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Everything that turned out well in my life followed the same design process

henrikkarlsson.xyz · 3,120 words · saved by 1 readers

If I look at things that have turned out well in my life (my marriage, some of my essays, my current career) the “design process” has been the same in each case. It has been what Christopher Alexander called an unfolding.1 Put simply: I paid attention to things I liked to do, and found ways to do more of that. I made it easy for interesting people to find me, and then I hung out with them. We did projects together. I kept iterating—paying attention to the context, removing things that frustrated me, and expanding things that made me feel alive. Eventually, I looked up and noticed that my life was nothing like I imagined it would be. But it fit me. When you design something, a useful definition of success is precisely that—the form fits the context—as Christopher Alexander argued in Notes on a Synthesis of Form (1964). This is true of relationships, and essays, and careers: you want to find something that fits. A glove is well-designed if it fits the hand nicely. A relationship is healt

Everything that turned out well in my life followed the same design process Henrik Karlsson Aug 05, 2024 4,441 98 969 Share Giacometti’s studio If I look at things that have turned out well in my life (my marriage, some of my essays, my current career) the “design process” has been the same in each case. It has been what Christopher Alexander called an unfolding . 1 Put simply: I paid attention to things I liked to do, and found ways to do more of that. I made it easy for interesting people to find me , and then I hung out with them. We did projects together. I kept iterating—paying attention

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