Tori

“The Future for Design is +” by Christian Bason highlighted the potential for design thinking if it is used with human senses, visualization, and shaping the future. This is using design as an active force. In the “Uncovering the design philosophy of Lu Yongzhong” he points out the need for using all human senses and designing with that in mind versus looking at a quick fix. The article “Improving Food sovereignty thanks to Design Thinking” proved how useful different research techniques are in finding the root of the problem, to then solve it. To name some of their techniques they used personas, user journey, and a problem statement. These avenues revealed the major pain points giving the team information they can work with to improve the problem of food sovereignty. In the future, I am excited to bring design thinking into my career. I already enjoy going through the process in everyday life when I communicate with my peers.

A book I always seem to find so much insight in is “The Shape of Design” by Frank Chimero. He points out how ideas are like gifts. This is framed in such a giving mentality, which I find powerful. He goes on to say, ”Like a gift, design requires movement; the work must be shared, the ideas must move.” With these gifts they must include a piece of educating the new owner of the gift, hopefully leading to a greater appreciation. He also talks about how a designer can enter flow describing it as, ”no logical end to the amount of effort, time, and attention we put into it.” “Open IDEO: Design Thinking Challenges: Top Ideas” offered multiple solutions to the “Healthy Bones Healthy Aging Challenge.” There was one solution that received more comments, The Morning Click. There idea was easily communicated through the live prototypes and by leaving an option for feedback and further conversations. The “Total Economic Impact of IBMs Design Thinking Process” mentioned how important employee training is, the financial impact by investing more money in the training programs. They do so by allocating resources early on for training purposes and encouraging mistakes in a safe space, minimizing risk in the long-term.

For week 8 I found insight in the Design Bootleg POV when it mentioned to “make sure your POV flows sensically (so a stranger could comprehend it)” which is powerful because it touches on the importance of understanding others. To show how much you understand of one group or community, being able to vocalize it in a way random, non-connected people can comprehend. Design is Storytelling focused on color and it’s associations. There are times where I forget that and this book reminded me how important it is. Even my example of associating the color of the candle with the scent “strawberry fields.” What kind of color comes to mind off the top of your head? For me, berry red! Even that name has its own association. I might not even be thinking of the same shade as you reading this!

This week I found tons of insight through “The Shape of Design” chapter 9 by Frank Chimero. He Had multiple quotes I focused on. The first one being, “Design doesn’t need to be delightful for it to work, but that’s like saying food doesn’t need to be tasty to keep us alive.” This resonated with me because it reminds me that something can serve a purpose while also being beautiful or fulfilling in other aspects. This not only fulfills the goal but can give the customer a sense of feeling understood by the designer, a powerful but not easy message to convey. The other highlight this week is prototyping. In “Design Thinking: Get Started Prototyping” they focus on rapid prototyping. This allows the client to see the outcome and effects of maybe say a product. This gives clients a sense of comfort. Prototyping is a power step in the design process that opens new ways of adding or subtracting to a project.

Week 6! Quickly going through the term. I looked into Chapter 6 of “The Shape of Design” by Frank Chimero where he mentions adapting to change. To me this is life advice as well as design related. It means being open-minded to new ideas and point of views without disregarding it at first glance. This week I watched the TedTalk “What a world without prisons could look like” by Deanna Van Buren. I focused on this a lot because it reaches a value of community that is so priceless. I haven’t ever had to consider prisons or their function simply as a building. Deanna Van Buren poses the crowd to think “what a world without prisons could look like.” And after watching the TedTalk “Weird, or just different?” by Derek Sivers his point supports her idea even more. I loved looking at this week's information because it goes above and beyond the process of design but touches on how impactfully powerful design can be.

“A train station that doesn’t create a lust for exploration is flawed, just as a cathedral that doesn’t inspire awe is a failure”(The Shape of Design). I love this concept. I have felt what it is like to be in a cathedral and be taken to a different mental space. It’s transcending. Who wouldn’t want to create a space, product, service, etc. that gives such an emotional rush? I hope I can keep that thought and feeling within my own projects. When beginning a project I start with concepts in my head and sometimes out of pure excitement towards it I will exclaim out loud to myself. “The point of speaking, and likewise creating, is to have someone there to receive” (The Shape of Design). Personally, I talk to myself more so then I like to admit, so this piece of the article was rather comforting because it goes on to highlight the importance of processing. I just happen to talk mine out sometimes. Nearing the end of this reflection, the reading about personas motivated me to strive for a new level of understanding. Making personas influences the empathy piece of the project. Finalizing the empathy assignment, I am assessing myself in how well I am considering their point of view? Am I missing a piece and need to simplify?

I wasn’t extremely excited by the readings this week but there were some areas of interest I highlighted. The idea of coming up with a multitude of ideas, simply brainstorming, sounded so exciting to me. Especially the card game The Thing from the Future because it adds such a fun, inviting way to come up with fresh, never before seen concepts. The other thing I enjoyed was the power of body language. Technology has provided an easier way for maybe long distance communication but there will always be a lack of actually seeing the person in front of you. Another focus I looked at was the idea of questioning everything to further push the idea of reaching “magic.”

Week two reflection! This week I really focused on beauty. I really enjoyed chapter two of “The Shape of Design” by Frank Chimero because he focused on this innate human need to be a craftsmen or apply beauty to things. Not just stopping at the point of completely a product that does the job, taking it one step further to make it pleasing to the eye. This made me consider what is beauty? A question that has been around forever. I considered landscape painters and their ability to capture a place. Deriving beauty from nature. But some went steps further and would romanticize it. They would create beautiful pieces of work but was it a fraud because it wasn’t entirely factual? The painting does the job, provides viewing pleasure, but did the painter lie or just add that extra cherry on top? I enjoy both sides of this coin so it is hard for me to make a judgment call but it’s fun to consider.

Beginning of the term, coming in with fresh motivation and ideas. That’s what this week in the cards focuses on. What is the purpose, the why, as to why I am here? Why am I working on this? The first thing off my head to answer that is education, because I believe in it. Why in this class? Because I have loved being creative, doodling, journaling, since I was young. I want to hold onto that. I found the TEDtalk by David Kelley “How to build your creative confidence” particularly interesting because it reminds me to keep creating what brings me joy rather than limiting myself because of other people’s opinions. The overarching theme is thinking of others within a balance, finding your creative purpose and confidence.

The quote by Elizabeth Gilbert, ”Stop wearing your backbone where your backbone should be” resonates with me because I am such a dreamer. I love being in that state of mind of what if and what could happen. It can be fun for a while until you get to a point where you need to buckle down and get into the grit of it all.

           Here is to the last couple weeks of school!

           I have always tried to stay informed with the news and all the things of life but not well enough. I am trying a different route for this by getting a new app called theSkimm. It fills you in super quick of all the new and important news. I am hoping it can spark new thoughts and make me a better citizen. Cheers to showing up and staying informed.

           I also added my new favorite people I am following. The colors and art they show is beautiful and inspiring.

           This was family weekend and I had so many lovely women come visit me. This leads me to my card about strong leaders everywhere. There are those traditional women we look up to but also people our age or younger who can inspire us. This even goes into why the network is important. My family and I went to a brunch and made connections with other people. These interactions are priceless. Last week I focused on leadership, summer jobs, preparation, and value from events. Summer is so close and I could not be more excited.