First, it is worth looking at the broad range of architectures of control both inside and outside of product design. The use of the term ‘architecture’ is no coincidence, since it is in the planned systems which people inhabit–buildings and environments–that the idea of shaping […]

The design field where architectures of control have become most firmly established is software; to a large extent any application which affords the user a limited range of behaviours is, by definition, an architecture of control. This may seem obvious, but it is not a […]

Whilst architectures of control in digital systems can be complex, there are many very simple control architectures in products which are either self-evident, or become so once the design intention is explained. Restriction of access Some of the most obvious involve attempts to restrict access […]

Reviewing the examples across different sectors, a noticeable tension emerges between architectures of control with primarily commercial benefit intentions, and primarily social benefit intentions. For example, it is hard to argue that there was any intended social benefit in DVD region coding [46], but there […]

This diagram is a simplistic attempt to place some of the architectures of control detailed on this site into a plane representing the strategic intentions behind them: the dimensions are intended commercial benefit, and intended social benefit. Please click to open in a new window […]

Printer cartridges are a consumer product category with a variety of architectures of control exhibiting characteristics discussed on this site. Refills for printer cartridges, both DIY and factory-refilled, can be rendered useless by some built-in architectures of control Aside from the obvious economic lock-in (the […]