There are 12 principles in permaculture design and they are easily googled. Full books, long books have been written on these principles! But I’m going to list them here anyway, just by way of introduction to the concept with the caveat that I will dive into all 12 of them separately. Dun da da daaaaah:
- observe and interact
- catch and store energy
- obtain a yield
- apply self-regulation and accept feedback
- use and value renewable resources and services
- produce no waste
- design from pattern to detail
- integrate rather than segregate
- use small, slow solutions
- use and value diversity
- use edges and value the marginal
- creatively use and respond to change
At first glance those really do seem like they only apply to biological systems, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about these principles as they may apply to web design and I think I see a way through. In fact, I’m diving in right now to tackle “observe and interact”. Here we go!
Permaculture designers are encouraged to spend a year observing and interacting with the property they are going to design. I mentioned that in a previous post, but this is really true. In fact, they are encouraged to observe the property for a year before even starting the first sketch (although they will probably jot down a lot of sketches). So what are they observing?
The way the land changes as the seasons change. The arc of the sun through the year. The flow of water on the land. Contours and slopes. Animal migration, and much more.
This is the first thing PCDs (permaculture designers) do and it’s the first thing UX designers must do as well. This is about observing how users currently use the website you are redesigning (or similar websites if you’re starting from scratch). It’s also using the site yourself and becoming immersed in the details as an observer. A UX designer might employ typical user and usability tests at this point (yes on the old site!).
- Is it well organized?
- What are people looking for?
- Will they come back?
- What emotions are they experiencing?
- What devices do they use?
A UX designer will also send surveys out at this point and find out what is and is not working.
Aside from users, a designer should also observe and really get to know the clients.
- What matters to them, why are they doing this kind of work?
- What kind of customers are they really looking for?
- What is the personality and culture of the company?
- What is their understanding of the web
- what are their capabilities in terms of site upkeep when you’re gone?
Going back to this idea of spending a year with the land, you can find out if there are times of day or days of the week or seasons when web traffic spikes or when people are really looking for your products or services? What might be leveraged during those times? What are their customers doing when they’re not on the site? (I know, it’s starting to get creepy!). But the idea here is that effective observation – even though it is difficult and time consuming, produces uncommon results. It’s hard to do, so designers normally don’t take the time and energy to observe to this extent.
All I’m saying is that the degree to which you are willing to observe and interact in the environment you’re about to design, the more successful you will become in creating the right product for the right people.
This is part of a series exploring the possible connections between permaculture design principles and user experience web design principles. Seems far fetched, but I think we can learn a lot from the world of permaculture design.