It became apparent whilst studying deep digitality that there are digital patterns of mind even for designs and systems with little digital technology.  These are patterns that can often be seen in more inspired digital applications, but are not universal even in the digital sphere. 

This microsite is a first effort to understand and untangle this digital mindset, and offer initial heuristics to enable radical digital re-imagination of the world.

Ways of thinking

There are a  number of different ‘thinkings’ which have been widely discussed in the literature:

• computational thinking — decomposition, etc.
• design thinking — method and process
• systems thinking — big picture
• management thinking — anyone’s guess!

At best these each offer differing insights and guidance in different aspects of life, and at worst they can simply be buzzwords.  However digital thinking feels different to all of these and appears to have value.

Enablers of digital thinking

Digital technology has given rise to a number of changes, some recent, some going back to the early days of computing.

• cheap computation and sensing
• ubiquitous communication
• growth of digital fabrication
• changing role of money

Together, these represent a distinct change in the potential for social and physical systems.

Video and slides from keynote at 1st International Conference of the ACM Greek SIGCHI Chapter, 26th November 2021