Untitled

Angelina Lodes

12.10.18              

Imaging 1, Caleb Horn

Design Writing no.2

               Creative thinking is a way of looking at problems from a different and unique perspective to develop innovative ideas. Creative thinking can be stimulated both by an unstructured process such as brainstorming, and by a structured process such as lateral thinking. Lateral thinking is the process of solving problems from an indirect and creative approach, and usually involves using nontraditional steps to solving a problem. There are four steps to the creative thinking process and out of those four I believe the most important one is preparation.

               First, no good idea comes from just one brainstorming session. Great ideas come from multiple resources including your own mind, nature, other people’s thoughts and input, and observing the world around you. Noticing things that may have gone undetected in the past or looking at the problem from different perspectives help give the designer a more rounded collection of data to use. You don’t even have to start with an idea in the preparation phase, all you need is something to write down thoughts and information and you can start by going on a walk or checking out a new store. Even the grocery store can be an excellent place to do your creative thinking while grocery shopping. Start looking at the places you go to daily in new perspectives and the ideas will just start flowing. It doesn’t take a million places, only a million ideas.

               Secondly, gathering information is just the beginning of the preparation stage. After all that can be possibly gathered from the resources around you, then comes the organizing phase. You read, sort, organize, and outline it all to help you in the next stage, incubation. The Peak Performing Arts Center had an interesting article on the creative process and emphasized that “you cannot just hope for inspiration to strike, you have to plan and prepare for creativity.” Preparation is the key for success for anything you do. Whether you are cooking, cleaning, or creating, you need to prepare for every one of those situations

               Lastly, before coming to the incubation stage, a designer must make sure they have exhausted all their preparation resources, then start building ideas. While gathering information you may come across an unusual finding that may make for a good design product. It is important to note all thoughts while gathering information, so you can go back and expand them even further. What you thought was a silly idea could turn out to be the best idea you have, it’s all about changing your perspective.

               In conclusion, all the steps of creative thinking are important, but preparation is what sets you up for success or failure in any circumstance. Gather as much information as possible and become acquainted with what it is you are trying to solve. Without preparation, creative thinking will not be successful.

Skylar Schexnayder

Imaging, 1302

12/10/2018

Caleb Horn

Human Centered Design

Human centered design deals with humans and the framework of design. The focus of this design type is to create solution to problems involving the human vision and mindset. All aspects of this design type are controlled by the human’s problem-solving skills. The main focus for human centered design is (according to Wikipedia) “methodologies and techniques for interacting with people in such a manner as to facilitate the detection of meanings, desires and needs, either by verbal or non-verbal means.” The main points talked about in the articles I read had to deal with Observation, Ideation, Implementation, Iteration, User Feedback, Rapid Prototyping.

The observation aspect is the first step in the Human Centered Design process. This phase is about observing the end user’s response to what is created. Then after observing the end user you must be open to change, or creative diversity based on user feedback. The goal of this process is to understand what the people you are designing for are looking for. The last part of this step is putting yourself into the user’s shoes and seeing what you could have made better or different. Identifying what you could have changed to have a more successful product from the eyes of your buyer.

The second step of the Human Centered Design process is the ideation phase. In the ideation step you will focus on brainstorming the ideas and techniques that you learned from the observation phase. This step is focusing on getting as many ideas down as possible. The most important aspect of this step is keeping the user’s desires in mind when creating these ideas. Keeping the aspects that the user finds important when thinking of new ideas will allow you and your team to find the best solution for the problem at hand.

The third phase in the Human Centered Design process is the prototype step. In the prototype phase you will focused on building a simple but effective prototype. Having a prototype will allow you to have hands on test abilities and viewing what the user will be able to obtain. It is important that the prototype is done quickly and not overdone. The main reasoning for the quickest prototype is having the product being able to be consumed as quickly as possible. The quicker the product is able to be consumed the quicker the user feedback with come.

The fourth step in the Human Centered Design process is the feedback stage. The feedback step is the most important phase of this Design process. It is important to take into consideration every input that you receive from the end-users. You have to listen to your users to apply what they have suggested into the final solution.

The fifth step of the Human Centered Design process is the Iteration phase. In the feedback stage you must let the critique from users fuel the changes you will make on your design. It is important to keep iterating, integrating and testing user feedback until you have found your solution. This process might take longer than most of the phases before, but something will be learned through every iteration of the solution. After finding the solution you are ready to move onto the final step in the Human Centered Design process.

The purpose of design is rooted in problem solving. Human-centered design is believing that every problem has a solution, and the ones most capable of finding a solution are the ones who are currently suffering from the problem. Human-centered design is important because the process emphasizes the human experience, brings attention to underrepresented communities, and calls for overall growth as human beings in the design field.

The human-centered design process is similar to the process used in class. It starts with heavy research, and with human-centered design, research must include developing a sense of compassion and empathy for the people who are dealing with problem you are solving. In The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design by the designers at IDEO, their process of inspiration, ideation, and implementation is interwoven with empathy, optimism, iteration, creative confidence, making, embracing ambiguity, and learning from failure. All of these are foundations of the human experience a designer must experience to effectively solve a problem. These experiences remind us that no who we are or what problems we face, we’re all human and we can come together for positive change.

Sela Lewis, a graphic designer, said “(Design) serves as a call to action, preserve history and culture, make the invisible visible…” In an interview about the Black In Design project design student Diamond James stated “What is best in a studio or laboratory may not even translate well without cultural literacy of the population in need of better design for better lives.” For IDEO, this cultural literacy is evident when their design process is used to improve the lives of marginalized communities such as bringing sexual heath education to at-risk teens, or bringing clean water solutions to tribes in impoverished countries. Human-centered design makes the invisible visible by using empathy and compassion in the design process.

With compassion and empathy being at the forefront of human-centered design, designers can become agents of social change. Former AIGA president Doug Powell believes that people with the right skills and creativity have a responsibility to be a positive influence to the world around us. Making connections with people who may be different than us through design makes not only the field of design grow stronger, it makes the designer grow as a human being. Part of the Black In Design project focuses on meshing together the white and black student experience against the backdrop of urban Baltimore, to provide new perspective on how everyone can be agents of social change though design. Fresh perspectives and new ideas play a pivotal role in problem solving that designers need to embrace. 

As you can see, human-centered design is important for problem solving and improving the world around us. The process of human-centered design and the development of empathy puts emphasis on the human experience to help us understand that we are all the same, bringing attention to marginalized communities make the invisible visible, and everyone throughout the design community can experience growth through social change.

Resources:

The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design, IDEO

Sela Lewis, Black in Design http://www.inherentdesignbyselalewis.com/black-in-design-mica/

IDEO’s Field Guide to Human-centered Design has set the difficulty, time, and what you would need to go through these steps. Take your time with these things, it’s not always that simple to come up with a good concept on the spot. Make sure you understand that whatever process you decide to go through you will need to have some sense of inspiration, you’ll idealize it and then implement your design into the real world.

The Field Guide to Human-centered Design by IDEO is heavily armed with the tools needed to be a great designer. By having the right mindset, a good 3 step process, and the help of your peers you’ll be able to get there in no time. After you have established a positive mindset an you feel as if you are creatively confident to tackle ideas, you can start with this 3 step process. No matter what the design challenge might be you’ll go through 3 main phases: Inspiration, Ideation, and Implementation. By going through this 3 step process, you’ll be able to produce  empathy with the individuals you’re designing with and for. You’ll figure out how to turn what you’ve learned from your peers, professor, client etc. into a chance to design a new idea; and you’ll build and test your ideas before presenting them to the world. Take things slow and do whatever you feel comfortable with and this process will set you on the right track. IDEO has many steps within these phases and I’m going to touch on what I think is most important for designers without being too lengthy, feel free to review all the steps.

First off is Inspiration. This one’s tough and takes time. IDEO states that “the inspiration phase is about learning to fly, opening yourself up to creative possibilities, and trusting that as long as you remain grounded in desires of the communities you’re engaging, your ideas will evolve into the right solutions.” The first step within this phase is framing your design. This step is critical to your success. IDEO suggests that you should take a stab at writing and refining your ideas, and ask questions from there. I’ve learned that the best way of doing this is to go on Pinterest and gather photos and ideas. You can also do this by writing a list of ideas, and with these two things you’ll be able to refine from there. Next is coming up with a plan. IDEO states that “even though they’re bound to change as things progress, you’ll be in much better shape if you can plan for what’s ahead.” This is exactly the same scenario when a professor or client would tell you to go ahead and write your statement of intent. Sure it is bound to change but go ahead and start jotting down what you intend to do. Next is building a team if you’re able to, but when you’re working alone its best to just get feedback from other individuals as you go. IDEO talks a lot about analogous inspiration, where you would initially try to get a new perspective on your research and shift your focus to a new context. After you get some feedback gather secondary research if needed, re-draw, back-step as much as you need to get yourself on the right track.

Next up is Ideation. IDEO states that within this phase “you’ll share what you’ve learned with your team, make sense of a vast amount of data, and identify opportunities for design. You’ll generate lots of ideas, some of which you’ll keep, and others which you’ll discard. You’ll get tangible by building rough prototypes of your ideas, then you’ll share them with the people from whom you’ve learned and get their feedback. You’ll keep iterating, refining, and building until you’re ready to get your solution out into the world.” Develop some thumbnails and then take everything you’ve learned, research and the feedback you were given and start refining your ideas into roughs. IDEO calls this the “Top Five.” Take your 5 best roughs and gather your peers and review again. IDEO suggests that you should do this exercise often, so refine your 5 into another 5, make as many iterations as you can and you’ll find some solution within it. Ask yourself some questions: Is there a theme? Is there a hierarchy? Etc. Develop the best possible concept.

Last but not least, Implementation. This is the phase where you’ll bring your ideas to life. For us, that’s gathering your research and ideas and bringing your roughs, photos, etc. into photoshop, illustrator or whatever program preferred, and start developing your concept. Keep iterating from there, IDEO says that “testing, getting feedback, and iterating will help you get a great solution to market and let you know where to push it when you do.” Evaluate what you’ve got and then it’s all about rolling with the punches. You’ll need to be able to accept criticism when given so that whenever you present your work you know what you can do to make things better.