Jacob Bronowski argued that most animals are figures in the landscape. They are biological prisoners of their environment. They evolved to fit a specific niche they cannot change. He pointed to the bighorn sheep of the Owyhee Canyon as a perfect example.

A bighorn sheep standing on steep rocky canyon terrain.

Every part of that animal evolved to fit rugged, treacherous terrain. This includes its specialised hooves and its massive curved horns. The bighorn is defined by the landscape. Humans are different. We are not specialised. We lack predator claws and the thick fur of an arctic creature. We do not crawl out of the sea to lay eggs at the full moon. Instead, we use our minds to invent tools and change the environment to fit our needs. This is the ascent: the move from a creature that fits into the world to one that shapes the world.

Dogmatic Templates are Stagnation

Recently I was told that as a programme lead service designer, it was my role to fill out the service design templates documented in Mural. Not to conduct my own investigation and craft an output that suited the requirements of the problem. Yuck.

Designers who rely on dogmatic use of templates are choosing to be figures in the landscape. A template is a predetermined environment. It is a niche created by someone else to solve a different problem. When you use one without question, you accept the limits of that environment. You behave like an animal evolved for one set of conditions rather than a human capable of shaping the world.

Templating reduces reality to a simulacrum. It replaces the conscious mind with the simple act of filling blanks.

Every animal leaves traces of what it was. Humans alone leave traces of what they created.

Service design tackles incredibly complex problems in constantly shifting environments. Templates must not become stagnant.

Format vs Formula

There is a clear distinction between a format and a formula. The printing press was a machine that helped the Enlightenment. It provided a minimal format for ideas to travel. It did not dictate those ideas. The format was rigid, but the content was infinite. Modern templates often prescribe the structure of discovery before the investigation even begins. They dictate categories, such as stages or emotions, before you know a single fact. One tool spreads thought. The other seeks to replace it. The only good template design artefact is one so generic it requires and calls out its need to be tailored.

The Mastery of the Tool

Consider the hammer. We have about 40 variations because we did not stop at a rock on a stick. Humans kept improving. A Japanese master craftsman, or shokunin, uses dozens of specialised planes and chisels. These masters work within tradition, but they are not constrained. They understand the form so deeply that they know when to break it. The master shapes the tool because they know the tool's user has their craft shaped by it. The SaaS tools we use to design are constantly adapting.

Building the Landscape

A template is a shortcut that avoids the actual problem. Bronowski noted that the human hand is the tool through which the brain explores the world. By working with materials, we learn how the world works. When you skip this process, you learn nothing. You are not shaping a landscape. You are just decorating a cage.

To design is to impose your will on a problem. If you want to be a shaper, you must stop trying to fit into the grid of another person. You must build your own tools.

A Path for Agency

When mentoring, I encourage staff to check a template before they use it. Ask these four questions:

  1. Will the output feed the next iteration in the right direction?
    Design is a series of moves. If the template produces data that does not clearly inform the next step of the project, it is a waste of your cognitive energy.

  2. Is it moving the project in the right direction?
    A template can feel like progress because boxes are being ticked. Do not confuse activity with progress. Ensure the structure of the tool aligns with the specific goals of this unique problem.

  3. What will be missed or break?
    Every template has a boundary. By defining what is included, it automatically excludes everything else. Identify the vital context, nuances, or data points that this specific structure is unable to capture.

  4. What is being wrongly emphasised?
    Templates often force a hierarchy. They might prioritise emotional states over technical constraints or stages over systems. Ensure the tool is not magnifying the trivial while obscuring the essential.

The Rule:
If the template fails to serve the problem, reject the grid. Roll your own tool. Define your own environment that reflects reality. To design is to impose your will on a problem, not to decorate a cage.

So why do people like templates? Templates scale. But so does mindlessness.