Reading 4: Wicked Problems

This reading addresses the issue of 'wicked problems' which involve those messy, complicated and seemingly impossible problems that plague designers. Wicked problems unlike tame problems include problems that are hard to define, hard to state when they're finished and are associated with strong moral, political and professional issues. These problems can have arisen throughout the solution to another problem and are constantly arising, disappearing and changing. Wicked problems can have multiple solutions and these solutions are never fully complete or correct. The solution this reading gives to the readers is to use a computer program which analyses the problem and gives the person inputting the problem a number of possible solutions. However I don't feel that this is the best way to solve the issue of wicked problems, I feel that to solve a wicked problem, a strong understanding of the issue must be gained and then discussion with fellow professionals in the field could be informative. I feel that issue's as complex as wicked problems should not be solved with a computer program due to their being no right and wrong, only various options with varying levels of success in solving the issue.

Ritchey, T. 2005. Wicked Problems: Structuring Social Messes with Morphological Analysis. Swedish Morphological Society.