A field guide to systemic effects, hidden logics, and institutional erosion in mediated life.
Consequence Design is a way of tracing how systems behave once deployed. It maps the unintended, invisible, and downstream effects of infrastructure, tools, and institutions—especially when friction is removed or context is lost. It isn’t just a critique of technology. It’s a lens for understanding how simulation-native systems shape trust, participation, and the erosion of public meaning.
This work began as an attempt to name the patterns behind interface collapse and institutional degradation. What started as interaction mapping evolved into a broader theory of how legitimacy is manufactured through dashboards, defaults, and systems that appear neutral while quietly reorganizing power.
Consequence Design emerged as a response to acceleration without accountability. It now serves as both a framing device and a design ethic.
I’m Ron Bronson—an interaction engineer, strategist, and theorist working at the intersection of complexity, public systems, and institutional foresight.
I’ve led design and strategy teams inside government, taught design in urban planning programs, and worked across AI policy, service design, and systems transformation. My background includes roles at federal digital agencies, state governments, and civic tech collectives.
Consequence Design is the conceptual backbone of my research, consulting, and teaching. It connects the dots between how things are built, how they fail, and what they leave behind.
Consequence Design has grown into a foundation for applied theory and critical practice. It now supports my writing, keynotes, and advising work across sectors—public and private, global and local.
Ongoing research and essays now live at OutOfScopeMag.com, a home for developing ideas and framing our current techno-political moment.
This site remains a reference point—a distilled archive of foundational ideas for those navigating complexity with clarity.