On Tradecraft: the practice of Strategic Design and the role of Trickster

Strategic Design is a live, deeply contextual practice which has nuances embedded within it that have not yet been fully articulated. In this research, I have explored the nature of Strategic Design practice and its evolution over time and in changing contexts. I have done this through a close analysis of my practice and this dissertation provides a practitioner view on this nascent and under-articulated discipline. It comes from the work of a micro-consultancy, and, as such, it does not represent all forms of Strategic Design practice, for example larger consultancies or in- house teams. This research was conducted via reflective practice combined with forms of design making, including my own reflection on 14 years of projects via an audit and supported by the production of models, frameworks, visualisations and artefacts to learn through making, which is core to this practice. The aim of the research has been to present a deep level of understanding of how Strategic Design works, and produces new models, and new research mapping methods to analyse live work. In particular this research offers a new approach to working with the unseen aspects of Strategic Design practice called Tradecraft, which has been prototyped into a kit. In particular, this research articulates the practice of Tradecraft and its value to Strategic Design as a powerful approach to choreographing design activity within organisations to a strategic goal or destination, or their particular choice of purpose. It offers up a means of using diversionary tactics to change our active participation in the design of extractive behaviours, as currently demonstrated by many technology corporations.