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Systematic Methods. For Design Practice. Today. Going to examine why it is important to understand the systems you are using in design development. ‘Design Methods’
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Systematic Methods For Design Practice
Today.. • Going to examine why it is important to understand the systems you are using in design development. ‘Design Methods’ • How it can contribute to better, more efficient creative thinking and faster results, and help you develop your own specific approaches that work for you! • Look at specific methodologies during initial exploration of a brief.. Based on your current project.
What is Designing?! • Much has been written about design methods since the 50’s and 60’s as nations became more industrialised and design literate. • Before this, designing was what architects and designers did to produce drawings and blueprints for clients. • Since there are now plenty of professional designers, it is now the case that much exploration of techniques has taken place, and emphasis has been placed of individual styles, refuting the traditional design methods taught in universities. • However, a criticism of modern methods is that they have often sought to rationalise the design process to a simple recipe, that can be relied upon of all situations. This does not imply creativity, just problem solving.
Design is Mysterious.. • Design is about variety, about understanding fundamental principles of given problems or situations and re-conjugating them in a new way that solves a problem more efficiently. • The definitions of design activity, vary as much as design disciplines themselves. For each is a unique type of creativity, whether more constrained such as engineering or less scientific, such as fashion design. • But it is very much about point of view.
Industrial/Product Design.. • Obviously we are primarily interested in Industrial Design.. So lets explore design definitions on our domain specific area. • But we need to begin by understanding the permutations and implications of our work
Design Implications.. • ‘Designers design the spark plug, the car in which it is used, the showroom where it is sold, the advertising that attracts the consumer, and the power dressing suit of the persuasive salesperson. In other words, design determines all the elements of the human made world. • (Peter Gorb – Source: The Design Agenda 1995)
Industrial Design.. • What are your opinions of these definitions? • ‘We create the blueprints for Manufacture, the instruction manual by which objects are made.’ • Traditional – does not encompass what must be achieved before we get to this stage. • Does not consider the multi-disciplinary approach of modern design. • It does not consider the societal implications we have mentioned.
Industrial Definitions.. • What about this one? • ‘The initiation of change in man made things’. • Simple, but with many connotations.. • Covers what we can consider as the design process.. The idea, the transformation of that idea into a feasible design, its production and its use in society. • How products and their usage evolve with technology, environments and needs and demands.
Products that revolutionised.. • Design affects society.. • The camera – the demise of art for purpose? • The refrigerator – The introduction of long periods of storage for fresh foods • The jet engine – fast effective transport brought to the masses at acceptable costs. • Modern – the mobile phone, changing social fabric of entire nations. • What do you perceive to be the next major effect that design will have on society… what is likely to effect design in the near future??
Industrial definitions.. • Industrial design is highly complex, and therefore difficult to fully define it terms of a descriptor of the process its-self. • Perhaps it is better to consider how the process varies, and use strategies accordingly, to improve the way we solve problems. • Industrial design is about knowing the problem before you tackle it. • Much up-front work is highly valuable to the process. • You could call this defining and exploring the brief.
Constraints and Creativity! • Sounds daft, how can you constrain creativity? • But industrial design is creative, in set parameters. • An industrial designer is able to process, systematically and logically the constraints that trigger design decision making at all stages of the new product design process.
Industrial Design.. • A brief may include: • Pre Standards for materials, branding, colours sizes and densities specific to manufacturing processes available. • It may include standard parts from existing stocks. • It may include a specific modular formation in the design on order to adapt the new product for diversification to elongate the life cycle of the product, or to use the basic design for the next product in the range, by simply adapting the product but without having to absorb the on-cost of re-tooling. • The motivations toward the design solution are not always optimal – there are key stakeholders involved that may require some design focus.
Key NPD Questions.. • Will the sponsor like it? Is it in his/her interest to invest in the product? • Does it make best use of materials and components? • Can it be made cheaply enough with available resources? • Can it be distributed thought the available channels? • What appearance, performance and reliability is required? • To what extent will the design be compatible will or competitive with other products. • To what extent will the product restructure the existing market situation to create new demands, opportunities or problems. • To what extent are these predicted conditions and product attributes acceptable to the stakeholders? • What is good design?!
Further implications.. • Whilst asking these questions a designer must consider the responsibility we have. We are powerful in terms of our effects on society. • Look at emergent properties that designs have displayed. Some have caused crime, others have affected peoples health. • Urban planning is an excellent example of such detriment effects.
Why is design so difficult? • Designers are obliged to use current information to ‘predict the future’. (or possible future) • Providing this is correct, a solution can be correctly explored. • So its important to explore many possibilities and be sure that the path you have chosen to pursue is that which is most likely to occur, and which will consider the responsibilities of how it will be effectively manufactured and an optimal solution business solution, whilst considering ethics and societal implications. Simple eh?
‘It is as if a man is standing in a room facing a wall on which are painted a number of dummy doors. Wanting to get out, he fumblingly tries to open them, vainly trying them all, one after another, over and over again. But of course, it is quite useless. All the time, although he does not realise it, there is a real door in the wall behind his back, and all he has to do is turn around and open it. To help him get out of the room, all we have to do is to get him to look in a different direction. But it is hard to do this, since, wanting to get out, he resists all our attempts to turn him away from where he thinks the exit must be.’ (Gasking and Jackson 1978)
Methods.. • We have established that industrial design cannot have one generic system, but can have markers and triggers that influence design decision making for the better, by asking the right questions, exploring realistic avenues of research, and balancing responsibilities. Which are: Design solutions, manufacture, stakeholders and society itself and the environment. We even use ideas of the future to envisage user scenarios – what if they are wrong?
Methods. • So we understand the complexity of the process in which we are involved. • Therefore methods are essential to exploration of solutions to bring to light ideas that may not have been considered. • This is why design is at its most effective in teams, many minds and perspectives converging and sharing knowledge.
Team dynamics.. • Design is a social and inclusive activity.. • Use your individual knowledge and approaches to interact, learn and create better solutions. • Belbin’s team roles… • By understanding these principles, an effective team with co-ordinating roles can be constructed.
With a design team in place.. • Information and implications can be explored.. The conceptual stage! • Structured brainstorming is highly effective in teams. • The bear and honey approach! • Lets look at this in practice.. • IDEO Video – Exploring primary research, brainstorming wacky ideas to stimulate innovation!
