Springtime in New England is the worst. As I sit here on another cold and rainy “spring” day, I’m reminded of what I was told by someone when I first moved to Boston 25 years ago: “Springs in New England are wonderful.” I never trusted another word that person said after I experienced it for myself.

Part of it is the waiting for something better that you hope is right around the corner in terms of sunny skies and warmer weather. And then two weeks later it will be 87 with 1000% humidity. But those two weeks of actual nice weather are pretty wonderful.

But the waiting is rough, as transitions often are. Any kind of transition can be painful and wrought. Think about the transitions that you have gone through in your life, what it felt like, and what it took to get through it.

It turns out that in many ways we are in another transition right now: something called Late-Stage Capitalism. We can look at the technological transitions taking place, the accumulation of wealth and the growing disparities it is bringing, environmental degradation, and the seemingly increasing number of financial crises as indicators of this transition being underway. But what comes next?

To talk about social transformations and transitions, we welcome Jaime Schwartz to the Experience by Design studios. Jaime's expertise crosses a lot of areas, which is a good thing because we talk about the need to have breadth of knowledge and experience as we enter what he calls the Co-Creation Economy.

Part of this lies in finding better ways for people to work together, using AI as a tool to help facilitate collaboration and flow. Another part of this is focused on helping corporations align their brands with a higher mission and purpose. Finally, we have co-creationism in art, where new technologies and approaches to expression create new ways of sharing, owning, and co-creating artistic expression.

Overall, our conversation digs into how we successfully transition to embrace the promise that technological innovations have for making our lives better, and hopefully not being run over by it. And how by coming together we can accomplish great things.

Team Flow Institute: https://teamflow.institute

Mrkd Art: https://mrkd.art

Brand Therapy: https://brandtherapy.coach

I always feel a bit bad complaining about getting older, because getting older is not a privilege afforded to everyone. At the same time, getting older does present certain challenges. I was able to get a glimpse into aging the other day when I went to get my eyes examined. Turns out that the middle of the day at the eye doctor is peak time for those who are, shall we say, of a demographic much more advanced than I. It definitely was a glimpse into a future that I am steadily approaching, and makes me reflect on what it will be like to be older then. There are so many things that have increased accessibility for those who are older, designs that make life more manageable and easier to negotiate. At the same time, a lot of challenges remain, especially in a society in which technological change is fast enough to make even the most savvy feel left behind.

So, clearly there is a lot of work to be done. And that is why we welcome our guest today on Experience by Design. Sheng-Hung Lee is a Doctoral student at MIT. There he is involved in the AgeLab, where they have the aim “to improve the quality of life of older people and those who care for them.”

Sheng-Hung has been involved in a wide range of service design initiatives, and has a list of awards and recognitions to prove it. He also has worked at companies like Ideo as well as Continuum, and is part of organizations such as the World Design Organization and the Industrial Designers Society of America.

We talked about a range of topics related to designing, systems, and aging. He talks about what brought him to the field of design out of his background in engineering. Sheng-Hung describes how we have to move from the idea of designer as hero, and work more collaboratively to address complex challenges. Part of that is the need to go beyond siloed thinking and integrate ideas from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. And we talk about the need to move beyond focusing on tangible stuff as a primary motivation, and have the space to explore, learn, and synthesize.

Sheng-Hung Lee Website: https://shenghunglee.com

MIT AgeLab: https://agelab.mit.edu/

As I’ve mentioned before, one of the great things about doing a show like this is the fascinating people I get to talk to who are coming at experience design from many different approaches, perspectives, and backgrounds. One of the groups that I perhaps enjoy talking to the most (no offense to anyone else) is artists. I’ve always admired the ability to turn imagination and passion into something that expresses one’s soul in a way that can move others. Talking to artists about their work kind of creates a sense of purity of work in terms of representing an authentic self. I don’t want to overly dramatize or prematurely canonize them. But artists can do really cool stuff that brings life and light into the world.

And it feels like every day more and more, we need some life and light brought into the world. While art changes, our need for art never changes.

My guest today is artist Will Owen. Looking at Will’s website, it lists his primary mediums as sound, sculpture, and food. That’s right. Food.

Without that is a larger preoccupation of culture and the world in which we live, seeking to represent it in ways that stimulate thought, expose us to its beauty, and contemplate its possibilities.

Growing up in Appalachia provided an opportunity to explore how to have fun and create with whatever was available. Before we had the concept of a ‘maker space,’ his childhood was a maker space in which risks could be take in the pursuit of having fun and filling time. Out of that comes a creative spark and fundamental appreciation for the natural world. He describes himself as being ‘obsessively curious’ and being promiscuous with materials, which he owes to his childhood and the collaborative explorations with his friends.

Today he is part of many different collectives around the world. He is part of the Flux Factory in New York, and has worked with artists in Russia and Taipei,

We talk about making something loud with no budget, the indelible reciprocity of making together, the porousness needed to engage with performative audiences, and his obsession with supertemporary communities. We also talk about the bus experiment, a traveling exhibit from Manhattan to Philly.

Will Owen - https://willowen.net

Flux Factory - https://www.fluxfactory.org/