What Can a Body Do?: How We Meet the Built World

In his 2022 book, What We Owe the Future, philosopher William MacAskill introduces the phenomenon of “early plasticity, later rigidity.” During and immediately following periods of rapid change, there is a brief window to participate in the creation of a new normal. Over time, however, that window closes, and things calcify and become rigid again.

It is the conceptual model that provides true understanding. So I now turn to these fundamental principles, starting with affordances, signifiers, mappings, and feedback, then moving to conceptual models.

The solution is human-centered design (HCD), an approach that puts human needs, capabilities, and behavior first, then designs to accommodate those needs, capabilities, and ways of behaving. Good design starts with an understanding of psychology and technology. Good design requires good communication, especially from machine to person, indicating w

Ezio Manzini is a professor of industrial design at Politecnico di Milano and a thought leader on strategic design for sustainability. He breaks down the process of designing what he calls collaborative service systems into four critical design components: fluidity of use, replication, diversified access, and enhanced communications support.8 Manzi