Learning Curves for Design

Written for Interactions magazine by Hugh Dubberly.

When businesspeople discuss growth, they often refer to S-curves or “hockey sticks”—diagrams depicting quantity changing over time, typically units sold per month or quarter. Growth begins slowly and gradually increases to an inflection point;…

The Experience Cycle

Written for Interactions magazine by Hugh Dubberly and Shelley Evenson.

In this article, we contrast the “sales cycle” and related models with the “experience cycle” model. The sales cycle model is a traditional tool in business. The sales cycle frames the…

The Analysis-Synthesis Bridge Model

Written for Interactions magazine by Hugh Dubberly, Shelley Evenson, and Rick Robinson.

The simplest way to describe the design process is to divide it into two phases: analysis and synthesis. Or preparation and inspiration. But those descriptions miss a crucial element—the…

Toward a Model of Innovation

Written for Interactions magazine by Hugh Dubberly.

For the last few years, innovation has been a big topic in conversation about business management. A small industry fuels the conversation with articles, books, and conferences.

Designers, too, are involved. Prominent product design firms…

The Making of Knowledge Navigator

Originally published in Sketching User Experience by Bill Buxton, 2007.

We made the Knowledge Navigator video for a keynote speech that John Sculley gave at Educom (the premier college computer tradeshow and an important event in a large market for Apple). Bud…

Cybernetics and Service-Craft: Language for Behavior-Focused Design

Written for Kybernetes by Hugh Dubberly and Paul Pangaro

Abstract
Argues design practice has moved from hand-craft to service-craft and that service-craft exemplifies a growing focus on systems within design practice. Proposes cybernetics as a source for practical frameworks that enable understanding…

Why Horst W.J. Rittel Matters

Full article originally published in Design Issues: Volume 23, Number 1, Winter 2007

Memoriam originally published in 1992 in University of California: In Memoriam a publication of the Academic Senate, University of California, under heading: “Horst W.J. Rittel, Architecture: Berkeley 1930-1990, Professor…