Master Planning - a conversation

Jeremy Brown

I came across an interesting report by Emily Campbell at the RSA recently that resonated strongly with the idea of Master Planning. In the piece, ‘You know more than you think you do: design as resourcefulness and self-reliance’, Campbell asks whether it is possible for designers to 'redefine themselves…not merely as making more beautiful resources, but as making people more resourceful.’ To achieve this, Campbell cites the need to create a situation whereby designers are more effectively creating products that not only respond to the needs and behaviours of users, but that also influence them. She asks the question:

'Many designers study human factors and user-centred research; if they collaborated more with social scientists – psychologists, behavioural economists, ethnographers – would it enlarge their understanding of human decision making and would they design differently?'

This is a leading question and it's also the point in the article where the essence of Master Planning really comes to the fore. In our experience, it is through exactly this type of interdisciplinary collaboration and alignment that designers can most effectively create better products and more relevant services. Master planning seeks to make this way of working universal.

When we approach a project at Sense Worldwide we try to look at the challenge in the way that Campbell describes. Our process takes several different snapshots of the area - first from 35,000 feet, then from 10,000 feet and finally from 5 feet. The thinking behind this is that at 35,000ft we're taking a broad view and our picture will include a range of different perspectives - this is where sociologists and ethnographers might come in. Next we go down to 10,000ft and look a the problem from an expert's perspective - this could be anyone from an industry expert to an academic whose work touches the field we're exploring. Finally we get up close and personal with our users, watching their experience at 5ft. This is just part of the Master Planning process and it helps us to ensure that we're being truly 'resourceful' by enlarging our understanding while also focusing closely on the end user.