To see a World in a Grain of Sand,
                    And a Heaven in a Wild Flower;
                    Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
                    And Eternity in an hour.

                            - Auguries of Innocence, William Blake
                  

In most every design challenge (and consequent opportunity), what we see, how we understand what we see and where we intervene is typically scale dependent. Models and data relevant at one scale help inform us across scales, but they are often very different, even contradictory – a scientific example: the billiard ball equations of Newtonian mechanics and the wave-particle duality of the so-called Copenhagen model at the sub-atomic level. In demographics, the granularity and precision of hyper-local data dissolves into something blunter and more abstract at a high level of aggregation where nuances disappear, but a more powerful story often emerges. Interventions vary across scales…we pilot user-centric prototypes at a micro-scale; we propose more generic, rule-based solutions at a macro-scale; not surprisingly, mezzo tends to straddle both. Automated vehicles are an example. They have to be safe at an intersection; supported by local, state and federal legislation and, at the mezzo scale, have access to road networks.      - Integrative Frameworks for Technology, Environment, and Society I, Jock Herron