Reading Response #2

to Artful Design — Chapter 2: "Designing Expressive Toys"

Ethan Buck

10/7/2023

Music 256A, Stanford University

Reading Response: Toys as Canvases for Emergent Features

From this week's reading, I'd like to respond to Artful Design Principle 2.2, which states:

Principle 2.2: Design Inside-Out

This principle discusses the act of leveraging the physical constraints of a medium to work outward and reach completely new potentials. I particularly resonate with the phrase, “appropriating technology in unconventional ways.” 

I find this method of appropriating functions of familiar tools to be similar to the concept of emergent properties. Emergent properties, as I understand them, are unintended (but often complex and robust) behaviors that arise from relatively simple rules. John Conway’s The Game Of Life is a notable example of this that intends to illustrate the prospect of humanity (and our broader universe) being elaborate emergent properties from the laws of physics that govern the cosmos. His game of cellular automata features very simple rules that determine whether an individual cell will be alive in the following generation, but when applied in an infinite plane, these rules yield remarkable patterns and structures (some of which even mimic behavioral patterns in our natural world!). 

I feel that the concept of emergent properties has a very meaningful connection to design. While 2.2’s mantra of appropriating existing tools to foster new capabilities is valuable, I think another consideration could be the “appropriate-ability” of the tools we design. In other words, how can we make physical forms that people can easily make other things with? Is it possible to optimize the extent to which others can alienate our tool’s functionality?

These are difficult questions, as the appropriation of any given tool often rejects the tool’s initial purpose. Take Sonic Lighter as an example. The user that crafted the message to the developers leveraged the app’s original functionality to create unexpected behavior, but nothing about the app’s functionality could have predicted the use of the lighter as a method of communication. 

In order to figure out the properties that maximize a given tool’s “appropriate-ability,” I return to Conway’s The Game Of Life (and the concept of emergent properties more generally). Here, we find the notion that emergent behavior comes from simple rules that are applied on a large scale. Translating this concept to design, we can extrapolate that a tool with relatively simple functionality, when adopted by a large population, should be optimal for encouraging appropriation of said tools. This certainly applies in the case of Sonic Lighter, as its straightforward functionality encourages unique and interesting behavior. I would argue this is even the case for computers and smartphones. Though it is not obvious that these tools are necessarily “simple,” if you reframe their functionality as being purely a computation tool, then I posit that the features that make them seem complex (cameras, web browsing, telecommunication, Ocarina apps, etc.) are emergent behaviors. 

When thinking about this theory practically, it makes sense that simple designs lend themselves more towards appropriation. Tools that have very complex and intricate functions tend to demand more energy in the execution of their purpose. To find examples of these, I recommend visiting one of my favorite subreddits, r/specializedtools. On the other hand, tools that have very simple functions allow for more imaginative use of said tool. 

As a closing thought, I wonder if objects without observable functions (save play and intrigue) serve as the best foundation for encouraging emergent behavior. Toys, after all, direct almost all of the user’s energy towards creative and imaginative play. If this holds, then perhaps following Principle 2.1 (design for play and delight) and Principle 1.10 (design is subtraction) is the simple recipe for maximizing “appropriate-ability?”