Alphabet Soup

"All misunderstandings will be solved
by the Alphabet Soup!"

Alphabet Soup

Contextual Definition: A clear, concise, and useful glossary. In part pulled from the Alphabet Stew

Source: The First Methods Class
Related Pad(s): x
Mentioned in: x

Reference: x
See Also: Alphabet Stew

Alphabet Stew

Contextual Definition: A loose, fun, experimental version of the Alphabet Soup. Anything goes here, and as such it exists to keep the Alphabet Soup clear, concise, and useful as a glossary.

Source: Meeting Methods (12/11/2024)
Related Pad(s): https://pad.xpub.nl/p/111224_group2
Mentioned in: x

Reference: Perpetual Stew
See Also: Alphabet Stew

Design Optimization

Dry Definition

<in progress>Design Optimization, also called Engineering Optimization, is a methodology which aims to solve all problems of performance, durability and sustainability within a system design. A result-oriented working process based on critical system analysis and problem prediction. </in progress>

XPUB Definition

A design process that believes that through trying it's very best, it may predict the future, transcend time and escape the ever changing material conditions of human reality. (Charlie)

Found in

Tactical Design by Nolwenn Maudet (Doriane's Postface) - METHODS [1]

Source

❶ [Engeneering Design Optimization by J.R.R.A. Martins & A. Ning] [2]

❷ [Principles of Optimal Design - Modeling and Computation by P.Y. Papalambros & D.J. Wilde][3]

❸ [Definition of Design Optimization on Sciencedirect.com] [4]

❹ [Design Optimization in OOAD on Geeksforgeeks.org] [5]

Fabulations

Dry Definition

fabulation uses imagination to create stories that often blur lines between reality and fiction. it often takes existing narratives, adapts them, and reshapes them into different perspectives. it comes from oral traditions and has its root in the latin word "fabula", or in verb form "fābulor" for "tell stories, chat".❶❷

XPUB Definition

What is crucial to fabulations is their ability to pick and choose from pre-existing narratives and transform them into new ones, using "what if" scenario frameworks to remix familiar stories and offer alternative approaches to storytelling.

In the Postface to Tactical Design Doriane differentiates creating fabulations from building tools. While the later is more directed towards functionality, fabulations emerge from a hypothetical approach of creating alternatives and reinterpreting the web.❸

in other words: Fabulation refers to the act of reinterpreting existing stories and transforming them into a new ones in a creative way.

This machanism is very similar to how humans have been passing on stories for centuries. As the stories are conveyed through time and across culture, certain elements are added, removed, altered and reinvented --reflecting the spirit, mindset, environment, and era in which they exist.

The focus of fabulation is on imagining alternatives to an already existing narrative, understanding how it shapes reality, then rethinking how we engage with that reality by deciding which aspects to keep, modify, or reconstruct. This decision making process is a key aspect of fabulation.

Source
❶ [wikipedia] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabulation
❷ [wiktionary] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/fabulation
❸ [Tactical Design, Nolwenn Maudet + Doriane] https://declarations.style/drafts/tactical-design.html

Folkloric

dry definition

Relating to the verbally passed down communal knowledge, which includes, yet is not limited to tales, beliefs, rules, ideas, legends and values. [source] Folklore as an academic practice is the study of collective inventiveness between members of distinct sociocultural settings, as well as the relationships these instances share with different manifestations of shared identity. [source]

found in

"I would like to simply list some of those Websites fabulations as folkoric tales of the web instead of practical tools. Not something to scale or improve to a large amount of user, but more as doors to stories." - https://declarations.style/drafts/tactical-design.html

Tactical

Dry Definitions

According to Design Tactique, by Nolwenn Maudet:

"initiatives that seek to directly and explicitly counter existing platforms, services or applications."

According to the Cambridge Dictionary:

[source]

(1) Relating to tactics or done in order to achieve something.

• "It was a tactical vote."

(2) Tactical weapons are for use over short distances and, especially in the case of nuclear weapons, have a local effect only.

(3) In business English: Relating to the methods used to achieve a particular result.

• "He has plenty of tactical ability and is a great organizer."
• "The tactical advantage offered by cash is flexibility."
• "A tactical error/mistake They made a tactical error by coming in with an offer that was so unrealistic."
• "A tactical decision/move Analysts have largely viewed his resignation as a tactical move."
• "The rise of tactical voting."

According to Merriam-Webster:

[source]

(1) Of or relating to combat tactics: such as:

• (a) Of or occurring at the battlefront.

• (b) Using or being weapons or forces employed at the battlefront.

• (c) Of an air force: Of, relating to, or designed for air attack in close support of friendly ground forces.

(2) Of or relating to tactics: such as:

• (a) Of or relating to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose.

• (b) Made or carried out with only a limited or immediate end in view.

• (c) Adroit in planning or maneuvering to accomplish a purpose.

XPUB Definition

(1) A method that is considered, planned, and designed to outmanouver an opposition, in order to achieve a predefined goal.

(2) An object, any object, featuring one or more or all of the following features:

• A camouflage pattern
• Hard plastics on cloth
• Inexplicable metal bits
• A matte black paintjob
• Inscriptions of 'cool' and/or 'badass' imagery (i.e. skulls, predator animals, predator animal skulls)
• Attachment rail(s)

Found In

Meeting Methods (15/01/2025 && 22/01/2025)

Related References

XPUB definition 1 was paraphrased from the following sources:

• Design tactique, by Nolwenn Maudet: https://declarations.style/drafts/tactical-design.html#fn:16
• Cambridge Dictionary definitions of 'Tactical': https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tactical
• Merriam-Webster definitions of 'Tactical': https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tactical

See Also

• Tacticool
• Weaponized Incompetence
• Quiet Quitting
• Pro-Climate Sabotage
• Investment
• Starcraft II
• Terrifying Marketing Department Terms
• Sun Tzu
• Hiking