Week 02 - Origination

Class Format

The class this week began with a review of week one. The emphasise being to ensure homework (this blog) is getting done and that the required reading had been purchased. This consisted of an open discussion and a brief quiz on the introduction and first chapter of 'The Laws of Simplicity'. This was followed by a group exercise and a presentation about the IDEO 'Deep Dive' project.

 

Group Exercise

Reading Quiz

Question time: answer the following questions as succinctly as possible.

• What does the acronym SHE mean according to the book?
  - Shrink, Hide and Embody.
• In your words define ‘humanist technologist’
  - I believe Maeda's use of this term refers to a balance between a humanist and technologist approaches. I found a paraphrased quote which shows this. I shall follow this thread a bit further .
• How can you apply the notion of reduce to your own design process? (give a specific example)
  - Recently while contemplating the layout of my online portfolio I decided to reduce the on screen elements by making the navigation bar my header (similar to the Apple landing screen). This effectively deletes the header from the layout.
• From what you have read in Chapter 1, explain the relationship between complexity and simplicity (give 3 specific examples from the book OR your own experiences)
  - In the introduction Maeda spoke briefly about this in relation integrated circuitry, which as I mentioned in my previous post, I felt required further elucidation and am expecting later in the book. Specifically in chapter he is speaking about 
• REFLECT on, and update your answers in your blog, outside of class
  - Further to the question about 'humanist technologist' I found this article and this which may be the original source of the paraphrased quote. So it seems that Maeda is more about a 'less-tech' approach as opposed to a 'high-tech' or 'low-tech'. This is something in between which is closely related to his laws of simplicity. 'Less-tech' is however more flexible, it can mean the removal of extraneous technology to the given task, while it can also refer to technology which is not visible until required for a given task.

Thinking Game

Dividing into pairs we were tasked with communicating a simple process non-verbally. My partner was Keiran, my process was 'Go to the Toilet' and his was 'Build a House'. It was an interesting exercise.

Presentation

• What type of organisation is IDEO?
  - It is a design organisation focused on the process of ideation. It has a multi disciplinary and holistic approach which enables it to approach the design of anything from objects to systems.
• What are the different processes they employ in design research?
  - Collaboration, consultation, problem solving through spontaneous group discussion, prototyping and voting. 
• How did they define the range and scope of the problem?
  - Research of statistical data. For example; injury and theft rates.
• How could you apply their methodology to developing a concept for your exhibition piece?
  - I believe we did a bit of that today while looking for exhibition ideas. In particular, problem solving through spontaneous group discussion.
• Pick a class member from the other discipline and develop a test concept for presentation at 11:30am today.
  - With Cherill and Katelyn our presentation was primarily concerned with the idea for a cover for bicycle helmets. The cover was our solution to the problem of ugly and impersonal helmets. This cover would be made from a stretchable fabric, be removable and have appealing designs printed on them. This was primarily what we presented to class, the process by which we got to this imaginary product was a little more complicated. After initially presenting individual ideas to each other, Peter suggested that we either combine the divergent ideas or find a new problem. We opted for the later and settled on the problem above. The problem itself was found by first compiling a list of personal bug-bums. Each item on the list was then evaluated in terms of possible solutions and further the solutions were categorised in terms of viability. Research was continual throughout this process consisting solely of web searchs. Eventually the most attractive problem/solution presented itself in what for the most part seemed a fluid and speedy process. We also continued discussion and research after the class which I will detail in Reflection below.

 

Research

Video

David Kelly, a founding member of IDEO speaking at TED. Talking initially about 'Creative Confidence' and how it can be quickly eroded by by negative commentary. He then references Albert Bandura's treatment of phobias, 'Guided Mastery' and how it has an infectious positive effect upon general anxiety. This leads to the measurement of 'Self Efficacy' and how it is generally related to maintaining levels of general confidence. Concluding with a link, evidenced by his own experience in the design field, between confidence and creativity. I agree with this assertion and at ten minutes this was a well presented talk.


Something for fun - I like a bit of clever graffiti found on Enpundit.

Images

Found this on Colin Harman's website. He also had some interesting thoughts on collaboration, "All too often collaboration is limited to working together to produce something, when really it’s an opportunity create through learning from one another." (ref. Harman's website) - I thought this was a very positive way of looking at things.

 

Reflection

First up the reading for this week was the second chapter of 'The Laws of Simplicity'. Maeda positions 'Organisation' as the second law of simplicity. Essentially many anythings seem simpler when grouped. To break down the process of organisation he gave us another acronym, the 'Slip'. Sort, Label, Integrate and Prioritise. He also spoke about the importance of tables in regard to the display of data, I likened this to use of layout options in design - a well organised layout makes the information contained more comprehensible as related data is gathered together. I consider these to be contextual and visual methods of organisation. The psychological mode of organisation is then explained through the theory of 'Gestalt Psychology'. The principle of which is that the mind looks for the complete image of anything through a complex relationship between what it knows and what it sees. Maeda considers this as a blurring of difference which simplifies the complex and is a part of the human condition as it attempts to understand what it sees. "Squint to Open Your Eyes"(ref. 'The Laws of Simplicity'). It is about here where my views on simplification and by extension identification diverge as I detailed in this post. I liken the Gestalt approach to an analogous mode of identification, this is like this. What is missing for me in Maeda's position is binary perspective, this is not this. It is through a complex interaction between these two modes of thought that an identification or simplification is made by the human mind. In design terms it is equally important to create difference as it is to link the alike, especially when you are squinting.

In relation to the group exercise where we pitched our bicycle helmet cover to the class. Further research and discussion centred on possible markets, possible designs and the viability of production.

Week 01 - Origination

Class Format

The first hour of this lesson covered the logistics and format that each subsequent lesson would follow. Essentially this involves the first hour and a half with a quiz and class discussion, based loosely on the the required reading "The Laws of Simplicity" by John Maeda. A break is then followed by 'Idea generation / exhibition concept / group activities & critical discourse'. The expectation is then that we compile and collate further research and personal reflections with what we have garnered in class into the entries of this blog.

Group Exercises 

General Definitions

For this exercise we split into groups of two (the class has about ten people) to define the following;

• GROUP 1 : DEFINE "Concept"
  - Most modern theory agrees that concepts or ideas are abstractions of reality. Wikipedia.
• GROUP 2 : DEFINE "Origination"
  - Is where a concept makes its first movement toward actualisation, "... something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows..." - The Free Dictionary.
• GROUP 3 : DEFINE "Critical Discourse"
  - A critic is by definition external while discourse means to speak. Discussing ideas with others can inform and evolve your own ideas.
• GROUP 3 : DEFINE "Critical Thinking"
  - Refers to the concept of thought outside of your normal paradigm of thought. Many processes may inform this concept including randomisation, inversion and stream of consciousness (these are some of my favourite techniques and are by no means representative of what is an ambiguous and subjective topic). 
• GROUP 5 : DEFINE "Creative Thinking"
  - Combines all of the above is the short answer. The word 'creativity' means to make a new thing and so the literal definition of the term would be; to make a new thought. Although a more accurate definition would be; a new thought to make. Essentially creative thinking uses critical discourse and thinking to inform the physical creation of a concept paired with origination.

Exhibition Definition

Individual research followed by group discussion.

• What is an Exhibition?
  - A public or private showing of artwork.
• What venues would be suitable?
  - A public or private gallery or any other surface you may consider appropriate.
• What media could I use?
  - What media do you have? You can seriously use any media. There is only one don't - try not to use them all. In fact, be specific and be good with it - punters dig that.
• Who are the stake-holders?
  - Artists, curators, gallery owners, institutions (governmental, authoritative, educational and private), the general public, sponsors, friends, family and concerned pets.
• What resources are needed?
  - Primarily a lot time. Secondarily some money and thirdly a bunch of more time.
• How do I promote it?
  - Mailing lists, posters, viral marketing, random stickers, weird lights in the sky and special pants.
• Where can I get more info on exhibitions?
  - A gallery owner, curator, art collector, fellow artist or the interwebs.

Sources of Information

Group discussion and lecturer direction.

• What are the top 5 search engines?
  - Google, Bing, Yahoo, Ask and Aol.
• What is the benefit of using different search engines?
  - Different search algorithms yield different results.
• What alternatives are there to search engine use?
  - Blogs, forums/discussion boards, industry specific websites, libraries, conversation with like minded individuals.
• What are some of the ways to word your web searches?
  - The use of inverted commas with a phrase or term narrows search parameters. You could also use some of these.
• Reference methods: see Visual Diary Specs / Showreel Specs.
  - I must have been distracted by my blog formatting when we covered this in class. Regardless, according to the Unit Information, "All quoted text must be in inverted commas, followed by the reference link".

Research

Video

John Maeda (required reading) about his influences, motivation and goals at Fora.tv. John seems like a nice guy and I can really identify with his philosophy. I have long been a proponent of the KISS principle - Keep it Simple, Stupid. This may be (ironically) an over simplification of Maeda's work, but it serves as an effective mantra when approaching a new project.

Images

These images of and by John Maeda were sourced here, from his book "The Laws of Simplicity" and here.

Reflection

I am looking forward to this semester for a reason that I had not expected - working with other people. This is of course an integral aspect of any design practice. Today I found Peter Houtmeyers mention of a SWOT analysis in relation to critical discourse/thinking insightful and useful. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The reading this week was the introduction and first chapter of "The Laws of Simplicity". The chapter covered the first law of reduction through the process of 'SHE' - Shrink, Hide and Embody. I found Maeda easy to read which I suspect is his intention, a complex tome on the topic of simplicity would be simply contradictory. I thought it was a bit of a stretch when he illustrated his point by finding the letters of a word in another word, for example the word 'pity' in 'simplicity' - I hope he does not do that too much. I was also not entirely satisfied by his brief introduction to the complex within the simple in relation to integrated circuitry, but I expect he will further elucidate his view on this later in the book.