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.