Blog Article

One of the aspects of design thinking that has always captured my attention is the stark reality that some people, well...see reality in their mind's eye very differently than others. Some people were brought up with the skills to "envision" what some thing or concept might look like merely from a description. The problem arises when you try to get people to agree on something when half or more don't have the ability to recognize a common vision.

In the urban planning field, I found no better way of getting people to agree on a shared vision than by showing them a picture. A picture of the future. I'll never forget the time I went to a city planning Charette where the woman I sat down across the table from pointed to the guy next to me and said, "ah, you're the enemy."  She clearly had envisioned how her community should be developed based on pre conceived or hearsay on what the final product just might look like. One thing is for sure, it's not like that guy on the other side of the table's vision.

Over the course of a 3-day session, Steve Price of Urban Advantage and I formulated visual simulations of what the proposed development would look like given the direct feedback of the community as they were discussing the days concerns. The image we showed on day three combined all those ideas, much like the ones you see on the right here (images courtesy of Steve Price, Urban Advantage).

The defining moment for me was hearing that guy next to me, the "enemy," point at the screen and say, "yeah, that's what I've been talking about."  The woman across the table looked over in astonishment, pointed at the screen and said, "Yeah, that's what I've been saying I want!"  It became crystal clear that they had agreed with each other all along, but didn't have the visual vocabulary to define and agree on it.

This is why having a vision of the future is so important. It's why I found, along with Steve's mentorship and camaraderie, that work so rewarding. The benefits were clear. It's also why I always build in 3D any of my ideas before undertaking any kind of real-world effort. Tools like this allow us to see the future, change plans, move things around, get feedback, and take another shot at it.

While working with Steve, we also created some Flash-based presentations. One was a Community Asset Map of Soulsville, USA, and another for the Congress for the New Urbanism (pics below).

Steve now has an exciting and powerful new book out, "Imagining a Walkable America" which features a cumulative body of work. During our work together we often would photograph each other in various poses to put in the visualization simulations. So I'm featured in many of them, including with my folding bicycle on the front of his new book! Too funny, and exciting to be part of his long and dedicated journey.

You can find Steve's work, book, and website online at the following:

Urban-Advantage
Book: Imagining a Walkable America
 

I also used to work for another Urban Planning company called Design, Community & Environment, now bought by The Planning Center, where I was Graphics Manager for a few years. Good times and a lot of dedicated folks in that field and company.