Designing for and against the manufactured normalcy field (2012)

Designing for and against the manufactured normalcy field (2012)(urbanhonking.com)

14 points by nvader 4 hours ago | 5 comments

Papazsazsa 2 hours ago |

"In cultural practice this process of minimal change takes two primary forms. First, we create stories and metaphors that map strange new experiences back to something we already understand."

This is quite common in creative fields as quick shorthand for a new concept. For example, in filmmaking you might introduce a new crime thriller as script as "It's like Michael Mann's Heat but set in the high finance world of *Wall Street."

Probably true for a lot of innovation programs. "It's like Reddit but for hackers"

nvader 59 minutes ago | |

Yeah, giving the article more charity, I see it as "Reddit for hackers" really adapting the aesthetics and norms of Reddit, so that hackers who are Redditors have a sense of comfort. Whereas if we'd designed from first priciples for hackers, we might arrive with something more irc-coded[0], perhaps.

[0] Or my personal favourite, a MUD-style environment!

et1337 1 hour ago |

Making normal things feel weird is basically the whole premise of the delightful webcomic Strange Planet: https://www.instagram.com/nathanwpylestrangeplanet

nvader 1 hour ago | |

I'm a big fan of Strange Planet too!

I think one lesson I'm taking away from the article is that we're not so much seeking "weird for weird's sake", but expanding that weirdness into direction that's useful, to specifically highlight the novelty of something.

shermantanktop 1 hour ago |

This is just the Overton Window applied laterally, no? In particular the intentional expansion or movement of the window by someone who seeks gain?