Designing the X

by Frenchman, Dennis; Gronfeldt, Svafa; Thorsteinsson, Sigurdur

• ISBN13: 9780998117089
• ISBN10: 0998117080
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2025-06-10
• Publisher: SA+P Press

Summary

The role of design in complex problem solving.

Designing the X advances the ongoing discussion from design science, wicked problems, and design thinking, expanding beyond the classical domain of design to consider its value for multiple fields. The book extracts insights from interviews with 80+ visionary innovators, researchers, and practitioners across various disciplines engaging super complex problems. Interview subjects span science, technology, business, academia, and the public sector, and include conversations with experts from MIT, Harvard, NASA, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF, as well as multinational corporations and startups. 

In addition, the book includes a collection of historical case studies where design has been deployed to solve complex problems and maps the evolving role of design. This body of research serves as the foundation for the book’s complex problem-solving design framework: engagement strategies (how to enter a problem), flow characteristics (how to work through a problem), and choreography (how to coordinate the process and bring about change).

To explore and document the real-world application of the approach proposed in the book, a series of design investigations are included to demonstrate how design engages super- complex problems. Short case studies highlight new solutions and startups from the MITdesignX innovation program designed to engage challenges such as public health, financial equity in informal communities, migration and living conditions in refugee camps, climate change, housing, and race and gender inclusion to improve innovation.

Author Biography

Dennis Frenchman is Professor, Post-Tenure, at MIT. He has taught and practiced extensively in Asia, Europe, and South America, and served as external advisor on urban livability to the president of the World Bank. A registered architect, he is also founding principal of ICON architecture in Boston, an international architecture and urban design firm.

Svafa Grönfeldt is a professor of the practice in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning. She is a founding member and faculty director of MITdesignX, a program focused on design innovation and entrepreneurship, and a member of the board of directors of three publicly listed companies on Nasdaq OMX and the Amsterdam Stock Exchange.

Sigurdur Thorsteinsson is Partner and Chief Design Officer at Design Group Italia. He leads strategic design projects across industries for clients like 3M, ABB, Unilever and Unicef and is a recipient of multiple awards including the Compasso d’Oro, numerous Red Dots and iFs. His work is continually featured in publications, such as Dezeen, Wallpaper, Financial Times, and Time magazine.