Why System Thinking is important for UX designers?

8 min readJun 29, 2020

Let’s start with the largest global problem that we are facing. Global Warming- Biggest contributors being industrialization, excessive use of fossil fuels for many purposes: electricity generation, motorized transport, space conditioning, industrial process heat; forest clearing in Amazon basin, refrigeration industry, production of cement, population growth and so forth. Likewise are the examples of the global recession, India’s education system, out-of-pocket healthcare system. What is common to all these is the emergence of malfunction at the system thinking level. The by-products or the outcomes club together and give rise to a whole new phenomenon. And this opens up a ripe opportunity for our generation to apply systematic system thinking (pun intended) to drive positive changes at a global level.

The science of system thinking is nothing but a world view of underlying theories and methodology of a particular scientific subject. It is the paradigm that has pillars marking the foundation of system thinking and system understanding.

Analysis

An analysis is a traditional method of reasoning taken within modern science. It is nothing but breaking down the parent component and stating them as the sum of its constituent components, often called reductionism.

Reductionism happens in 3 stages (i)Breaking the elementary components into fragments or series of components (ii)Isolating each component to better understand the properties and purpose of that entity with respective the whole (iii)Concluding the fact that the whole system is solely the sum of the properties of the components. Often a reductionist paradigm explains the relevance of the entity but not the interrelationship of the component. As a reductionist approach is restricted to the sum of its constituent parts, it lacks the understanding of the relationships between the components that have symbiotic or non-symbiotic bonds when seen in isolation. Analysis can be used when a system has low connectivity and low interdependency or deducing the system to its elementary components.

Eg: Physics is a perfect example of analytical thinking, to understand the universe and the elements that compose the universe various scientists deduce a greater phenomenon into numerous elements to understand its emergence.

Synthesis

Synthesis is a process of thinking: Systems Thinking or Holism. It is a combination of components or elements to form a connected whole. This approach rejects the idea of individual static properties and looks at the object as a component that shares and connects other components. The parts or the components in a system are known as elements. System thinking or holistic thinking refers to the relationship between the components, that is to say, how the elements are put together or arranged in a functioning entirety to the context where the object of interest is placed in.

Eg: a person being a part of a greater culture such as an office or the same person can also be a part of a cyclist group which again changes the context. Thus the properties of any entity can only be defined regarding the whole.

What is a System?

So what is a system, how can one call a systemic entity and what are the elements that make up a system? There are multiple definitions of a system, in Wikipedia, the definition goes “Systems design is the process of defining the architecture, modules, interfaces, and data for a system to satisfy specified requirements.” whereas the Oxford definition is “A set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network; a complex whole.”

A system is a composite entity meaning it contains numerous parts known as elements. Every element is connected to another element in some way. They share a unique relationship with each other, also the placement of the elements is peculiar when seen as a connected whole. A system exists at all places such as any business firm. The elements(in this case departments) share a relationship with other departments such as production, sales, marketing. All these elements share information, ideas, personnel, and work in unison towards one collective function. The function then emerges as an event. In this example: business growth/profits.

Sets

Not everything is a system, if a group of elements is not interconnected or they do not share a common function, those elements are called sets. Sets are collections of elements with no shared function. A simple example would be teacups on the table. They are arranged in some order but they don’t share a common function. Likewise, a pile of bricks or a group of people waiting at a bus stop are all examples of sets. This element has no inter-connectivity no common function to serve. The properties or characteristics of the element tells us everything we want to know. There is nothing more than a simple sum of each element in the set. If the bricks would pile up to form a structure perhaps then it can be counted as a system. As all the bricks are placed and connected in some way to serve a larger purpose that is building a structure.

Systemic relations.

The relationships of any system can be either constructive or destructive. Constructive relations are called synergies. Synergetic relations are the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their individual effects. These relations share information, matter, benefits, properties, energies, or even ideas. These exchanges promote the system to bind them into inter-dependencies. Understanding Synergetic relations is the foundation of system thinking, as it focuses on the inter-dependencies of the element.

One example of synergetic relations is between honey bees and the flower. The honey bee needs nectar and to pollinate the flower needs a carrier. Both elements need that they cannot fulfil themselves. Thus there is synergy and exchange of resources between the two elements when they function in tandem. There are myriad examples of synergetic relations in nature, but there are also synergetic relations in organizations, between companies as well as any socio-political dynamics. The economic gains, business mergers, or combined talent which leads to increased ROI are some high-level synergetic relations. One of the prime examples during the pandemic is Grofers/Medlife tying up with Zomato for wider reach.

In contrast to synergetic relations, deconstructive relations or interference are meaning they reduce the combined output to less than the sum of its parts. Interference is the prevention of the process that occurs due to the interaction between two or more elements. A simple example is a sound wave; those waves which are out of sync, cancel out each other which leads to less output when combined.

Another example is the drugs that we intake in our body to cure ourselves of any disease. Drugs have side effects that are not the desired outputs and hence other drugs are recommended to cancel out or restrict the outcome. Thus the combined effect is less when the elements are administered in isolation.

Emergence

Emergence means that simple entities, because of their interaction, cross adaptation, and cumulative change, can produce far more complex behaviours as a collective and produce effects across the scale. In simple words, the elements produce an outcome that is far greater than the elements combined. The idea of emergence can be identified as one of the very few central ideas behind systems thinking and the holistic paradigm. Both holism and reductionism lead to very different ways of seeing the world and fundamentally different approaches to conducting science. Holism tries to understand the basic process of synthesis, synergies, and the dynamics of change that are seen throughout all kinds of systems. Instead of reducing things to a limited subset of physical elements and laws, it actively seeks diversity to derive the abstract patterns that emerge on all levels and are common to all systems. Here the unity of science is not looked for in elementary parts but in abstraction, abstract models that apply to all systems, social, physical, biological, engineering, etc.

These two forms of emergence: strong emergence and weak emergence. In weak emergence, given the data and properties of any element can be predicted before or simulated in an environment. Strong emergence occurs when a novel phenomenon arises from completely unpredicted sources. Neither the elements and nor the properties can be traced at the root level to identify the cause of strong emergence. One of the greatest examples of strong emergence is human consciousness, the fact that all neurons of the brain make us alive and attentive all the time is something beyond the grasp of human and also not computationally viable. The emergence gives rise to novel ideas and chaos. The disruption causes feedback loops which changes the dynamics of the system. Often strong emergence is the base of self-organization in any system. The occurrence of strong emergence should be understood as a whole not with micro-level interactions but as an entirety to complex forms that are at a macro-level.

The Iceberg model

The Iceberg Model conveniently shows the relationships among events, patterns, structures, and underlying forces. For example, the underlying forces of gravity and centrifugal force result in the structure of the solar system, which in turn results in patterns of day and night on planets, the patterns of planetary orbits around the sun, and the patterns of seasons on earth. In a corporation, the underlying mental model that “money motivates employees” results in an incentive compensation structure which, in turn, results in a pattern of excellent performance in some employees. There may be unintended consequences of the structures, as well: an unsavoury employee may attempt to take credit for work that she did not do to increase her compensation. “Emergence is what happens when an interconnected system of relatively simple elements self-organizes to form more intelligent, more adaptive higher-level behaviour. It’s a bottom-up model; rather than being engineered by a general or a master planner, emergence begins at the ground level.

Source: Jamie P. Monat: Explaining Natural Patterns Using Systems Thinking

In a nutshell

System thinking is a product of interactions among diverse entities. Since interactions don’t exist in a vacuum, the context also matters. Initial conditions set the context, which contributes to great emerging patterns and set a new narrative for future progeny. As UX designers having a systemic point of view about the subject would have an edge over other designers. The idea of system thinking also helps to map latent needs not only about the user but also in the realm where the design needs to manifest. It’s imperative to adapt to new forms of thinking to resolve complex issues at the root level. Systems thinking can be a great tool to investigate current scenarios that shape our future. Conversely, it can be used as a tool to create a new future by combining various systems like the economy, sustainability, healthcare, technology in a coherent and cohesive approach that might change the way we live today.