How to Draw a Design Model
A design model is a useful way of thinking about a plan of action, and also
for helping you understand your own hopes for the future. A design model helps you
to separate your ideas about what is, from your ideas of what ought to be. It shows
both your theory about what causes a certain situation to be the way it is, and
your design ideas about how you would like it to change it. Drawing a design model helps us to focus
our attention on our ability to design a situation differently and to shape it more
to our own liking.
An example of a Design Model would be:
Here, the thinker designs a better way to approach studying and dealing with stress.
As the cloud of desire show, the Design is to exercise daily, which will reduce
stress and also improve the ability to study. Note that reducing stress will lead
to an increase in the ability to study, because more stress means less ability to
study, and less stress means more ability. Similarly, the desire to develop better
study habits, should reduce the number of hours of study required, further reducing
stress. And the improved study habits will also improve test scores, more tan compensating
for the effect of less study time. Of course, like any design, the proof is in implementing
the design, but until we have the idea, and think through the consequences, we really
can’t set a clear goal and know what to expect if we can follow our plan to achieve
it.