design is intelligence made visible

     Design is in everyday life, implemented into things all around us. With design, comes communication and working with all types of people in order to create a finished product. Human-centered design is the process of working with clients and figuring out what they like and implementing that into the final design. It starts with communicating with people and ends up communicating to a larger body of audience. It goes back and forth between people one is working with and the actual design itself. Human-centered design is needed to successfully capture what message a client wants the design to convey.

     The process of human-centered design is of three phases. The first phase is the Inspiration Phase where the designer is learning firsthand from their clients, hearing all ideas and what is needed. On Design Kit by Ideo.org, the Inspiration Phase is “learn(ing) directly from the people you’re designing for as you immerse yourself in their lives and come to deeply understand their needs”. The next step would be the Ideation Phase, where the designer will put together all their thoughts and what they’ve learned from the clients and start brainstorming. They will create many prototypes and work back and forth with the clients on ideas and how to improve until the implementation. This will lead into the Implementation Phase, the final step, where the designer will overcome obstacles and successfully melt together design and the client’s idea. The final design will be successful because the designer made sure to communicate what the people wanted by communicating with them.

     When human-centered design is used, it can appease to larger groups of people. More people like what they see, or they see ideas they would’ve had themselves on items or services. It draws the public’s eye and grabs their attention. Knowing what the market wants and giving them what they want by talking with them and speaking with them allows for a more prosperous outcome. In the article “Why Human-Centered Design Matters” on Wired written by Dave Thomsen, he states “a human-centered approach fuels the creation of products that resonate more deeply with an audience — ultimately driving engagement and growth”. Participation within the community and with other people allows for a more overall accepted work.

      Using human-centered design will have many benefits and advantages to a final product. Being involved with the users and clients increases sales and more attention. With communicating with clients, there is less of a high-risk human error, since everything was talked about beforehand, or is still being communicated with everyone on the project. Working with others, whether being other designers or clients, builds empathy. In the article “User Centered Design”, on the Interaction Design Foundation website, says that empathy is “essential in creating ethical designs that respect privacy and the quality of life”. One last advantage would be that when a designer is constantly meeting with people and building connections, they are also learning how to interact with different types of people. They can notice the diversity and learn new human values, which can be essential to designing and will be better people, nonetheless.

     Human-centered design is all about working with the people, communicating with others, in order to reach making a more profitable/successful endgame. Human-centered design is a process that starts with speaking with the client and gaining all the information in order to create a design that will meet their expectations and building relationships with the public through the design. Meeting people and staying connected allows the designer to become a better designer and let them reach their design goals. 

Dave Thomsen, Wanderful Media. “Why Human-Centered Design Matters.” Wired, Conde Nast, 7 Aug. 2015, www.wired.com/insights/2013/12/human-centered-design-matters/#start-of-content.

“What Is Human-Centered Design?” Design Kit, www.designkit.org/human-centered-design.

     Design is an important element of everyday things. It can be found anywhere and is part of the process of any project, whether it being a website, logo, buildings or even a chair. With design, comes efficiency and it allows the user to use the product to its most potential. Design thinking is when a designer understands what customers and users want in a product and uses a process of thinking, understanding and implementing in order to build an outcome of what is wanted. Design thinking is needed to practically deliver a message, but also done in a way that is creative.  

     Design thinking is a process and can be a difficult process, nonetheless. The designer must think of ways to satisfy the needs of the client, but also in ways to satisfy the needs of design. An open mind is needed in order to reach a goal of the best, successful outcome. Design thinking is important because it brings together what the buyer wants and what is available. It is a challenge though, as many first ideas can be shot down. When a designer allows ideas to be shot down and critiqued, they have a better chance of taking feedback and applying it to the works ultimately creating a better platform for everyone. In the article “What is Design Thinking and Why is it so Popular?”, by Rikke Dam and Teo Siang, it is explained that “Design Thinking offers us a means of digging that bit deeper; it helps us to do the right kind of research and to prototype and test our products and services so as to uncover new ways of improving the product, service or design”, (Dam and Siang). It can be difficult to come up with ideas that haven’t been around yet, but the challenge is what makes the designer all that better at what they can deliver. 

     There are five parts to design thinking; empathy, define, ideate, prototype, and test, but there is no linear way to approach design. It is a back and forth process and communication with feedback and design changes. As explained by knct lab, in the article “The Five Steps of Design Thinking”, Empathy involves “identifying the molecules that make up your target audience, getting under their skin and finding out what they value, what they want and how they look at the world”. Communication and knowing what the audience wants is the first, and probably most important step in order to create a successful outcome. Keeping in mind what is wanted gives the designer some parameters to work with, and help narrow down options, which could either be beneficial or a disadvantage. Having the constant feedback in my Imaging 1 course on my pictogram systems with my peers allowed me to see past ideas I had fallen in love with too early, and improve my work for the better of everyone else, while still satisfying my interests. Bringing up communication, and knocking down any walls I have up for an idea honestly brought ideas into my work I wouldn’t have thought of before. 

     A successful design means more success brought to the company, or yourself. Managing to convey the client’s message in a way that pleases the designer as well creates a positive outcome and leads to innovation. With more design thinking, a designer is allowed to create a flourishing service as every little component to the design is well thought out and taken with care. The design thinking process can be sketches, thumbnails, planning, lists, etc... Anything that can help make the design better and communicating a message well is encouraged. In “Design Thinking as a Strategy for Innovation” written by Linda Naiman, she explains that “while learning to be a good designer takes years, you can think like a designer and design the way you lead, manage, create and innovate. Design begins with setting a strategic intention. If you are mapping out a strategy, you are designing”. No matter the process or planning, you are design thinking and improving your final project. 

    Design thinking is an important process that helps build relationships with clients by taking in their considerations and implementing them into designs that convey the messages they want to convey. Having an open mind with that communication allows you to make changes to what you have, which builds more potential for the design to come out the best it can. All planning and refining, and the most one can do to improve their work is all considered design thinking. Following what is needed in a creative way with a process of working back and forth will lead to more of a successful design and end product, which will open doors for more opportunities to come along the designer’s way and have the chance to improve their work and build their skills. 

Works Cited

Dam, Rikke, and Teo Siang. “What Is Design Thinking and Why Is It So Popular?” The Interaction Design Foundation, 2019, www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/what-is-design-thinking-and-why-is-it-so-popular.

Naiman, Linda. “Design Thinking as a Strategy for Innovation.” Creativity at Work, Creativity at Work, www.creativityatwork.com/design-thinking-strategy-for-innovation/.

In this, I will pair the first letters of my name with objects that match the shape of letter. One will be of the Serif font and the other will be of a Sans Serif font. It’ll create a connection between letterform/type with real world objects to show that the art of letterform can appear anywhere.

Final outcome for Imaging 1302 Project 1: Pictogram Systems

Roughs for Imaging 1302 Project 1: Pictogram Systems

Thumbnails for Imaging 1302 Project 1: Pictogram Systems