design theory - lecture 02: design processes & problem solving

Design TheoryLecture 02: Design processes & problem solving

Communication &Multimedia Design

Bas Leurs ([email protected])February 13, 2014

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

what we discussed monday...

Today’s programme

Design processes

Design problems & Problem solving

a design process describes how you as a designer can work.

a design process describes how you as a designer must work.

descriptive vs prescriptive

explain what it is,

how it works. state (authoritatively) what it should be or how a course of actions should be carried out.

why should you have a design process?

Why do you have a design process?•To explain to the clients how you work?•To ‘guarantee’ the outcome of a project?•To prevent mistakes?•To have an agreement how the team is

approaching the project?•Because your teacher told you so?•Because all designers do have a process?

experiences

objects

Functionalpractical / useful

tangible: can be perceived by

the senses

intangible: can be perceived by

�ma^�a^Zkm�

attractive / emotive

Expressive

Symbolic

Physical

Engineering

ArtDesign

Engineering ArtDesign

High penalty for error

Low penalty for error

Prescriptive useof methods

“This is how you should design to avoid errors”

Descriptive use of methods

“This is how I make my design”

Idiosyncratic orsecret methods

“I am not going to tell you how I do it... Only the

inner circle of specialists know how the magic

works”

People can get killed People can get hurt People can get frustrated People can get confused People can get annoyed

Industrial designCivil engineering Communication designInteraction design Art

BeliefFull control of the physical world is

possible

Belief

Chance is the

creator of beauty

Functional Expressive

what is a process?

input process output

Hugh Dubberly (2008)

A process

state 1

process

a process consist of a series of actions or steps that need to be taken to

attain a particular goal

state 2step 1 step 2 step 3 step 4

initialstate process future

state

transformation functioncurrent situation desired situation

A very basal model of design

Doblin (1987)

Gabriela Goldschmidt (1997)

However, from initial state to end state is not a straightforward process

initial state

goal state

A path to prefered states goes through imagination

Ilpo Koskinen, John Zimmerman, Thomas Binder, Johan Redstrom & Stephan Wensveen (2011)

26 August 1977, Volume 197, Number 4306 SCIENCE:

The Nature of Design

The Mind's Eye: Nonverbal-Thought in Technology

"Thinking with pictures" is an essential strand in theintellectual history of technological development.

Eugene S. Ferguson

This scientific age too readily assumesthat whatever knowledge may be incor-porated in the artifacts of technologymust be derived from science. This as-sumption is a bit of modem folklore thatignores the many nonscientific decisions,both large and small, made by tech-nologists as they design the world we in-habit. Many objects of daily use haveclearly been influenced by science, buttheir form and function, their dimensionsand appearance, were determined bytechnologists-craftsmen, designers, in-ventors, and engineers-using non-scientific modes of thought. Carvingknives, comfortable chairs, lighting fix-tures, and motorcycles are as they arebecause over the years their designersand makers have established shape,style, and texture.Many features and qualities of the ob-

jects that a technologist thinks aboutcannot be reduced to unambiguous ver-bal descriptions; they are dealt with inhis mind by a visual, nonverbal process.His mind's eye is a well-developed organthat not only reviews the contents of hisvisual memory but also forms such newor modified images as his thoughts re-quire. As he thinks about a machine, rea-soning his way through successive stepsin a dynamic process, he can turn it overin his mind. The designer and the in-

ventor, who bring elements together innew combinations, are each able to as-semble and manipulate in their minds de-vices that as yet do not exist.

If we are to understand the devel-opment of Western technology, we mustappreciate this important, if unnoticed,mode of thought. It has been nonverbalthinking, by and large, that has fixed theoutlines and filled in the details of ourmaterial surroundings for, in their innu-merable choices and decisions, tech-nologists have determined the kind ofworld we live in, in a physical sense.Pyramids, cathedrals, and rockets existnot because of geometry, theory of struc-tures, or thermodynamics, but becausethey were first a picture-literally a vi-sion-in the minds of those who builtthem (1).

This article attempts to clarify the na-ture and significance of nonverbalthought. It traces the development ofnonverbal thought as practiced by tech-nologists since the Renaissance, pointsto the many drawings and pictures thathave both recorded and stimulated tech-nological developments, and reviews thegraphic inventions, such as pictorial per-spective, that have lent system and clari-ty to nonverbal thinking. A concludingsection considers changing attitudes to-ward the nonverbal component of tech-nology as they have been reflected in en-gineering curricula and suggests some ef-fects of such changes upon the nature ofour technology.

There may well be only one acceptablearrangement or configuration of a com-plex technological device, such as a mo-torcycle, but that arrangement is neitherself-evident nor scientifically predict-able. The early designers of motorcyclescould not ask science to tell them whereto put engine, battery, fuel tank, andspark coil; they had to make their choiceson other grounds (see cover). In time,wrong choices would be revealed,but not by scientific analysis. Makingwrong choices is the same kind of gameas making right choices; there is often noa priori reason to do one thing ratherthan another, particularly if neither hadbeen done before. No bell rings when theoptimum design comes to mind. Nor hasthe plight of designers changed funda-mentally in the 20th century. They muststill weigh the imponderable and soundthe unfathomable. All of our technologyhas a significant intellectual componentthat is both nonscientific and nonliterary.The creative shaping process of a tech-

nologist's mind can be seen in nearlyevery man-made object that exists. Thesweep of a suspension bridge, for ex-ample, is much more than an exercise ingeometry. The distinctive features ofthree great suspension bridges in NewYork-the Brooklyn, George Washing-ton, and Verazzano Narrows-reflectmore strongly the conceptualization oftheir designers and the times of theirconstruction than they do the physicalrequirements of their respective sites.Different builders of large power boilersuse many common elements in theirdesigns, but certain characteristics ofinternal "style" distinguish the boilersof one maker from those of another. Theopportunities for a designer to impresshis particular way of nonverbal thinkingupon a machine or a structure are literal-ly innumerable. This open-ended pro-cess can be seen in the design of a famil-iar, compact machine such as a diesel en-gine.The designer of a diesel engine is a

technologist who must continually usehis intuitive sense of rightness and fit-ness. What will be the shape of the com-bustion chamber? Can I use square cor-

827

The author is professor of history at the Uni-versity of Delaware and curtor of technology of theHagley Museum, Greenville, Delaware 19807.

26 AUGUST 1977

26 August 1977, Volume 197, Number 4306 SCIENCE:

The Nature of Design

The Mind's Eye: Nonverbal-Thought in Technology

"Thinking with pictures" is an essential strand in theintellectual history of technological development.

Eugene S. Ferguson

This scientific age too readily assumesthat whatever knowledge may be incor-porated in the artifacts of technologymust be derived from science. This as-sumption is a bit of modem folklore thatignores the many nonscientific decisions,both large and small, made by tech-nologists as they design the world we in-habit. Many objects of daily use haveclearly been influenced by science, buttheir form and function, their dimensionsand appearance, were determined bytechnologists-craftsmen, designers, in-ventors, and engineers-using non-scientific modes of thought. Carvingknives, comfortable chairs, lighting fix-tures, and motorcycles are as they arebecause over the years their designersand makers have established shape,style, and texture.Many features and qualities of the ob-

jects that a technologist thinks aboutcannot be reduced to unambiguous ver-bal descriptions; they are dealt with inhis mind by a visual, nonverbal process.His mind's eye is a well-developed organthat not only reviews the contents of hisvisual memory but also forms such newor modified images as his thoughts re-quire. As he thinks about a machine, rea-soning his way through successive stepsin a dynamic process, he can turn it overin his mind. The designer and the in-

ventor, who bring elements together innew combinations, are each able to as-semble and manipulate in their minds de-vices that as yet do not exist.

If we are to understand the devel-opment of Western technology, we mustappreciate this important, if unnoticed,mode of thought. It has been nonverbalthinking, by and large, that has fixed theoutlines and filled in the details of ourmaterial surroundings for, in their innu-merable choices and decisions, tech-nologists have determined the kind ofworld we live in, in a physical sense.Pyramids, cathedrals, and rockets existnot because of geometry, theory of struc-tures, or thermodynamics, but becausethey were first a picture-literally a vi-sion-in the minds of those who builtthem (1).

This article attempts to clarify the na-ture and significance of nonverbalthought. It traces the development ofnonverbal thought as practiced by tech-nologists since the Renaissance, pointsto the many drawings and pictures thathave both recorded and stimulated tech-nological developments, and reviews thegraphic inventions, such as pictorial per-spective, that have lent system and clari-ty to nonverbal thinking. A concludingsection considers changing attitudes to-ward the nonverbal component of tech-nology as they have been reflected in en-gineering curricula and suggests some ef-fects of such changes upon the nature ofour technology.

There may well be only one acceptablearrangement or configuration of a com-plex technological device, such as a mo-torcycle, but that arrangement is neitherself-evident nor scientifically predict-able. The early designers of motorcyclescould not ask science to tell them whereto put engine, battery, fuel tank, andspark coil; they had to make their choiceson other grounds (see cover). In time,wrong choices would be revealed,but not by scientific analysis. Makingwrong choices is the same kind of gameas making right choices; there is often noa priori reason to do one thing ratherthan another, particularly if neither hadbeen done before. No bell rings when theoptimum design comes to mind. Nor hasthe plight of designers changed funda-mentally in the 20th century. They muststill weigh the imponderable and soundthe unfathomable. All of our technologyhas a significant intellectual componentthat is both nonscientific and nonliterary.The creative shaping process of a tech-

nologist's mind can be seen in nearlyevery man-made object that exists. Thesweep of a suspension bridge, for ex-ample, is much more than an exercise ingeometry. The distinctive features ofthree great suspension bridges in NewYork-the Brooklyn, George Washing-ton, and Verazzano Narrows-reflectmore strongly the conceptualization oftheir designers and the times of theirconstruction than they do the physicalrequirements of their respective sites.Different builders of large power boilersuse many common elements in theirdesigns, but certain characteristics ofinternal "style" distinguish the boilersof one maker from those of another. Theopportunities for a designer to impresshis particular way of nonverbal thinkingupon a machine or a structure are literal-ly innumerable. This open-ended pro-cess can be seen in the design of a famil-iar, compact machine such as a diesel en-gine.The designer of a diesel engine is a

technologist who must continually usehis intuitive sense of rightness and fit-ness. What will be the shape of the com-bustion chamber? Can I use square cor-

827

The author is professor of history at the Uni-versity of Delaware and curtor of technology of theHagley Museum, Greenville, Delaware 19807.

26 AUGUST 1977

Ferguson (1977)

The mind’s eye

Research

Ideate

Embodiment

Prototype

Research

Ideate

Embodiment

Prototype

How do you call these two types of processes?

Research

Ideate

Embodiment

Prototype

Research

Ideate

Embodiment

Prototype

Waterfall versus Iterative

http://www.frankwatching.com/archive/2010/05/19/een-website-ontwerpen-met-agile-design-en-scrum-3-teams-en-overleg/

Scrum

http://sandervanpeer.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/why-should-we-choose-scrum-for-our-projects/

http://sandervanpeer.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/why-should-we-choose-scrum-for-our-projects/

let’s have a look atsome design processes

breaking the problem into pieces

putting the pieces together in a new way

testing to discover the consequences of putting the

new arrangement into practice

analysis synthesis evaluation

John C. Jones (1970)

Classic: Analysis - Synthesis - Evaluation

Basic Design Cycle

Roozenburg & Eekels (1995)

Form

Function

VDI (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure)

Who wants to design with a process like this?

John Gero (1990)

FBS Model (Function-Behaviour-Structure)

Pahl & Beitz

planning & clarifying

conceptualdesign embodiment detail design

concreteabstract

scoping rough concept

refined concept implement

comparison of design processes

Discover Define Design Deliver

Definition Concept Creation Implementation

Discover Define Design Develop


Specification Concept design Detail design Manufacture

Sense Interpret Decide Act

Research Ideate Embodiment Prototype

Creative explorations Idea generation Envisioning dreams Prototyping

Inspiration Direction Creation Experience

Goal Action Effect Measurement

Explore Generate Evaluate Communicate

Discover Identify Validate Articulate

Research CreateIdeate


Definition Concept Creation Implementation

Discover Define Design Develop


Specification Concept design Detail design Manufacture

Sense Interpret Decide Act

Research Ideate Embodiment Prototype

Creative explorations Idea generation Envisioning dreams Prototyping

Inspiration Direction Creation Experience

Goal Action Effect Measurement

Explore Generate Evaluate Communicate

Discover Identify Validate Articulate

Research CreateIdeate

DiscoverResearchSpecifyInspire

IdeateDefine

DirectionConcept

EmbodimentCreateDesignEnvision

DevelopDeliver

PrototypeArticulate

concretefuzzy

DiscoverResearchSpecifyInspire

IdeateDefine

DirectionConcept

EmbodimentCreateDesignEnvision

DevelopDeliver

PrototypeArticulate

What is? What if? What wows? What works?

See Jeanne Liedtka & Tim Ogilvie (2011)

? $

Hogeschool Rotterdam – Communication & Multimedia Design Versie: 2 juli, 2012, Door: Saskia Best, Tim Fleumer, Bas Leurs, Jasper Schelling, Peter van Waart

Eindkwalificaties Communication & Multimedia Design !!!!! !

Onderzoeken Verbeelden RealiserenConcept ontwikkelen

Empathie Multidisciplinair werken

Rationale & Emotionale

Signatuur Adaptief leren

Eindkwalificaties: Communication & Multimedia Design

Hogeschool Rotterdam – Communication & Multimedia Design2 Juni, 2012, door: Saskia Best, Tim Fleumer, Bas Leurs, Jasper Schelling, Peter van Waart

Onderzoeken Verbeelden RealiserenConcept ontwikkelen

Empathie Multidisciplinair werken


Signatuur Adaptief leren


Hogeschool Rotterdam – Communication & Multimedia Design2 Juni, 2012, door: Saskia Best, Tim Fleumer, Bas Leurs, Jasper Schelling, Peter van Waart

Hogeschool Rotterdam – Communication & Multimedia Design Versie: 2 juli, 2012, Door: Saskia Best, Tim Fleumer, Bas Leurs, Jasper Schelling, Peter van Waart

Onderzoeken Verbeelden RealiserenConcept ontwikkelenHet kunnen formuleren en herformuleren van een

ontwerpvraagstuk. D.m.v. van onderzoek tot de kern van dat vraagstuk kunnen komen. Informatie

valideren en er conclusies uit trekken als uitgang-spunt voor het verdere ontwerpproces.

EmpathieInleven in waarden, behoeften,

drijfveren en ambities van klanten, OMJZ]QSMZ[�MV�KWTTMOI¼[�^WWZ�QV[XQZI\QM�

en mogelijkheden tot innovatie. Sensitief zijn voor mens en omgeving.

Open staan voor andere denk- en levenswijzen.

Multidisciplinair werken

Kunnen samenwerken in multidiscipli-nair verband en in staat zijn om daarin

het (eigen) werkproces en werkomgeving te organiseren.


Antwoord kunnen geven op de ‘waarom-^ZIIO¼�MV�LM�OM^WTOMV�S]VVMV�W^MZbQMV�^IV�

ontwerpbeslissingen. De mens centraal stellen in alle ontwerpkeuzes en deze

onderbouwen op basis van onderzoek, theorie, best practices en intuïtie.

SignatuurHet hebben van een eigenwijze en eigentijdse kijk op ontwerpvraa-

gstukken en bijbehorende oplossin-gen en deze visie kunnen uitdragen

en delen met anderen.

Adaptief lerenVoortdurend leerdoelen formuleren door te reflecteren op leerproces, werkproces en veranderende con-

text. Inspelen op kansen en ontwik-kelingen.

Mogelijkheden bedenken om waarde te creëren voor gebruiker en opdrachtgever.

Doelbewust experimenteren, grenzen opzoeken en overschrijden om te komen tot

niet voor de hand liggende concepten.

Vormgeven van plannen, ideeën en visies. Overtuigen en verleiden met inspirerende

visualisaties, prototypes, verhalen en presentaties.

Ideeën uitwerken naar betekenisvolle interactieve producten, diensten en

belevingen. Aandacht hebben voor detail zonder de grote lijn uit het oog te verliezen. Verzorgd kunnen werken en op tijd leveren. Creatief kunnen omgaan met beperkingen,

vasthoudend zijn, doorzetten.


The primary generator

Jane Darke (1979)

Darke describes a primary generator as: a particular objective that is strongly valued and self-imposed, which heavily relies on subjective judgment. A primary generator serves as a starting point and gives the process a direction.

“It's weird to say it. We say… Wow! This is a universe, it's their own world, they have a campus'. We are creating a universe... it's Universe Twente. We started walking around like Star Trek, we're going to create an independent world! These were some @irst thoughts.”

Liza Enebeis (Studio Dumbar) explaining the primary generator of the visual identity of University of Twente

An example of a primary generator

DNA of University of Twente

ideasresearch

fuzzy front end

concept prototype product

Hugh Dubberly, Shelley Evenson & Rick Robinson (2008)

Analysis-Synthesis Bridge Model

Zie N@tschool

PROBLEMS

What is a MFP?

Major F cking Problem

MFP

=

MFP-tje = Minor F*cking Problem

the architecture of problems

what is a problem?

Wayne Booth, Gregory Colomb and Joseph Williams (1995)

A (practical) problem is caused by some condition in the world that makes us unhappy because it costs us time, respect, security, pain, money or even our lives.

A conceptual problem

arises when we simply

do not understand

something about the

world as well as we

would like.

Problems consist of two elements:

undesirable consequences caused by that condition

a situation or condition +

what is a design problem?

design is about ‘fit’or misfit... and hence solved

by appropriation

Sometimes (or often) there is a misfit between “use plans” and users (Houkes & Vermaas, 2006). Because “use plans” are aimed towards pre-

determined product use.

However, users appropriate the artefacts that they use and neglect the intentions that were enscribed

by the designer.

Let’s have a look at product use

product user

retrofitted

alteration

Ikea Hackshttp://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/01/best-hack-of-2010-your-vote-needed.htmlhacking

http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/01/best-hack-of-2010-your-vote-needed.html

http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/01/best-hack-of-2010-your-vote-needed.html

fiets parasol voor de warme zomerdagen ook te gebruiken voor regen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HTFK75cpHY

A tool addresses human needs by amplifying human capabilities.

Bret Victor (2011)worrydream.com/#!/ABriefRantOnTheFutureOfInteractionDesign

http://worrydream.com/#!/ABriefRantOnTheFutureOfInteractionDesign




Product

Prob

lem User

Business

fitFITfitFIT

fitFIT

Design problems occur when there is a misfit between one of these relations

John Restrepo & Henri Christiaans (2003)

Design as a unique type of problem solving

Design is a unique type of problem solving. It is the maximum expression of

human intelligence and the prototypical case of cognition, as it requires devising

future states of the world (goals), recognizing current ones (initial states) and

finding paths to bridge both (transformation functions).

initial state future statetransformation function

However, because of the very nature of design problems,

there is very often very little information about the problem,

even less information about the goal (solution) and absolutely

no information about the transformation function.

John Restrepo, Henri Christiaans (2003)

initial state future statetransformation function

“Design problems are largely underdetermined”

Kees Dorst (2006)

“Design problems in general can be characterized as not being subject to systematisation, incomplete, and vague.”

John Restrepo, Henri Christiaans (2003)

So... the problem with design problems is:

Horst Rittel & Melvin Webber (1973)

Design problems are also decribed as:

Herbert Simon (1973)

ill-defined or ill-structured problems

wicked problems

The kinds of problems that planners

deal with – societal problems – are

inherently different from the

problems that scientists and perhaps

some classes of engineers deal with.

Planning problems are inherently

wicked.

Horst Rittel & Melvin Webber (1973)

1. There is no definitive formulation of a wicked problem

2. Wicked problems have no stopping rule

3. Solutions to wicked problems are not true-or-false, but good-or-bad

4. There is no immediate and no ultimate test of a solution to a wicked problem

5. Every solution to a wicked problem is a "one-shot operation"; because there is no opportunity to learn by trial-and-error, every attempt counts significantly

6. Wicked problems do not have an enumerable (or an exhaustively describable) set of potential solutions, nor is there a well-described set of permissible operations that may be incorporated into the plan

7. Every wicked problem is essentially unique

8. Every wicked problem can be considered to be a symptom of another problem

9. The existence of a discrepancy representing a wicked problem can be explained in numerous ways. The choice of explanation determines the nature of the problem's resolution

10. The planner has no right to be wrong

Properties of wicked problems

A design has to be perfect!

Designs don't have to be optimal or perfect: results that are not quite optimum or less than perfect are often completely satisfactory for everyday usage. No everyday product is perfect, nor need they be.

Donald Norman (2010)

“Designing is satisficing, finding an acceptable

solution.”


Satisficing"Since there did not seem to be any word in English for decision methods that look for good or satisfactory solutions instead of optimal ones, some years ago I introduced the term ‘satisficing’ to refer to such procedures." (p. 119)

Satisfy + Suffice


the mechanismsof design problems

Design is a game, with unknown rules that become apparent once you have explored the problem and solution space simultaniously.

In design ‘perfect’ solutions do not exist. Simply because we do not know what the

perfect solution is.

Science students Architecture students

�L^g

bhk�

�Cng

bhk�

The renowned experiment by Bryan Lawson (1979)


During the session participants had access to a computer to get help or to verify their solutions.

There were some ‘game rules’ that were not apparent to the participant, but stored in a computer program.

Science students Architecture students

�L^g

bhk�

�Cng

bhk�


Adopted a problem

focusing strategy

Made fewer structural errors

Adopted a solution

focusing strategy

Made fewer planning errors

Scientists versus Designers

problem focused solution focused

The problem- and solution space are interwoven. Solution conjectures are helpful to explore and understand the problemspace

Co-evolution of problem–solution

Kees Dorst (2001)

now... a bit of a different problem solving approach

Situation30,000 young people Every Friday and Saturday night)

ProblemsBinge drinking, fights, pickpocketing and drugs related crime

Dorst & Tomkin (2011)

What would Ivo do?More... surveillance!!!

Enforce the law... strictly!!!

Higher... penalties

The grumpy old man method

“The countermeasures that have been taken over the years have created a slightly grim environment, and don’t seem to help much in preventing crimes and anti social behavior. Increasing the police presence beyond the current level is not an attractive option.”


What would you organize if you were organizing a music festival?These are young people wanting to have a good time, not hard core criminals. But a crowd of 30,000 young people, that could be compared to a good-sized music festivalDorst & Tomkin (2011)

reframing

“'Framing' is the term commonly used for the creation of a novel standpoint from which a problematic situation can be tackled � this includes perceiving the situation in a certain way, adopting certain concepts to describe the situation, patterns of reasoning and problem solving that are associated with that way of seeing, leading to the possibilty to act within that situation.”


Salut!

Please return the cards!

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