Double Diamond v4.1: an operating manual for designers using AI
1.0
Love it. Hate it. The UK Design Council claimed that the double diamond has stood the test of time, celebrating its 20 years of usage. Unlike any other process flow, the double diamond is mysteriously well-balanced, showing a divergent and convergent pattern to symbolize generative and focused action. It has two broad phases: problem and solution, which further break down into four stages: discover, define, develop, and deliver. So what could possibly be an issue since it has endured the test of two decades?
Well, upon reflection earlier in May 2023, the Design Council admitted there were flaws in the original design. In a recent article, former Director of Design and Innovation Richard Eisermann made the following comments:
Is the Double Diamond still fit for purpose? The answer: probably not. The ascendance of fast-paced digital design, along with the complexities of the challenges designers are currently addressing with services and systems, have left the Double Diamond a bit short of breath.
2.0
We could argue that simplicity got in the way because the double diamond was often perceived to be linear, such that a challenge goes through a series of processes to arrive at a definitive solution. And thus, the Design Council attempted to make iterations to the original pattern. The Framework for Innovation became Double Diamond 2.0 when iteration arrows were added to remind innovators to go back to their original premises. New elements were also added, such as design principles, method banks, and culture. A faint circular boundary with a light gray gradient could be seen in the background, and the graphical elements of challenge and outcome bring about an association with another famous logo, the London Underground Sign. Double Diamond 2.0 started taking on more complexity, but it has become a topological map full of information, filled with visual clutter.
3.0
Along comes the Systemic Design Framework, or in this case, Double Diamond 3.0. Part of the premise was to distill complexity while providing an invitation for other experts to participate in the framework. Instead of a single diagram, the Systemic Design Framework offered four complementary sets of elements: the core double diamond, the invisible activities, the four characteristics, and the six principles. A thorough investigation involving various design communities, experts in other fields, academics, and internal alignment led to the final designs. Unlike its predecessor, visual simplicity returned with the use of symmetrical Euclidean shapes, but they had enough overlap to form a mandala.
Perhaps what was amazing about the latest approach from the Design Council was to recognize the endearing power the Double Diamond had with fellow designers. It has led many designers on a quest to make meaning of the design process using the Double Diamond as a foundational frame. And so, while we have seen hundreds of iterations of the design process, the Design Council positions itself as embracing ‘next practice’ rather than ‘best practice’. It is a deliberate use of language to encourage different kinds of design thinking and doing. After all, it built upon a famous quote by another extraordinary designer, Buckminster Fuller:
“You never change things by fighting against the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the old model obsolete.”
4.0
If the Design Council is positively challenging us to “look at things afresh”, we do not need to look far in 2023 with the growing influence of generative artificial intelligence (AI). The statistics are numbing. ChatGPT crossed 1 million users in just 5 days of launch and gained 100 million active users by January 2023. That is 9900% growth within 2 months, making it the fastest-growing platform in history. The same trajectory also applies to other generative AI platforms, such as midjourney and stable diffusion. And yet, generative AI is one of the subsets of the border topic of artificial intelligence.
Here’s how artificial intelligence describes artificial intelligence:
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a field of computer science that focuses on creating intelligent machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. In a nutshell, AI involves developing algorithms and models that enable computers to mimic human cognitive processes such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Among the various types of AI, here are a few:
1. Narrow or weak AI: designed for specific tasks like speech recognition or image classification
2. Machine Learning (ML): Algorithms that enable machines to learn from data and make predictions
3. Computer Vision AI: understands and interprets visual information for tasks like image recognition or AR/VR design
4. Natural Language Processing (NLP): enables computers to understand and generate human language for tasks like sentiment analysis or content generation
5. Deep Learning: a subset of ML that uses neural networks to learn hierarchical representations of data
6. Generative AI: creates unique designs based on existing data
7. General AI: aims to mimic human-level intelligence across various tasks. Still a challenge.
With the field continuously expanding, it is no surprise that artificial intelligence will permeate every aspect of our lives and work. The design community and double diamonds are no exception. We are left with this interesting intersection of integrating Industry 4.0, or in our case, Design 4.0, with Double Diamond 4.0. Among the first to reinterpret the double diamond based on generative AI came from Sebastian G. Bouschery, Vera Blazevic, and Frank T. Pillar, which details the use of GPT-3 at the different stages and attempts to bring about the hybrid intelligence of man and machine. The team has wonderfully articulated the strengths and limitations of the AI-augmented double diamond model.
4.1
The imaginative undertaking is therefore to see if there could be a cross pollination between the Design Council’s systemic design and the AI augmented double diamond model. The idea is not as superfluous as it sounds because, when compared with the desirability-viability-feasibility-sustainability (DVFS) framework, certain components are missing. While one lacks the technological layer of feasibility, the other lacks the systemic thinking of sustainability.
This is an incremental contribution from two great expressions of the double diamond. As a result, the added iteration of 0.1 is better phrased as Double Diamond 4.1: Operating Manual for Design Innovators Using AI. Below are the suggested changes, which build upon the existing materials:
1. Keep the core premise of the Double Diamond (divergent and convergent thinking). The names of the phases remain the same: explore, reframe, create, and catalyze. Represented by white.
2. Keep the ‘invisible activities’ that sit around the design process: orientation and value setting, continuing the journey, collaboration and connection, and leadership and storytelling. Represented by blue.
3. Incorporate the six existing principles from the systemic design framework, represented by red. Add two new principles:
a. Artificial Intelligence and Human Intervention: Capitalize on AI to augment our ability, and make our decisions human-centered
b. Agency and Analytics: Balancing the freedom to explore and being informed by data
4. Introduce DVFS to remind ourselves of the systemic view of business and technology in our designs. Represented by yellow.
5. The background represents the waves of new change that will affect people and the industry. In this case, AI is a predominant force in the current context. It will influence the creation of many new products and experiences. We see this with the rampant use of generative AI and other assistive AI.
A semiotic layer
Amidst the various frameworks coming together, a symbol helps to bring meaning to the entire composition. This is also known as semiotics, which is the study of signs. There shouldn’t be any surprises among UX designers, as so often we rely on symbolic objects to represent functionality. Some examples include the save button as the floppy disk, or the Internet as the globe (world wide web, or www).
For Double Diamond 4.1 and the relevant topics that surround it, perhaps the traditional compass rose is the ideal candidate, representing focus in the miry sea of the AI revolution. And yet also having the ability to encapsulate complexity through coordinates and calculations. A key source of inspiration comes from none other than Buckminster Fuller, the same pioneer who introduced systemic design with his own operating manual for Spaceship Earth.
The Double Diamond will likely continue to have admirers and critics. We are likely to hear someone say, "We don’t need another version of the Double Diamond.” Nevertheless, even with the naysayers, designers will continue to express themselves through works like chairs, buildings, UI and double diamonds. To us, it is the never-ending quest of deriving human-centered meaning that somehow fits in this world that we live in.
Thank you, Design Council, for the Double Diamonds. Here’s to another 20 years!
Further reading:
Bouschery, Sebastian G., et al. “Augmenting Human Innovation Teams with Artificial Intelligence: Exploring Transformer‐Based Language Models.” Journal of Product Innovation Management, vol. 40, no. 2, 20 Jan. 2023, https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12656.
Council, Design. “The Double Diamond Design Process — Still Fit for Purpose?” Design Council, 11 May 2023, medium.com/design-council/the-double-diamond-design-process-still-fit-for-purpose-fc619bbd2ad3. Accessed 31 May 2023.
Drew, Cat. “Developing Our New Systemic Design Framework.” Medium, 27 Apr. 2021, medium.com/design-council/developing-our-new-systemic-design-framework-e0f74fe118f7.
“Framework for Innovation — Design Council.” Www.designcouncil.org.uk, Design Council, www.designcouncil.org.uk/our-resources/framework-for-innovation/. Accessed 31 May 2023.
Maria, Tomas Santa, et al. “Is Design Thinking an Effective Method to Generate Circular Economy Based Solutions in a Socially Distanced World? Experiences from an Online Design Thinking Workshop.” Hal.science, 26 May 2021, hal.science/hal-03268021. Accessed 31 May 2023.
Nerdynav. “73 Important ChatGPT Statistics & Facts for Mid Feb 2023 + an Infographic — Nerdy Nav.” Nerdynav, 13 Dec. 2022, nerdynav.com/chatgpt-statistics/.
Richard Buckminster Fuller. Operating Manual for the Spaceship Earth. New York, Simon & Schuster, 1969.
Van, Mario. “This Means This, This Means That: Semiotics — the Study of Meaning.” Medium, UX Collective, 13 May 2019, uxdesign.cc/this-means-this-this-means-that-semiotics-the-study-of-meaning-84cd9e800214.
