“Success depends on the barriers being broken down that today keep engineers, social scientists, and management scientists from teaming together in the most effective way to address the world's problems.”

 

—Olivier de Weck (2012)

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Overview
This week explores the System pillar of the D4L Unclock Framework, examining how interconnected technical, social, institutional, economic, and environmental systems shape human experiences across multiple scales. Rather than viewing products or services in isolation, systems thinking encourages us to understand the relationships, feedback loops, policies, stakeholders, and infrastructures that influence how solutions succeed—or fail.

 

What if the real challenge is not the design, but the system in which it operates? A thoughtfully designed healthcare app may struggle within a fragmented healthcare ecosystem. Accessible housing may remain underutilized because of affordability barriers. An efficient public transportation system may fail to reach those who need it most due to funding constraints, governance structures, or disconnected services. Meaningful innovation requires redesigning the broader system rather than optimizing individual components. By understanding the relationships among people, organizations, policies, technologies, and environments, we will explore how systemic design can better support healthy longevity and improve quality of life across the lifespan.

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Reading Material

• Lee, S., & De Weck, O. (2025). Uncovering latent needs in longevity planning: A case study using mixed-methods and system modelling. Design Studies, 102, 101373. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2025.101373

• Lee, S., Coughlin, J. F., Balmuth, A., & Yang, M. (2025). Innovative Longevity Design through Boundary Object Integration. Base Diseño E Innovación, 9(11), 98–108. https://doi.org/10.52611/bdi.num11.2024.1197

• De Weck, O. L., Roos, D., Magee, C. L., & Cooper, S. (2011). Engineering Systems: Meeting Human Needs in a Complex Technological World. In MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/8799.001.0001