Victor Papanek June 1992 Presentation at Apple Computer - “Microbes in the Tower”

“Microbes in the Tower”
In June of 1992, Doris Wells-Papanek, while working at Apple Computer, invited Victor Papanek to share his research on human-centered design and to deliver a talk, which he entitled “Microbes in the Tower.”[2] A two-hour video recording of the presentation shared Victor’s numerous insights, understandings, concerns, and targeted messages. Highlights relating to human-centered design included the DIY learning process, participatory design, ethics, aesthetics, beauty, excellence, and integrity.
Papanek began with describing the structure of his talk, “[I will] hand you sort of a series of jigsaw puzzle pieces, turn the whole thing into a do it yourself kit for you, which you can stick together a number of ways, and decide what I talked about.” Victor consciously chose not to offer a scripted lecture, rather an opportunity for the audience to make sense given their interests, learning needs, and context. Victor stressed the importance of designers taking responsibility to ensure that people and their needs have a voice in the development of technology and the decision-making process, “Design, architecture, and technology must directly relate to people and people’s needs.”
“The biggest challenge for designers, architects, and engineers these days is to develop a language, a method of actually letting people participate in the design and architectural and technological processes. We have failed in that. This is not the fault of the people we are working for or with, but this is our fault and we have to think about that.”
As he wrapped up, Victor quoted Jean-Luc Godard, a French filmmaker - “It may be true that one has to choose between ethics and aesthetics, but whichever one chooses, one will always find the other at the end of the road.” Victor goes onto say, “I think that is important, because I think that the relationship between aesthetics and ethics in design has not been sufficiently explored.” Papanek’s concluding words: "Cute is the enemy of beauty. Convenience is the enemy of excellence. Fashion is the enemy of integrity."
For more information and related research, please visit:
www.idsa.org/sites/default/fil...
sites.google.com/site/humance...
www.designlearning.us
www.designlearningnetwork.org

[@MsAhsanist]

Legendary! Great to hear him talk for so long with wit and humor

[@HumanCentered]

Wonderful to see this! Thanks DLN.