status quo and societal norms) of established rules, technologies, and networks that enable the current system we live in.
An example of this is smartphone technology in 2024
Niche
The niche are the micro-level disruptors and new market entrants that have the possibility to change the regime and status quo.
Think about Generative AI in early 2024.
The second key attribute of MLP mapping is stratifying the landscape, regime, and niche by time. Framing these key details as they progress through time is illuminating as it helps the researchers gain intuition regarding how the niche will influence the regime and landscape.
Emergent Mapping
The final mapping technique our team employed was an organic approach to our focus area. Following our initial research, we saw an opportunity to intervene in the space of water use for manufacturing. This mapping approach focused on relationships and function. Mapping the functions of water in manufacturing helped the project team identify an opportunity to affect change in the consumer space. We realized that we had limited power to influence manufacturing process as regulations take too long to act. Instead we could leverage consumer preferences to influence manufacturing practices
Designing an Intervention
Following the extrapolation of a direction via system mapping, our team created a narrow How Might We statement:
How might we increase the adoption of responsible water habits by consumers to encourage companies to compete to use less water?
Theory of Change
Identifying the desired solution starts with understanding the desired behaviors that want to be changed. Three key behavioral changes were identified to effect this desired outcome.
Target User
Promoting the competition of water-conscious habits starts with a consumer who has the disposable income available to make value-informed decisions rather than price-informed decisions. This consumer is a six-figure earner who is lacking information needed to make value/environmentally-conscious decisions. In concert with the ideal persona, a journey map was created to identify key touchpoints along the user journey to adopt water-concious habits.
Company Habits
To assess a company’s alignment with our desired outcomes, we created a journey map for the company to review their progress. Similar to the user journey map, the company journey map is an idealilzed blueprint for key touchpoints that promote positive action.
The Solution
The solution requires giving significant credit to a human behavioral expert our team worked with. Our expert helped illuminate the nuances behind behavioral nudges and the benefit of social encouragement. From this, we created a social platform that lives within a user’s browser. This plugin, (like the existing plugin Honey) scans the users cart upon checkout and evaluates the water used in production, and suggests similar products that were made with less water usage*.
The solution is called Rain, a social platform that compares the water used for your most recent purchases against your friends and neighbors.
Measuring Success
To measure success, KPIs and ideal outcomes were identified.
*Disclaimer, this solution implies the existence of the aforementioned water-usage in manufacturing database, which does not exist and was out of scope for this project.