Thinking about DesignAn introduction to design and what design is really about

Bas Leurs february 15, 2010

b.l.f.leurs@hro.nl

Hogeschool RotterdamCommunication & Multimedia DesignUXD Minor

So, you want to be a designer?

Official Designers Dresscode

The real secret about designers...

This is what real designers wear at night

KABK - The HagueRoyal Academy of Fine Arts Graphic & Typographic Design1992-1996

What’s good about art school?

It’s one big laboratory

One quote from one of my teachers

“That you will fail is inevitable, so when you do fail... you’d better fail hard!”

laboratory

According to most design educators (at art schools): design is a mystery, and it should remain a mystery.

hans kazan

When uneducated amateurs start designing, this world becomes a post-apocalyptic place.But this ‘romantic’ perspective leads to a problem...

apocalypse

Visual Design

Taxonomy of Visual Design

Theory

Methods

Media

Promotion

Digital

Tools

Photoshop

IllustratorIndesign

Sketching

Websites

Desktop

Mobile

Posters

Signage Wayfinding

MapsInformation graphics

Dataviz

AdsBrochures

Magazines

Gestalt

Ergonomics

Forms

Games

User interfaces

Communication

Rhetorics

Semiotics

Aesthetics

Legibility

Readibility

Ergonomics

Visual perception

Golden section

Format

Horizontal

Vertical

Baseline

Consistency

Coherency

Grouping

Flexibility

Modularity

HierarchyEmphasis

Balance

Symmetry

Asymmetry

Rotation

Juxaposition

CroppingRepitiion

Proportion

Rythm

Scale

Perception

Books

Newspapers

Editorial

Principles

Psychology

Models

HistoryAffordances

Negative space

Information

Philosophy

System

IdentityLogo

Style guide

Artefacts

Structure

Transformation

Branding

Contrast

Abstraction

Abstraction

InversionSubtract

AdditionDeduction

Induction DivergenceConvergence

Digital

Analog

Conceptual

ElementsPhotographs

Icons Symbols

Illustrations

Metaphors

Idioms

Pictograms

Opacity

Tint

Subtractive

Intensity

Temperature

Additive

Type design

Grid systems

Organic

DotsLines

Geometric

Random

Forms

Images

By Bas Leurs (b.l.f.leurs@hro.nl), version 0.3 (january 12, 2010)

Typography

Textures

Colour

Style

Content

Layout

CompositionGrid

Critics

But design isn’t just aesthetics...

What is ‘design’

anyways?...

Noun, verb, process and product?

Decision making in the face of uncertainty, with high penalties for errorAsimow, 1962

The imaginative jump from present facts to future possibiliesPage, 1966

Design is the practical application of science, art and creativity to create something useful and attractiveBeltagui, et al (2008)

John Chris JonesDesign MethodsSeeds of human future1970

“All one can say with certainty is that society, or the world, is not the same as it was before the new design appeared.”

But there is also the ultimate definition...

Design is to initiate change in man-made things

BuildingsProducts

Markets

InstitutionsProcesses

OpinionsCommunication systems

LawsUrban areas

Public Services

Festivities

Transportation

Social networks

BrandsInterfaces

ExperiencesFood

The ultimate definition of design by John C. Jones (1970)

Think about the effects of your decisions

Immediate Short term Long term

trafic jam smog

“If we can design our way into difficulty, we can design our way out.”John Thackara (In the Bubble, 2005)

toyota prius

If your design needs to be futureproof, then make it extremely simple

Design bricks, not houses

Why not build cathedrals anymore?Look ahead, and think about how things are after three generations.

sagrada familia lego

Apparently, the future is what makes design so complicated...

But the real problem with design, is the problem itself...

Design problems are multidimensional, highly interactive, ill-structered... also refered to as ‘wicked’ problemsLawson

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

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

A design is never finished!

Scientists versus Designers

problem focused solution focused

Problem- and solutionspaces deconstructed

Design solutions can never be perfect and are often more easily criticised than created.Bryan Lawson (2006)

To summarise the previous 5 slides

Overall problem

Sub-problems

Overall solution

Sub-solutions

Generally speaking, it seems that the nearer you get to finishing a design the more accurately you are able to estimate how much work remains to be done.Bryan Lawson (2006)

So that is why

you always start

a few days

before a project

needs to be

finished!

I have a confession to make...

We were mistaken...

This is what we have taught you...

This is what I use to do... (first iteration)

This is how my design proces looks like... kind of...

But bear this in mind...

Iterate oftenBe a harsh critic to your workBut also dare to failReject (early) solutions when you discover them to be fundamentally flawedBe open to surprisesLove what you’re doing...

So... what to design?

Models of User Experience Design

The Elements of User ExperienceA basic duality: The Web was originally conceived as a hypertextual information space;but the development of increasingly sophisticated front- and back-end technologies hasfostered its use as a remote software interface. This dual nature has led to much confusion,as user experience practitioners have attempted to adapt their terminology to cases beyondthe scope of its original application. The goal of this document is to define some of theseterms within their appropriate contexts, and to clarify the underlying relationships amongthese various elements.

Jesse James Garrettjjg@jjg.net

Visual Design: graphic treatment of interfaceelements (the "look" in "look-and-feel")

Information Architecture: structural designof the information space to facilitateintuitive access to content

Interaction Design: development ofapplication flows to facilitate user tasks,defining how the user interacts withsite functionality

Navigation Design: design of interfaceelements to facilitate the user's movementthrough the information architectureInformation Design: in the Tuftean sense:designing the presentation of informationto facilitate understanding

Functional Specifications: "feature set":detailed descriptions of functionality the sitemust include in order to meet user needs

User Needs: externally derived goalsfor the site; identified through user research,ethno/techno/psychographics, etc.Site Objectives: business, creative, or otherinternally derived goals for the site

Content Requirements: definition ofcontent elements required in the sitein order to meet user needs

Interface Design: as in traditional HCI:design of interface elements to facilitateuser interaction with functionalityInformation Design: in the Tuftean sense:designing the presentation of informationto facilitate understanding

Web as software interface Web as hypertext system

Visual Design: visual treatment of text,graphic page elements and navigationalcomponents

Concrete

Abstract

time

Conception

Completion

FunctionalSpecifications

ContentRequirements

InteractionDesign

InformationArchitecture

Visual Design

Information DesignInterface Design Navigation Design

Site ObjectivesUser Needs

User Needs: externally derived goalsfor the site; identified through user research,ethno/techno/psychographics, etc.Site Objectives: business, creative, or otherinternally derived goals for the site

This picture is incomplete: The model outlined here does not account for secondary considerations (such as those arising during technical or content development)that may influence decisions during user experience development. Also, this model does not describe a development process, nor does it define roles within auser experience development team. Rather, it seeks to define the key considerations that go into the development of user experience on the Web today.

task-oriented information-oriented

30 March 2000

© 2000 Jesse James Garrett http://www.jjg.net/ia/

The problem with Garrett’s model?

It’s information oriented

What about tasks (ATM), and immersion (games)?

George Olsen

(Interaction by Design)

User Experience

Design according

to Dan Saffer

Functional Expressive

Physical

Symbolic

Rational, objective Emotive, subjective

Tangible

Intangible

Functional Expressive

Physical

Symbolic

Rational, objective Emotive, subjective

Tangible

Intangible

High penalty for errors Low penalty for errors

Functional Expressive

Physical

Symbolic

Rational, objective Emotive, subjective

Semiotics

Branding

Visual arts

Sculptures

Interior design

Industrial components

Ergonomics

Layout of a factory

Cognitive science

Tangible

Intangible

Craftwork

UXD@CMD

Functional Expressive

Physical

Symbolic

Rational, objective Emotive, subjective

Tangible

Intangible

UXDFunctional Expressive

Physical

Symbolic

Rational, objective Emotive, subjective

Social networks

Tangible interaction

Tangible

Intangible

Interactive environmentsOffice applications

INTE

RACT

ION

INTERACTION INTERACTION

TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY

T

ECHN

OLOGY

products / artefacts / environments brands / organisations / companies

human

humans

INTE

RACT

ION

INTERACTION INTERACTION

TECHNOLOGY TECHNOLOGY

T

ECHN

OLOGY

products / artefacts / environments brands / organisations / companies

human

humans

social networks

social sciencessocial interaction

communication theory

co-creation

experience design

service design

brand experience

brand design

(visual) interface design

information design

information architecture

human factors usability engineering

interaction design design research

social cohesion

brand management

corporate identities

So, you (still) want to be a designer?

As a designer, it’s important to...Be creativeBe curiousHave empathy (for your users)Be a harsh critic to yourself and other designersUse your imagination (sketching, scenario’s)Rely on your gut feeling

‘What-if’ scenario’s

Need to know more? Check these books...

Find more on my Shelfari: www.shelfari.com/leursism/

How Designers ThnkBryan Lawson

Understanding DesignKees Dorst

What Designers KnowBryan Lawson

Engineering Design MethodsNigel Cross

Designerly ways of knowingNigel Cross

Design MethodsJohn C. Jones