Make the World a Better Place

Advance Praise for Make the World a Better Place
The world is facing multiple crises. But what can we do? "Make the World a Better Place" helps answer that question. Kozma's deep analyses coupled with case studies of groups already at work makes this an essential book for everyone: citizens, designers, and most importantly, decision makers in business and government.
Don Norman, PhD
Distinguished professor and founder of the Design Lab, Emeritus
University of California, San Diego
Author of Design for a Better World
Has design lost its moral compass? Kozma's 'Design a Better World' comes at important time in human history as unintended consequences of design are causing harm and benefits at scale. This book is a must read for all with an interest in the future of design."
Jim Spohrer, PhD
Apple and IBM retired executive
Board of Directors, International Society of Service Innovation Professionals
Dr. Kozma shares his decades of his experience designing and studying designs for the audacious goal of making our lives and world better. He offers concrete principles and processes to help us design better and to think critically about the designs in our lives. The book is fun to read with informative case studies that demonstrate the myriad ways that design impacts us all. The world is in need of better design, and Kozma's book shows us how to get there.
Mark Guzdial, PhD
Director, Program in Computing for the Arts and Sciences,
College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,
College of Engineering
University of Michigan
I have come to see that, at one level, democracy is a design problem - from the writing of a constitution to the structure of a Town Hall meeting to the layout of a ballot. But today's crisis of democracy runs deep and turns on the function of society itself. To address this larger societal problem, Kozma expands the scope of Design in this comprehensive and compelling book. Here broad theory and detailed application inform each other, pointing the way toward a society in which individuals and communities can flourish and the ideals of democratic governance may come to fruition.
Robert Cavalier, PhD
Director, Program for Deliberative Democracy
Emeritus Teaching Professor of Philosophy
Carnegie Mellon University
Following on Don Norman's landmark books ("Design of Everyday Things" and "Emotional Design"), Kozma's "Make the World a Better Place" crystallizes, in accessible prose, with plenty of detail, where the field of designing "everyday things" needs to be going. Kozma's book is a GPS for HCI.
Elliot Soloway, PhD
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor
Computer Science and Engineering, College of Engineering
University of Michigan
This book is true to its title in helping the reader understand at the deepest level how each of us can make the world a better place. It neither preaches nor simplifies the task, but rather presents through captivating real-world examples of design successes and failures across multiple fields the moral imperative of designing well. Reading the manuscript has taught me that we are all in some way designers, and it has enhanced my work as a law professor and foundation executive.
Jay Folberg, JD
Professor and Dean Emeritus
School of Law
University of San Francisco
Founding Executive Director, The JAMS Foundation
I highly recommend Bob Kozma's new book, "Make the World a Better Place:
Design with Passion, Purpose, and Values". This book is an important--and timely--addition to that of other pioneers in many fields who have been promoting the importance of students' learning design thinking/doing in K-16 (and graduate school) education. But more than this, it deals with issues that are often not emphasized--values, ethics, and connecting passion with purpose. This book will be invaluable to learners and designers of all ages and backgrounds in collaborating together to to deal with solving complex, sometimes called "wicked," problems and issues requiring transdisciplinary, systems thinking, on a global scale--and critical to our survival and continued growth.
Ted M. Kahn, PhD
CEO and Chief Futurist and Learning Architect
DesignWorlds for Learning and
DesignWorlds for College and Careers
As a society we have the means to design our way out of wicked problems. Good design can reduce harm, increase happiness, and improve equity and shared prosperity. This knowledge is powerful. It can fill us with optimism. Kozma gets to the very root of design's relationship to culture and the real human consequences that flow from the design process. The book is a must read for those interested in design for the greater good.
Robert Ferry
Registered Architect LEED AP
Co-founder, Land Art Generator Initiative
With his meticulous research, multifaceted thinking, and marvelous prose, Robert Kozma takes us on a quite memorable journey to make the world a better place.
Curtis J. Bonk, PhD
Professor of Instructional Systems Technology
Indiana University
Design services, products, experiences, and places that transform the world for the better
Make the World a Better Place: Design with Passion, Purpose, and Values presents an insightful and hands-on discussion of design as a profoundly human activity and challenges us all to use design to transform the world for the better. The book explains how and why the design industry lost its way, and how to re-ignite the idealism that once made it a force for good.
Make the World a Better Place: Design with Passion, Purpose, and Values describes a set of moral principles, based on our shared humanity, that can be used to create "good" designs: designs that reduce harm, increase well-being, advance knowledge, promote equality, address injustice, and build supportive, compassionate relationships and communities.
Dr. Kozma applies philosophy, psychology, sociology, and history to the world of design, including:
* Examples and case studies of designs--both good and bad
* Seven principles of good design, based on the impact designs have on people
* An approach to design as a "moral dialog among co-creators," in which the seven principles can be applied to intentionally improve the world
* Comprehensive explorations of a person-resource-activity model that explains how technology shapes designs
* Detailed analyses of the strengths and pitfalls of five design traditions, which include the scientific, technical-analytic, human-centered, aesthetic, and social movement traditions