Understanding Change
Analyzing Shearing Layers in Buildings and Digital Products
No design can be thought of without time and change. Even if the physical shape doesn’t change, deterioration is irresistible, and the changing human behaviors also alter the context of a product. In the field of interaction design, specifically, change is put in the center of the design process. Being agile and adaptable is considered as a crucial asset of a successful product. Therefore, it is important for interaction designers to understand the reasons, procedures, and principles of change to better understand, anticipate, and better cope with it.
The concept of ‘Shearing layers’ can help us understand how change happens. The concept is introduced by Stewart Brand in his book <How Buildings Learn> to explain the different rates of change among a building’s components. The six layers (Site, Structure, Skin, Service, Space plan, Stuff) influence each other continuously to reshape a building over time. Particularly, in this essay, the theory will be applied to mobile Gmail application and coupled with those layers in Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall (MMCH) since they both have gone through multiple alterations within its history.
<Site>
Site is eternal (Brand, p.13). It is what dominates other layers and constrains change. For MMCH, the Site as ‘5130 Margaret Morrison St, Pittsburgh’ restricts the formation of the building in terms of size, height, and materials, to fit into geographic features of the area such as landforms, soil, and climate.
Gmail also has a Site layer which dominates other layers. In this case, it can be an environment that the service is used in, such as a mobile, desktop or tablet. This environment confines the boundaries and creates a restriction on the overall design. In Gmail, the size, layout, and compositions of the interface have to be designed to fit in the mobile environment. This is what is not changed in the life span of the product.
<Structure>
Structure is a layer that is also reluctant to change, however, does go under some alteration in the life-span. For MMCH, its exterior walls, staircases, and floors and structural columns have stayed there for more than 50 years. Even if it has gone through some modification, it would normally have taken a lot of effort and money to reconstruct the structure.
Gmail’s Structure is the architecture of features. This essential framework is what defines the identity and function of an application. Structure of Gmail refuses to change to maintain the primary function of the app, to retrieve and send emails.
Skin
Skin is mutable (Brand, p.19). It can be changed to cope with cultural currents. However, Skin is sometimes kept the same to deliver a certain message to its audience(users). For example, the main entrance of MMCH adheres to have classic Greek architecture style with its white-colored and marble-like pillars. By keeping the heritage, it makes the school function as not only an academic building but also a hall to honor the female scholars.
Skin of Gmail can be visual components such as logo, color theme, font, and icons. Like the skin of MMCH, Gmail holds fast to it’s envelope shape in its logo to inherit its origin of ‘exchanging mails’. By doing this, the application not only maintains its strong brand identity but use the logo as a stereotype that can help users quickly retrieve what the app is about and save a cognitive effort.
Service
Service is what is not seen but what makes the building work. In MMCH, the heating system, plumbing, and electric wiring can be regarded as different services. Services usually have a controller that people can make an adjustment. The interactions people have with the controller compile to alter services over time. The alteration pf Service layer is usually done by experts who have exclusive knowledge on the mechanism.
Service in Gmail is an operating system which is not seen in the surface of an interface but makes the whole mechanism work. For example, a cloud system to store the data, the privacy & security mechanisms to protect user’s data, POP3 or IMAP servers can be Service. Like MMCH, users also interact with controllers in the settings menu to adjust the system. To make an alteration on the Service, designers need to call out an expert engineers to modify computational codes.
Space plan
Space plan can be changed often to fit into a purpose of space. MMCH has modified space plans for each floor to cater to different needs of multiple departments. For design class where open discussion is valued, walls are minimized to create an agora. However, for music class, more private and small rooms were allocated to help them have exclusive space to focus on their own sound. Space plan is what reflects the resident’s need and behavior and be willing to change if new residents come in.
Space plan in Gmail can be wireframes of each page. For example, a page of Inbox and Settings differ in their layout and contents to perform different objectives. Also, these wireframes are what can be easily re-designed if the user’s need to get changed.
Stuff
The interaction between Stuff and people are what happens most frequently in the building. These interactions personalize a space. In the design studio of MMCH, it is easy to discern each students’ space without partition since their Stuffs create personalized workspaces. Moreover, Stuffs can be easily vacated and replaced within a short amount of time if the new tenants come in.
In the Gmail app, emails that occupy the mailboxes can be compared to Stuff. It is where most frequent user interactions are happening and what personalizes the app. Designers should pay attention to what is happening in this level since it can indicate how the design should be changed.
Applying these architectural metaphors helps designers understand how to work with change. Since change is not a simple action that shifts from one to another but a process of six layers interacting each other to gradually reshape the whole design, understanding the different forces would help the designers to decide on which layer should they be working on either to constrain or accelerate a change. Moreover, by knowing different types of people related to each layer (sketch below), designers can anticipate how a change in design can impact different people surrounding a product.
If the constant change is inevitable, designers should learn and embrace the beauty of it.
