Design (Code-830) Class XII - Study Material PDF

STUDY MATERIAL DESIGN (CODE-830) CLASS -XII SESSION: 2019-20 PART-B 1  UNIT – 1 SESSION: DESIGN THINKING Slide 2 - Link 1 What is Design? A common misconception is that design is merely making things pretty. It‘s true, there...

STUDY MATERIAL DESIGN (CODE-830) CLASS -XII SESSION: 2019-20 PART-B 1  UNIT – 1 SESSION: DESIGN THINKING Slide 2 - Link 1 What is Design? A common misconception is that design is merely making things pretty. It‘s true, there is an element of design that is purely aesthetics, but it‘s not inclusive of everything that design is. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the things that design is: Design is all around us. It impacts the way objects and environments function. It is something that is executed by everyone, including you, even if you've never considered yourself a designer. You make design decisions all the time, at school or work and in your personal life. Every choice you make to solve problems is a design decision. The way you get ready, by brushing your hair, then having a coffee, and finally brushing your teeth, is a design decision—an intentional choice to design your morning in a particular way. This might have developed out of the way toothpaste was making your coffee taste and the coffee staining your teeth. You solved these problems at some point by ordering your routine so that coffee came before teeth brushing. Design is problem-solving. Signage added to a door to indicate if it‘s opened via push or pull is fundamentally helpful, right? A better design would be to make the door's direction intuitive; having a handle on the pull side and a flat area to push against on the other, with or without labels. But design isn't just the visual indication of which way the door swings. Deciding that the door opens when pushed from the inside, in case of an emergency, is a design decision and is probably the most critical consideration. It‘s not just the obviousness of which way the door swings, but the consideration as to the best direction for the door to open. If you're a door designer, for example, the problem you are solving for would be: we need to make doors safer. The solution of allowing a door to be pushed open from the inside, especially during an emergency, does solve that problem; and doing it with an intuitive, beautiful push plate on the inside of the door makes it an elegant solution to the problem. Design is an act of listening, empathizing, and acting on that information. Hearing our customers and their needs is a way that we can best ensure that our designs are solving the right problems. The solutions we're creating are addressing the needs of real people—solving problems that they might otherwise be frustrated by. The best way for anyone in the design discipline to create a product or service that actually addresses a person‘s needs is by listening and understanding their problems in the first place. Many products are built without listening to or consulting consumers, which usually ends badly. Intercom, a company that offers customer support tools, said this best: 2 If you were a chef wondering if customers are enjoying your new soup recipe, how would you find out? It‘s not rocket science. In an ideal world, it‘s best to ask people who either use your solution or would consider using it what they think both before and after presenting them with your idea. This way, you can get feedback for consideration while you‘re still working on it—before it‘s too late to implement. Design is storytelling A good story has a distinct beginning, middle, and end; a mapped out journey for a viewer to explore and spend time encountering on their own. When reading a book or watching a movie you progress through the story in an order that hopefully makes sense, and experience it as it unfolds. As your customer progresses through your app, website, infographic, three-dimensional world, etc. they are experiencing your story. This is what User Experience, or UX, design is; and is a part of the tools you have available to help people understand what problem you‘re solving, as well as how to interact with your creation. How someone moves through a physical space is similar to this: they are presented with visual information, and from that, they are choosing how to proceed next. You could encourage someone to move through a building with navigational signs, or more subtle elements, like architecture that draws them in on their own. Your customer may have an adverse experience and leave if they get confused (closing your app) or a negative experience that has them running out the door if something scares them (deleting your app from their device). People use digital products in unexpected ways, so it‘s important to best guide them in the ways that we‘ve built them to be used. By actively guiding our customers, we‘re able to help them have a great experience and ultimately get the most out of our products. Writing is core part of the design process that should be taken into consideration. Spelling mistakes are as much an error of the designer as they could be for a copywriter or other content creator. Since design is not just how your creation looks, but how accessible it is to your audience, the clearness of the words on the page matter as much as your font choices. More on creating access and being inclusive in the Inclusion lesson. You may be asking: why am I being told that design is about writing and storytelling? Consider the impact of a sentence with spelling mistakes in an app about healthcare offerings or on your bank‘s website. It‘s vital that people trust both of those services and a poorly written sentence, or worse, a poor experience using the product has real-world, adverse effects on how you feel about both the brand and its products. Another consideration to keep in mind is that new design technologies and trends are always appearing. Understanding and leveraging a fundamental like storytelling will better prepare you for new types of designing, such as the latest trends in chatbots and augmented reality. Design is function, then form It‘s not just making stuff pretty—that is often a consequence of functioning well and offering a great experience for your customers/audience. 3 Steve Jobs said, Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like, people think it's this veneer—that the designers are handed this box and told, 'Make it look good!' That's not what we think design is. It's not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. To go back to our push/pull door example, a clear indicator of how to use a door can be beautiful while being functional, be it an ornate handle or art deco typography. The use of well-crafted beauty can help accomplish your goals of indicating the direction a door opens, and also becomes aesthetically pleasing, adding to the overall interior design or architectural narrative of a space. Creating the best solution for your customers‘ problems often results in a product that is pleasant and enjoyable to use. Design is aesthetics I know, I just said it‘s all about function. But, there are lots of positive consequences of solving a problem, telling a story, and making something that functions well: it often turns out being simple and easy to use. There is always still an opportunity here to visually polish it further. These are the extra steps it takes to win over your competition and to grow your product in the long run sustainably. If all bank accounts theoretically hold your money, then how are they different? Easier to use, and dare I say fun? There is also a phenomenon known as the Aesthetic-Usability Effect, which is a perception that people believe a more aesthetically pleasing product is easier to use than a less- aesthetic design—even if it‘s not easier to use. This is similar to attractiveness bias, which is often referenced when discussing the United States presidential election of John F. Kennedy v. Richard Nixon. Every design begins with the same essential elements—points, lines, and shapes. Similarly, even the most complex designs can be reduced to these vital pieces. We believe that great design is one where these pieces are used efficiently together. For instance, in the early days of designing Figma, we often talked about what tools you need to create modern designs for screens. We realized that the toolset does not have to be large if the tools are carefully selected and work together well. With a small set of functions (like the Vector Network tool or a Frame), designers can create a lot of different things to form sophisticated means of expression. The same is true for communications design. You can create much of our designed world by using a small set of elemental shapes to build things of high complexity. Although the use of primary shapes and colors was famously promoted at the Bauhaus school as fundamental to design, these forms have been part of the language of design for hundreds of years. The famous New York Subway Map and signage is an excellent example of this in action. Before its total design overhaul in the 1960s, the New York Subway system was an exercise in confusion with hundreds of signs inconsistently designed even within a single station. 4 It wasn‘t until 1965 when graphic designers Massimo Vignelli and Bob Noorda took on the job of building the subway a visual identity with usability at its core, that it became much easier to navigate the system—thanks to well-considered signage and iconography. The pair focused on building a system that solved a problem, consistently, and was aesthetically pleasing at the same time. The result is the same design system you may know today. The designers created a 182- page manual for the New York City Transit Authority that outlines all the ways the design should and should not be used—and it remains one of the most iconic bodies of work in the world. Designs often have a visual element or existence, and the visual embodiment of a design is, ideally, pleasant to look at and experience. Often, if you set out to design your product in a way that is holistically focused on ease of use, aesthetics will follow. Design is asking questions As a designer, you must ask ―Why?‖ Maybe not as much as an inquisitive four-year-old, but close. Who are we designing for? What are the problems that they face? How can we go about solving those problems? Why might our solution not work? What can we do about that? Why was a decision made by our team or company? There are lots of questions to be asked before, during, and after a product is created or redesigned. Question your coworkers and your customers. Stay curious. Design is practicing Being a designer entails spending time building your experience level. You are not going to be great on day one. That's okay! It's important to keep doing it, you will get better. Ira Glass, talks about the creative gap between knowing something looks good, but not being able to create it. This is a valuable step in your journey to become a great designer. Understanding what works, what looks good to you, and building toward it. Ira Glass's advice for beginner creatives:...we get into it because we have good taste. But it's like there is a gap. That for the first couple years that you're making stuff, what you're making isn't so good. Okay? It's not that great. It's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not quite that good. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, your taste is still killer. And your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you're making is kind of a disappoint to you. You know what I mean? A lot of people never get past that phase, a lot of people at that point, they quit. And the thing I would just like say to you with all my heart is that most everybody I know who does interesting creative work, they went through a phase of years where they had really good taste, they could tell what they were making wasn't as good as they wanted it to be. They knew it fell short. It didn't have this special thing that we wanted it to have. And the thing I would say to you is, everybody goes through that. If you go through it, if you're going through it right now, if you're just getting out of that phase; you gotta know it's totally normal and the most important possible thing you could do is do a lot of work. 5 Perseverance and discipline will make you an expert. Keep building your skills — and your portfolio — by solving problems for people through design. Summary As you might have realized by now, design is not easy to define. It is the culmination of a number of disciplines that come together to create something for people to use, and often overlaps into other areas like writing, or even development, along the way. Much like art, many things could be considered design to the point where it is somewhat subjective. While something could be considered art when it is challenging for a viewer to comprehend, a design would be regarded as unsuccessful. Everyone is a designer, and you can make high-impact design decisions without realizing you‘re a designer. When you understand the impact of decisions not traditionally considered to be ‗design‘ it‘s easy to see why: When an engineer takes a shortcut and scrimps on performance, they need to understand how that damages the user experience. Likewise, when a designer pushes an engineer to make a change that affects performance, that engineer should help the designer make the best overall design decision — not just roll over and do what the designer asked. It‘s this type of respectful collaboration that makes great design happen. Daniel Burka Source: https://www.figma.com/resources/learn-design/what-is-design/ Unit – 1 – Slide 2 - Link 2 What is Design? Design is all around you What is your objective when starting a new product, business, or project? What is your objective when starting a new product, business, or project? In fact, a design refers to the plan for achieving that objective. Color, shape, technology, and function each are means of realizing this objective. It is because people always play a central role in design that it has the power to bring progress to society. We consider good designs to be things that truly enrich people‘s lives or have the potential to do so. Changing definitions of design The meanings of words change gradually with the times. The word ―design‖ is no exception. It‘s said that the word first came into widespread use at the start of the 20th century. Over roughly 100 years since then, the meaning of the word has changed gradually. Another characteristic of the word ―design‖ is the fact that it has different meanings to different people. For these reasons, the Japan Institute of Design Promotion (JDP), an organization intended to promote design in general and the organizer of the Good Design Award, felt the need to issue guidelines concerning our thinking about design. Accordingly, a brief description of our thinking about design is provided below. 6 Our thinking about design It‘s said that the word ―design‖ comes from the Latin word designare. Designare is said to have meant to draw a plan. For this reason, it is thought that the word design initially was used in this sense of a plan on paper. In fact, the characters used to write the word for design in Chinese have this meaning. In light of this historical background, one might think that anything planned on paper could be called design, but this would seem to leave out the most important subject of what is the essence, or the central feature, of contemporary design. Just what is central to design? After years of working with design, it appeared to us that the answer was ―people.‖ While we may refer to them as ―users‖ or by the lofty term ―society,‖ people always are a central concern when a designer plans something new. The designer asks him or herself the questions ―What do people need? What should I design for them?‖ We consider this to be the core that is of utmost importance to the contemporary definition of design. We consider design to consist of the series of processes of thinking constantly about people most of all, identifying objectives, and planning ways to achieve them. We believe that what is realized as a result of this process is one design solution. Design of products and services One topic that is brought up often these days about design concerns the design of products and services. Since we think of design as we defined it above, the Good Design Award accepts entries for both products and services. But sometimes we are asked if mixing the two does not lead to confusion. We‘d like to take this opportunity to spell out our guidelines on this subject. Products and services often are discussed in binary opposition to each other. This is true not only in design but in other areas as well. This reflects the binary opposition between tangibles and intangibles. But we believe that when talking about design it might be better to think of products and services in a slightly different way. In the case of design, we think that the difference between products and services is a difference of focus. A product is a means of achieving a service, and a service is an objective. We believe that this is the difference between products and services. For example, the Sony Walkman was a big hit around the world at one time. Viewed as a product, the Walkman was a portable music player, but beyond that one could discern the objective of being able to listen to music while walking around. That was the service. Providing the portable music player made it possible to achieve this service. This is how products and services are related. So what do you think the designers designed in this case? We believe that they designed both a product and a service. Or more accurately, we could interpret this as a case of using a product as a means of designing a service. When considering this example in screening of the Good Design Award, we would look first at the appropriateness of the service and then at the appropriateness of the product in light of that service. In other words, we believe that instead of separating products and services in design we should continue to look constantly at both, without regard for their tangible or intangible status, because the product itself is a means to an end. 7 The difference between design and engineering When discussing design, one topic that comes up often is the difference between design and engineering. Although this is a difficult question, we would like to state some simple guidelines here. The question often comes up of whether NANOPASS 33, a hypodermic needle for insulin injection that won the Good Design Grand Award in 2005, is an example of design or engineering. Often it is said that since this product can be described briefly as a pain-free hypodermic needle it should not be considered a case of design. However, the ultimate goal beyond the pain-free concept is the user. That is, the criteria for evaluation of a design are based on the user‘s point of view. Even development of an extremely thin hypodermic needle would not have achieved this goal if it still felt painful to the user, so that the topic that must be kept in mind at all times in developing such a product is what kind of form to use to eliminate pain. In other words, it can be described as a design in light of our definition of the term because the ultimate objective is the user. An example of the opposite case in which a work could not be said to be a design would be a computer CPU intended to deliver 1.25 times the processing speed of a previous model. Since its goal is merely to increase speed by 1.25 times, it does not qualify as design. While of course many users would benefit from the increased speed, as long as the sole objective is to increase speed it can be interpreted as not qualifying as a design. But this does not mean that any work for which the user is the ultimate objective is not a work of engineering. Such cases may be interpreted as being cases of both design and engineering. One point becomes clear when thinking about the topic from this point of view. It is that since the demarcation between what is and is not design is found in the purpose, or process, it is not possible to determine whether or not something is a design by looking at the finished product alone. Put another way, what the creators had in mind can be considered essential in judging whether an object qualifies as design. In the process of screening for the Good Design Award, applicants are asked to prepare numerous documents on subjects such as their intents and objectives. They also take part in screening interviews in which judges speak with them directly. This is because in screening a design it is essential to understand its goals and the process of how these goals were thought about and realized. Source: https://www.jidp.or.jp/en/about/firsttime/whatsdesign Slide 2 - Link 3 What is Design? Design involves finding solutions that fit the user, task, and context of use. Properly designed objects -- including software, tools, and web sites -- fit their context so well that they are easy to use and beneficial to the user. Design is: A discipline that explores the dialogue between products, people, and contexts. A process that defines a solution to help people achieve their goals. An artifact produced as the result of solution definition. 8 Design as a Discipline Design is a discipline with a long history and many branches or areas of specialty. The usability profession is primarily concerned with Interaction Design (IxD), a newer branch of design dedicated to defining the behavior of digital products and systems. More traditional branches of design include Industrial Design (ID), which focuses on optimizing the function, value and appearance of physical objects, and Graphic Design (GD), which has strong roots in graphic arts and print media, and focuses on bringing together the meaning and appearance of a product. All branches of design involve innovating a new "form" or object that fits well into the context in which it will be used (Alexander, 1970). Design as a Process There are established processes for interaction design in the context of a User-Centered Design (UCD) methodology. Designers must balance a variety of considerations, including the needs and goals of the users, the constraints imposed by the context of use, and the challenges that arise naturally from the interaction between humans and machines; to come up with solutions. Commonly used design methods include paper prototyping and cognitive walkthroughs. The design process is "iterative" meaning that proposed solutions are refined through repeated cycles of prototype evaluation. Design can occur on several different levels, which build on one another (Garrett, 2002). At a minimum, we can distinguish: Conceptual design is a basic foundation that defines the structure of the solution, including the functional elements of the product, their relationships and the system behavior. Conceptual design is the vital stage of the product creation that defines the success or failure of the product usability. Physical design is a more refined level that defines the aesthetics of the solution. This includes, for example language (and, to some extent, content) and branding. In contrast with conceptual design, physical design defines the success or failure of the product appeal. Design as an Artifact The design process results in producing design artifacts that feed the consequent stages of product development. Design artifacts include various system models, design specifications, style guides, and prototypes, including low-fidelity prototypes, such as sketches and wireframes, and high-fidelity prototypes, such as mockups and system demos. Achieving Usability Through Interaction Design Good, usable products never happen by chance. Rather, they are achieved through design that is based on an understanding of the natural physical, psychological, and emotional characteristics of human beings, their tasks and work environment; the constraints of the technology; and creating an interactive experience that best "fits" the context and enables the human users to be successful. Well-designed products are easier to use (and/or learn to use) and are more beneficial to the user than poorly designed ones. Good design can increase productivity, satisfaction, and user acceptance. Good design can also focus limited resources towards building products which satisfy the goals of the user and away from products and features which do not (Cooper, 1999). Finally, design can impact commercial success: a usable design can be a decisive factor in a competitive marketplace. 9 Source: https://www.usabilitybok.org/what-is-design Slide 2 - Link 4 (NPTEL Course) What is Design? Module 1 : What is Design Lecture 1 : Design Definition Greek Ceramics (plate 1A), ancient kitchenware from India (plate 1B), Japanese Tea Ceremony (plate 1C) and Java Puppet (plate 1D) all exhibit wide range of design applications from ancient period. Above products, display manifestations of their culture, heritage, and ethos to reflect their sentiment. In each case product expresses especial purpose and sentimental association. Design is common in each case however in each product design is representing very especial meaning for a very special community. Therefore, understanding the meaning of design is the most relevant issue before we discuss anything. Design is an art, which we can see, experience and interact with. Design implies a type of creativity that has purpose and executed in a systematic, innovative, and analytical manner to a solve problem. Design process works on the basis of predetermined needs to help in planning solution through physical display and functioning. Design reflects socio-political-cultural issues of the society. Design changes according to the taste of people. It is never dead. It keeps on growing and changing like organic substance depending on the social need and aspirations. It survives by changing and accommodating various other surrounding factors. Design reflects the energy, prosperity, aspiration, innovations and living conditions of people. Manifestations of design are the mirror of the society. There is a saying, ‗the chaotic road condition reflects the nature of a society.‘ The archeological finds from Indus Valley Civilization reflects the prosperity, growth and the life-style of the people of their time. The advanced technology, creativity and innovations of IDV Civilization amaze historians and archeologists even today. Every little or large items of IDV Civilization illustrates the taste, desire and rich heritage of their society. The ‗usability‘ of design reflects the desire and the functioning of the social fabrics. Design has the inbuilt aesthetic quality that surrounds us all the time. It reflects the principal, broadest, and most advanced form of human non-artistic activity that conforms to the laws of beauty. It embraces the preparation, production and existence of things manufactured by industry to meet the requirements of utility, convenience and beauty. 10 “Design is creative work whose goal is to determine the formal properties of manufactured goods, including both their external characteristics and most important, the functional and structural interrelations which turn the article into a single whole both from the point of view of producer and customer. The design is the world of objects created by man by means of industrial technology which meet the demands of the beautiful and the functional.” _ International Seminar on Design, Belgium 1964 Design Definition Design reflects discipline, ethics, and taste of a community and nation. Design activity can be one of the most important indicators of the social growth and economy. Design combines usefulness and meaning in the form of practical objects that can also reflect user‘s identities and aspirations through forms and patterns. Some of the workable and acceptable definition of the term ‗design‘- Design is the quest for simplicity and order; Design is the process of inventing artifacts that display a new physical order, organization, and form in response to function; Design is a statement of order and organization. Its goal is the quest for order among various segments or parts; Design is a conscious and intuitive effort directed toward the ordering of the functional, material, and visual requirements of a problem; Design implies intention, meaning, and purpose; The planning and patterning of any act toward a desired, foreseeable end constitutes the design process; Design is creative problem solving. ―Design is the creative work whose goal is to determine the formal properties of manufactured goods, including both their external characteristics, and most important, the functional and structural interactions which turns the article into a single whole both from the point of view of producer and consumer. Design is the world of the objects created by the man by means of Industrial technology which meets the demands of the beautiful and the laws of functional.‖ __ Industrial Seminar of Design, Belgium 1964 Source: https://nptel.ac.in/courses/107/104/107104078/ 11 Unit – 1 – Slide 30 - Link 1 What Is Design Thinking? A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide BY EMILY STEVENS, UPDATED ON MAY 16TH, 2019Length: 22 Minutes Design Thinking is both an ideology and a process, concerned with solving complex problems in a highly user-centric way. In this guide, we‘ll give you a detailed definition of Design Thinking, illustrate exactly what the process involves, and underline why it matters: What is the value of Design Thinking and in what contexts is it particularly useful? We‘ll also analyze the relationship between User Experience Design and Design Thinking and discuss two real-world case studies that show Design Thinking in action. All sound a little overwhelming? Don‘t worry–we‘ve broken the guide down into digestible chunks. 1. What is Design Thinking? Design Thinking is an approach used for practical and creative problem-solving. It is based heavily on the methods and processes that designers use (hence the name), but it has actually evolved from a range of different fields — including architecture, engineering and business. Design Thinking can also be applied to any field; it doesn‘t necessarily have to be design-specific. Design Thinking is extremely user-centric. It focuses on humans first and foremost, seeking to understand people‘s needs and come up with effective solutions to meet those needs. It is what we call a solution-based approach to problem-solving. What does this actually mean? Let‘s take a look. What’s the difference between Solution-Based and Problem-Based Thinking? As the name suggests, solution-based thinking focuses on finding solutions; coming up with something constructive to effectively tackle a certain problem. This is the opposite of problem-based thinking, which tends to fixate on obstacles and limitations. A good example of these two approaches in action is an empirical study carried out by Bryan Lawson, a Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield. Lawson wanted to investigate how a group of designers and a group of scientists would approach a particular problem. He set each group the task of creating one-layer structures from a set of coloured blocks. The perimeter of the structure had to use either as many red bricks or as many blue bricks as possible (we can think of this is as the solution, the desired outcome), but there were unspecified rules regarding the placement and relationship of some of the blocks (the problem or limitation). Lawson published his findings in his book How Designers Think, in which he observed that the scientists focused on identifying the problem (problem-based thinking) whilst the designers prioritized the need to find the right solution: ―The scientists adopted a technique of trying out a series of designs which used as many different blocks and combinations of blocks as possible as quickly as possible. Thus they tried to maximise the information available to them about the allowed combinations. If they could discover the rule governing which combinations of blocks were allowed, they 12 could then search for an arrangement which would optimise the required colour around the layout.‖ The designers, on the other hand: ―…selected their blocks in order to achieve the appropriately coloured perimeter. If this proved not to be an acceptable combination, then the next most favourably coloured block combination would be substituted and so on until an acceptable solution was discovered.‖ Lawson‘s findings go to the heart of what Design Thinking is all about: it‘s an iterative process which favours ongoing experimentation until the right solution is found. 2. What is the process of Design Thinking? As already mentioned, the Design Thinking process is progressive and highly user-centric. Before looking at the process in more detail, let‘s consider the four principles of Design Thinking as laid out by Christoph Meinel and Harry Leifer of the Hasso-Plattner-Institute of Design at Stanford University, California. The Four Principles of Design Thinking  The human rule: No matter what the context, all design activity is social in nature, and any social innovation will bring us back to the ―human-centric point of view‖.  The ambiguity rule: Ambiguity is inevitable, and it cannot be removed or oversimplified. Experimenting at the limits of your knowledge and ability is crucial in being able to see things differently.  The redesign rule: All design is redesign. While technology and social circumstances may change and evolve, basic human needs remain unchanged. We essentially only redesign the means of fulfilling these needs or reaching desired outcomes.  The tangibility rule: Making ideas tangible in the form of prototypes enables designers to communicate them more effectively. 13 The Five Phases of Design Thinking Based on these four principles, the Design Thinking process can be broken down into five steps or phases, as per the aforementioned Hasso-Plattner-Institute of Design at Stanford (otherwise known as d.school): Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test. Let‘s explore each of these in more detail. Phase 1: Empathise Empathy provides the critical starting point for Design Thinking. The first stage of the process is spent getting to know the user and understanding their wants, needs and objectives. This means observing and engaging with people in order to understand them on a psychological and emotional level. During this phase, the designer seeks to set aside their assumptions and gather real insights about the user. Learn all about key empathy-building methods here. Phase 2: Define The second stage in the Design Thinking process is dedicated to defining the problem. You‘ll gather all of your findings from the empathise phase and start to make sense of them: what difficulties and barriers are your users coming up against? What patterns do you observe? What is the big user problem that your team needs to solve? By the end of the define phase, you will have a clear problem statement. The key here is to frame the problem in a user-centered way; rather than saying ―We need to…‖, frame it in terms of your user: ―Retirees in the Bay area need…‖ Once you‘ve formulated the problem into words, you can start to come up with solutions and ideas — which brings us onto stage three. Phase 3: Ideate With a solid understanding of your users and a clear problem statement in mind, it‘s time to start working on potential solutions. The third phase in the Design Thinking process is where the creativity happens, and it‘s crucial to point out that the ideation stage is a judgement-free zone! Designers will hold ideation sessions in order to come up with as many new angles and ideas as possible. There are many different types of ideation technique that designers might use, from brainstorming and mind mapping to body storming (role-play scenarios) and provocation — an extreme lateral-thinking technique that gets the designer to challenge established beliefs and explore new options and 14 alternatives. Towards the end of the ideation phase, you‘ll narrow it down to a few ideas with which to move forward. You can learn about all the most important ideation techniques here. Phase 4: Prototype The fourth step in the Design Thinking process is all about experimentation and turning ideas into tangible products. A prototype is basically a scaled-down version of the product which incorporates the potential solutions identified in the previous stages. This step is key in putting each solution to the test and highlighting any constraints and flaws. Throughout the prototype stage, the proposed solutions may be accepted, improved, redesigned or rejected depending on how they fare in prototype form. You can read all about the prototyping stage of Design Thinking in this in-depth guide. Phase 5: Test After prototyping comes user testing, but it‘s important to note that this is rarely the end of the Design Thinking process. In reality, the results of the testing phase will often lead you back to a previous step, providing the insights you need to redefine the original problem statement or to come up with new ideas you hadn‘t thought of before. Learn all about user testing in this guide. Is Design Thinking a linear process? No! You might look at these clearly defined steps and see a very logical sequence with a set order. However, the Design Thinking process is not linear; it is flexible and fluid, looping back and around and in on itself! With each new discovery that a certain phase brings, you‘ll need to rethink and redefine what you‘ve done before — you‘ll never be moving in a straight line! 3. What is the purpose of Design Thinking? Now we know more about how Design Thinking works, let‘s consider why it matters. There are many benefits of using a Design Thinking approach — be it in a business, educational, personal or social context. First and foremost, Design Thinking fosters creativity and innovation. As human beings, we rely on the knowledge and experiences we have accumulated to inform our actions. We form patterns and habits that, while useful in certain situations, can limit our view of things when it comes to problem-solving. Rather than repeating the same tried-and-tested methods, Design Thinking encourages us to remove our blinkers and consider alternative solutions. The entire process lends itself to challenging assumptions and exploring new pathways and ideas. Design Thinking is often cited as the healthy middle ground of problem-solving — it is not steeped wholly in emotion and intuition, nor does it rely solely on analytics, science and rationale; it uses a mixture of both. Another great benefit of Design Thinking is that it puts humans first. By focusing so heavily on empathy, it encourages businesses and organizations to consider the real people who use their products and services — meaning they are much more likely to hit the mark when it comes to creating meaningful user experiences. For the user, this means better, more useful products that actually improve our lives. For businesses, this means happy customers and a healthier bottom line. 15 What’s a “wicked problem” in Design Thinking? Design Thinking is especially useful when it comes to solving ―wicked problems‖. The term ―wicked problem‖ was coined by design theorist Horst Rittel in the 1970s to describe particularly tricky problems that are highly ambiguous in nature. With wicked problems, there are many unknown factors; unlike ―tame‖ problems, there is no definitive solution. In fact, solving one aspect of a wicked problem is likely to reveal or give rise to further challenges. Another key characteristic of wicked problems is that they have no stopping point; as the nature of the problem changes over time, so must the solution. Solving wicked problems is therefore an ongoing process that requires Design Thinking! Some examples of wicked problems in our society today include things like poverty, hunger and climate change. 4. Design thinking in the workplace: How do Design Thinking, lean, and agile work together? Now we know what Design Thinking is, let‘s consider how it fits into the overall product design process. You may be familiar with the terms ―lean‖ and ―agile‖—and, as a UX designer, it‘s important to understand how these three approaches work together. What are lean and agile? Based on the principles of lean manufacturing, lean UX focuses on streamlining the design process as much as possible—minimizing waste and maximizing value. Some core tenets of lean UX are:  Cross-functional collaboration between designers, engineers, and product managers.  Gathering feedback quickly and continuously, ensuring that you‘re constantly learning and adapting as you go.  Deciding as late as possible and delivering fast, with less focus on long-term deliverables.  A strong emphasis on how the team operates as a whole. Lean UX is a technique that works in conjunction with agile development methods. Agile is a software development process that works in iterative, incremental cycles known as sprints. Unlike traditional development methods, agile is flexible and adaptive. Based on the Agile Development Manifesto created in 2001, agile adheres to the following principles:  Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.  Working software over comprehensive documentation.  Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.  Responding to change over following a plan. Combining Design Thinking with lean and agile Design Thinking, lean, and agile are often seen as three separate approaches. Companies and teams will ask themselves whether to use lean or agile or Design Thinking—but actually, they can (and should!) be merged for optimal results. Why? Because applying Design Thinking in a lean, agile environment helps to create a product development process that is not only user-centric, but also highly efficient from a business perspective. While it‘s true that each approach has its own modus operandi, there 16 is also significant overlap. Combining principles from each can be crucial in keeping cross-functional teams on the same page—ensuring that designers, developers, product managers, and business stakeholders are all collaborating on one common vision. So how do Design Thinking, lean, and agile work together? As Jonny Schneider, Product Strategy and Design Principal at Thought Works, explains: ―Design Thinking is how we explore and solve problems; Lean is our framework for testing our beliefs and learning our way to the right outcomes; Agile is how we adapt to changing conditions with software.‖ That‘s all well and good, but what does it look like in practice? As we‘ve learned, Design Thinking is a solution-based approach to exploring and solving problems. It focuses on generating ideas with a specific problem in mind, keeping the user at the heart of the process throughout. Once you‘ve established and designed a suitable solution, you‘ll start to incorporate lean principles—testing your ideas, gathering quick and ongoing feedback to see what works—with particular emphasis on cross-team collaboration and overcoming departmental silos. Agile ties all of this into short sprint cycles, allowing for adaptability in the face of change. In an agile environment, products are improved and built upon incrementally. Again, cross-team collaboration plays a crucial role; agile is all about delivering value that benefits both the end user and the business as a whole. Together, Design Thinking, lean, and agile cut out unnecessary processes and documentation, leveraging the contributions of all key stakeholders for continuous delivery and improvement. 5. What are the benefits of Design Thinking at work? As a designer, you have a pivotal role to play in shaping the products and experiences that your company puts to market. Integrating Design Thinking into your process can add huge business value, ultimately ensuring that the products you design are not only desirable for customers, but also viable in terms of company budget and resources. With that in mind, let‘s consider some of the main benefits of using Design Thinking at work:  Significantly reduces time-to-market: With its emphasis on problem-solving and finding viable solutions, Design Thinking can significantly reduce the amount of time spent on design and development—especially in combination with lean and agile.  Cost savings and a great ROI: Getting successful products to market faster ultimately saves the business money. Design Thinking has been proven to yield a significant return on investment; teams that are applying IBM‘s Design Thinking practices, for example, have calculated an ROI of up to 300% as a result.  Improves customer retention and loyalty: Design Thinking ensures a user- centric approach, which ultimately boosts user engagement and customer retention in the long term.  Fosters innovation: Design Thinking is all about challenging assumptions and established beliefs, encouraging all stakeholders to think outside the box. This fosters a culture of innovation which extends well beyond the design team.  Can be applied company-wide: The great thing about Design Thinking is that it‘s not just for designers. It leverages group thinking and encourages cross-team collaboration. What‘s more, it can be applied to virtually any team in any industry. 17 Whether you‘re establishing a Design Thinking culture on a company-wide scale, or simply trying to improve your approach to user-centric design, Design Thinking will help you to innovate, focus on the user, and ultimately design products that solve real user problems. 6. Design Thinking methodology in action: Case studies So we‘ve looked in quite some detail at the theory behind Design Thinking and the processes involved — but what does this look like in action? Let‘s explore some case studies where Design Thinking has made a huge real-world impact. Healthcare Case Study: How Design Thinking transformed the Rotterdam Eye Hospital Executives at the Rotterdam Eye Hospital wanted to transform the patient experience from the typically grim, anxiety-riddled affair into something much more pleasant and personal. To do this, they incorporated Design Thinking and design principles into their planning process. Here‘s how they did it: 18 Empathise First, they set out to understand their target user — patients entering the hospital for treatment. The hospital CEO, CFO, managers, staff and doctors established that most patients came into hospital with the fear of going blind. Define Based on their findings from the empathise stage, they determined that fear reduction needed to be a priority. Their problem statement may have looked something like the following: ―Patients coming into our hospital need to feel comfortable and at ease.‖ Ideate Armed with a deep understanding of their patients and a clear mission statement, they started to brainstorm potential solutions. As any good design thinker would, they sought inspiration from a range of both likely and unlikely sources. They looked to flagship airline KLM and supermarket chain Albert Heijn to learn about scheduling, for example, while turning to other medical organizations for inspiration on operational excellence. Prototype In the prototyping stage, the team presented the most promising ideas they had come up with so far to those in charge of caregiving at the hospital. These teams of caregivers then used these insights to design informal, small-scale experiments that could test a potential solution and see if it was worthy of wide-scale adoption. Test The testing phase consisted of running the aforementioned experiments and seeing if they took off. As Dirk Deichmann and Roel van der Heijde explain, the ―transition to formal adoption of these ideas tended to be more gradual. If an idea worked, sooner or later other groups would ask if they could try it too, and the best ideas spread organically.‖ The outcome By adopting a Design Thinking approach, the Rotterdam Eye Hospital were able to get to the heart of their users‘ needs and find effective solutions to fulfill them. In doing so, they have greatly improved the user experience: patient intake has risen 47%, and the hospital has since won several awards for safety, quality and design. Business Case Study: How Design Thinking helped financial service provider MLP regain consumer trust After the financial crisis hit, financial service provider MLP found that consumer trust was at an all-time low. They needed to re-engage with their target users and come up with new ways of building trust. In search of innovation, they decided to test out a Design Thinking approach. Here‘s what they learned: Empathise By focusing on their users and making a conscious effort to understand their needs first- hand, MLP learned that the assumptions they‘d been going on were not so accurate after all. As Thomas Freese, division manager for marketing at MLP, explains: ―We always used to speak to customers about the goals they want to achieve. But they do not want to commit to a certain goal, as they often do not know themselves what that is. Rather, they 19 want to talk about their ideas as it is more open and flexible regarding their financial planning.‖ Define With this newfound empathy for their users, MLP were able to reframe their mission statement. They knew that they needed to rebuild consumer trust, and that the way to do this would be to speak to the customer in their own language and become a more relatable brand. Ideate and Prototype During the ideate and prototype phases, they decided to experiment with a completely new image. Instead of the formal business attire typically associated with the financial sector, the MLP team members went out in casual clothing. They tested Lego prototypes and homemade posters in designated hotspots — including a university campus and train stations. Test By testing this new approach, they learned some extremely valuable lessons about their users and how to communicate with them. They found that even something as simple as dressing more casually had a huge impact in reducing the negative connotations associated with financial services. They also learned the value of asking open questions; rather than trying to sell their prototype, Design Thinking taught them to ask questions that focus on the user‘s needs. The Outcome Their first foray into Design Thinking proved to be a huge learning curve for MLP. Taking the time to speak to their users gave them the insights they needed to redesign their messaging, allowing them to start marketing much more effectively. In light of their findings, MLP opened up a new office space in a student district, putting their editorial and social media teams in close proximity to their customer base. Of course, Design Thinking is an iterative process, so this is just one way in which MLP hopes to continue learning to speak their customers‘ language. Source: https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/what-is-design-thinking- everything-you-need-to-know-to-get-started/ 20  Unit – 1 – Slide 30 - Link 2 What is Design Thinking? FILED U N D E R : C R E A T IV E CONFIDENCE S E R IE S , D E S IG N T H IN K IN G , I N S IG H T S F O R IN N O V A T IO N Design thinking is a process for creative problem solving. Design thinking has a human-centered core. It encourages organizations to focus on the people they're creating for, which leads to better products, services, and internal processes. When you sit down to create a solution for a business need, the first question should always be what's the human need behind it? In employing design thinking, you‘re pulling together what‘s desirable from a human point of view with what is technologically feasible and economically viable. It also allows those who aren't trained as designers to use creative tools to address a vast range of challenges. The process starts with taking action and understanding the right questions. It‘s about embracing simple mindset shifts and tackling problems from a new direction. Why Is Design Thinking Important?  It can help you or your team surface unmet needs of the people you are creating for.  It reduces the risk associated with launching new ideas.  It generates solutions that are revolutionary, not just incremental.  It helps organizations learn faster. 3 Essential Pillars of Design Thinking  Empathy — Understanding the needs of those you‘re designing for.  Ideation — Generating a lot of ideas. Brainstorming is one technique, but there are many others.  Experimentation — Testing those ideas with prototyping. Done Right, Design Thinking...  Captures the mindsets and needs of the people you're creating for.  Paints a picture of the opportunities based on the needs of these people.  Leads you to innovative new solutions starting with quick, low-fidelity experiments that provide learning and gradually increase in fidelity. Areas Where Design Thinking Can Apply  Product design  Service and experience design  Business design  Leadership  Organizational change 21 What Does It Look Like to Be Good at Design Thinking? The great beauty of design thinking is that the essential elements combine to form an iterative approach. It may not always proceed linearly, but there‘s a roadmap to help move you toward your solution. It starts with identifying a driving question that inspires you and your team to think about who you‘re really designing for, and what they actually need. Next, you gather inspiration—what other solutions out in the world can help you rethink the way you‘re working? Use that to push past obvious solutions, and arrive at breakthrough ideas. Build rough prototypes to make those ideas tangible, and find what‘s working and what‘s not. Gather feedback, go back to the drawing board, and keep going. And once you‘ve arrived at the right solution, craft a story to introduce it to your colleagues, clients, and its users. Some of those steps may happen several times, and you may even jump back and forth between them. But that roadmap can take you from a blank slate to a new, innovative idea. Source: https://www.ideou.com/blogs/inspiration/what-is-design-thinking Unit – 1 – Slide 30 - Link 3 What is Design Thinking? Design Thinking: Lessons for the Classroom The art of deep, productive focus By Betty Ray January 3, 2012 Much has been written about changing role of the teacher from "sage on the stage" to "guide on the side." Design thinking, which i s a dynamic, creative and collaborative approach to problem solving, presents a unique model for educators who wish to facilitate from within the class, rather than impart knowledge to it. The Design Thinking Process While design thinking has its roots in the innovation/design sector, the process itself can be used anywhere. Indeed, it is a great tool for teaching 21st century skills, as participants must solve problems by finding and sorting through information, collaborating with others, and iterating the ir solutions based on real world, authentic experience and feedback. (It is also a great tool to develop and run a school, but that's a different post for a different day.) I had the good fortune to participate in a collaborative workshop a t the Big Ideas Fest, where we practiced design thinking with about 12 other educators 22 over a three-day period. The idea was to give us a first -hand experience with design thinking, and to demonstrate how the mo del could work within the classroom. Practitioners of design thinking have different steps depending on their needs. At BIF2011, we used these steps: 1) Identify Opportunity 2) Design 3) Prototype 4) Get Feedback 5) Scale and Spread 6) Present In design thinking, you work through the steps together in small groups (or "Collabs" as they were called at BIF2011). Our task was to explore the question: How might we create ways to assess learning geared to making tangible progress toward meaningful goals? With driving question in hand, each Collab is led by a trained facilitator. There are basic ground rules for working together (like saying "yes, and" rather than "yes, but" when disagreeing with someone), and using elements from improv comedy to help maintain a culture of positivity, risk -taking, support and flexibility. This is important, as the goal is to break through the negative thinking that plagues the big, thorny issues, and to come up with one prototype idea for solving one aspect of the problem. This right here is another novel idea! We're not tasked with fixing the whole system. This is an approach positing that small changes in the right places can have big impacts on outcome. Six Design Thinking Steps To solve these problems, we follow this six -step format from design thinking: Step 1: Identify Opportunity To deepen our understanding of the issues surrounding inadequate assessment of 21st century skills, our cohort split into two groups, each of which inte rviewed two educators: a public school teacher who wanted to assess soft skills in addition to state standards; and an independent school teacher who wanted a means of assessing kids that didn't interrupt their learning. These interviews gave our group a specific goal: What system or product could we come up with to meet the needs of these two educators in assessing 21st century skills? 23 Step 1 in the classroom: Identify a big issue that is plaguing your school or community. Is there a fundraising challenge? A school resource issue? A civic concern or an environmental problem? You can also do a quick community needs assessment, but don't get too bogged down in this. The idea is to pick a need and move through the process. You can always iterate later. Once you've identified your issue, invite two to three parents or other community members who are personally affected by this issue to share their perspective with your students. You can have them there in person or via Skype. Let students ask lots of questions. These are the people for whom the students will be designing solutions. Step 2: Design Process Here, we reviewed the stories in Step 1 and brainstormed solutions. We needed to come up with an assessment idea that was accurate and authentic, and it had to provide meaningful data to real world public school educators. With a "no idea is too stupid" mantra, we wrote brainstorms on sticky notes and posted them on a whiteboard. By the end of this process, we began to see themes emerge: it should give students feedback about where they are lacking and where they need to go; it should also be student -centered, longitudinal, with real time feedback. We organized the sticky notes into these bigger themes to prep for tomorrow. Step 2 in the classroom: Once students have heard the issues facing their community via Step 1, give them sticky notes and pens and let them brainstorm solutions. Invite them to be inspired by each other and build off each others' ideas. Remember, no idea is too stupid! Once they've finished brai nstorming, identify the main themes that have emerged, and break students into small groups to research their initial ideas. Here is where the "guide on the side" can really make a difference. The students may have some wonderfully creative but entirely impossible ideas! At this point, the teacher should guide them with real world experience to help ensure that they have a good start. Step 3: Prototype Phase Next, we review the themes and select one to prototype. This prototype need not solve all of the problems, just one aspect of the problem voiced by one of the speakers in Step 1. (Note the incredible discipline intrinsic in this process. At this point, we are focusing on one solution to one aspect of one problem.) Our idea is an assessment "dashboard" ca lled iGPS. This device would assess student progress much the same way a GPS in the car works; it pinpoints a student's current skill level, identifying target skill level along with specific waypoints to keep the student on the path to achieving the state d goal/skill level. We used paper, markers, pipe cleaners and glue to make a prototype of our idea, which looked like a Google map from "where I am" to "where I need to be" plotted along a route that intersects specific skills. It was rough, but it communicated the concept. 24 Step 3 in the classroom: Get a bunch of creative materials together and let the groups flesh out their ideas into physical prototypes. As teams are creating, help them think through their prototypes: How will each feature help the people we interviewed in Step 1? Does this mesh with the research they did? How will the prototype work? Which materials are the best for the job? Once they're done, tell students they're going be pitching their ideas to experts. Give them a chance to practice and refine their presentations so they're comfortable and confident! Step 4: Feedback Over lunch, all groups shared their prototypes to a panel of experts for feedback. All groups got to see everyone's presentations. Most prototypes were digital software tools, though not all. Two experts from two different stakeholder groups offered their feedback: A) An educator who was looking for ways to make the idea more useful for a real - world classroom setting, and B) a social investor, who was looking to see if there was a viable market, and if the product would make a viable business. Step 4 in the classroom: Invite people who are experts and/or stakeholders in the field to come to your school and have students present their prototypes to them. Ask each expert to review each pitch and prototype, and give students explicit feedback: what works with this idea, and what can be improved? Step 5: Scale and Spread Taking the feedback we received, we hone in even further on our prototype. To do this, our team breaks into four subgroups to address the questions raised. How can this assess both individual and group work? How does a student earn points (their quantifiable score)? What does the product itself look like? And finally, assuming our product is successful as an asses sment tool for 21st century skills, what's the best way to market it to district administrators who will make the choice to adopt it? We answer these questions and quickly re - prototype to include these points. Step 5 in the classroom: This step is yet another excellent opportunity to practice "guide on the side" facilitation. Help each group of students understand the feedback they got, and work with them to understand the best way to implement solutions. If there are multiple feedback points to be addresse d, the groups can break into subgroups to address each point for efficiency. You might have students pick a project manager, and have all the subgroups report back to that person. Step 6: Present Most of the time, we go to these conferences and get fired up about all the great ideas there, and then we leave and nothing changes. The Big Ideas Fest culminated with a surprise. Three out of nine projects were selected to participate in the Big Ideas Fest in Beta, a new program which offers support to bringing these ideas to fruition. And furthermore, ISKME, the sponsor of the 25 event, received a $50,000 matching grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support three groups with additional design workshops, access to ISKME's networks, services and other resources to help incubate their ideas. So, after a grand total of six hours' total collaboration time, each of the nine groups had come up with some great prototypes, and three were going to get some support to build their prototypes into working products. Source: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/design-thinking-betty-ray 26 Unit – 1 – Session 1- Design Methods & Tools Design Methods & Tools User Centered Design Process Research with focus on User (Human) is the core of the User Centered Design Process/Method. Fig. 2: Human-Centered Design Method Why Research? Research helps the designers in building understanding and gaining knowledge about the product domain, business needs, stakeholders including the end user need, their context, their aspirations and their experiences that helps us creating user models such as personas, user needs and how they would like to fulfill their needs, articulating business goals that may affect features and functions, understanding technical constraints and limitations. All these knowledge and understanding are critical and needed during the design phase. It allows you to interpret intangible meaning of those experiences in order to uncover insights. These insights will lead you to the innovative solutions. The best solutions come out of the best insights into human behavior A good researcher looks beyond obvious and discovers the things/information, which is under the surface. Note that the tip of the iceberg does not help you estimate the size of the same. If you need to know the real size of the iceberg, you need to take a deep dive inside the ocean and then only you will know how big the iceberg is. So as a researcher always be ready to deep dive into your research subject, when you are out for research. 27  Fig. 1: Iceberg and deep dive Any research investigation revolve around the following 5 core queries: 1. WHO? (The people, context whom you want to research?) 2. WHERE? (Where those will be found?) 3. WHAT? (What is their context, needs, aspiration, activities, behavior, attitudes etc. are) 4. HOW? (How they use manage their needs/do work?) 5. WHY? (The reason behind their particular activity, behavior, attitude etc.) Beginner’s Mind Set – A Very Important Skill as a researcher Remember when you were a small child, you had so many questions in your mind and you wanted the answer for those from your parents, teachers and friends. You have very high curiosity to know more about each and everything and you were not making any assumptions, as you have no experiences, understanding, expertise and stereotypes. To be a good user researcher it is important to assume yourself as a small child, you have to put yourself in beginner‘s mind-set. A beginner‘s (child‘s) mindset helps to put aside these biases, so that you can approach a design challenge afresh. Empathy As a human-centered designer the problems you are trying to solve are rarely your own— they are those of particular users; in order to design for your users, you must build empathy for who they are and what is important to them. Watching what people do and how they interact with their environment gives you clues about what they think and feel. It helps you to learn about what they need. 28  It capture physical manifestations of their experiences, what they do and say. It allows you to interpret intangible meaning of those experiences in order to uncover insights. These insights will lead you to the innovative solutions. The best solutions come out of the best insights into human behavior Research Tools for Empathise Phase There are various methods and tools suggested by scholars and practitioners, few of them useful for design and user research are explained below: 1. User Interviews 2. Focus Group 3. Card Sorting 4. Ethnography – Contextual Enquiry 5. Shadowing 6. Survey User Interview The interview process is one of the most common and powerful ways to understand people. It can be considered the foundation for many of the methods designers use. The interview is a method for discovering facts and opinions held by potential users of the system being designed. The predominant form of interviewing is face-to-face and one-to-one. The interview can be organized around a set of structured questions, follow a more open format through semi structured questions or be unstructured with no prior questions. It is important that we prepare ourselves much prior to the actual interview sessions. We should be ready with a right questioner, which can help us get the best insight about them. Focus Group A focus group is a moderated discussion that typically involves 5 to 10 participants and chaired by an impartial moderator. Its aim is to solicit focused feedback on specific issues or design ideas, giving designers firsthand experience of user reaction. Through a focus group, one can learn about users‘ attitudes, beliefs, desires, and reactions to concepts. Focus groups are a traditional market research technique. In a typical focus group, participants talk. During the focus group users tell you about their experiences or expectations but you don‘t get to verify or observe these experiences. Card Sorting Card sorting is a research method used to understand the way that the intended users of a website naturally organize or think about different types of information or content. It‘s also a method service teams can use to sort and arrange. Card Sorting can be conducted in a variety of circumstances using various means – one-on-one, during workshops, by mail, or electronically. Card sorting is very popular among researchers as this is an easy way to get user input and validation very early on in a project without requiring a lot of initial preparation. It is the 29 simple technique that‘s easy for participants and clients to understand. It‘s relatively inexpensive and easily demonstrates its value. Online card sorting lets you reach many participants, in diverse locations, in a very short period of time. Ethnographic Research Ethnography is a social research technique based on studying people‘s behavior in everyday contexts, rather than under controlled conditions (such as a conference room in a focus group testing center). Ethnographic techniques focus on informal conversation and observing the subjects in their environments, instead of on questionnaires or set lists of topics. This approach will allow you to be efficient while unearthing the true attitudes and behaviors of users, as opposed to merely gathering statistics. In design research, the ethnographic approaches to participant interaction clarify complex human needs, behaviors, and perspectives. Field immersions unearth contextual and environmental factors that shape user experience. Rigorous, old-fashioned desk research and expert consultation support the fieldwork. It is important to know that a good design research doesn‘t end with good data. Contextual Enquiries In a contextual enquiry, you watch and listen as the user works. You don't usually give the user tasks or scenarios. To understand what a user is doing or thinking you can ask questions as the user navigates the site. The results are usually qualitative, observed data, rather than quantitative, measured data. What You Learn From Contextual Interviews Contextual interviews combine observations with interviewing. By going to the user, you see the user's environment and the actual technology the user works with. As a result, you‘ll be able to answer questions such as:  Any issues that users are facing  Equipment they are working with  How their space is set-up  Preference between mouse and keyboard`  The type of internet connection they have  How long does it take to complete common or target tasks  Whether there are people there and willing to assist the user if they need help completing a task Shadowing Shadowing is observing people in context. It is important that the people you are observing are not aware of the same since that might lead to change in their natural behavior. It allows the researcher and designer to develop design insights through observation and shared experience with users. This method can help you with following: 30  1. This method can help determine the difference between what subjects say they do, and what they really do. 2. It helps in understanding the point of view of people. Successful design results from knowing the users. 3. Define Intent. 4. Can be used to evaluate the concepts. 5. Please note, It will be important to choose the right subject (user) to shadow. Survey Surveys, which are also called questionnaires, are one of the key ways to gather quantitative data for analysis. Surveys rely on asking the same question in the same way to a large number of people, and obtaining a lot of responses. These responses are then analyzed using statistical techniques to obtain information that can be generalized about the whole population. Tools & Deliverables for Define Stage Research produces a number of information and observations about people and context. Define is the stage where you systematically think through all these information and observations and extract valuable insights. There are various deliverable as part of the define stage as provided below: 1. Personas 2. Scenarios 3. Empathy Mapping 4. Journey/Experience mapping Personas Persona is representative of a certain user groups. They are descriptions of fictional, archetypal users that include their goals, attitudes, characteristics, and expected use of a system. The purpose of personas is to create reliable and realistic representations of the key audience segments for reference. The persona describes the user's goals and some of the interaction. It's not too specific in describing the actual UI because that will be created later. It should provide enough information so everyone involved in development can understand what a specific, representative, user wants to do and what doing the task would be like. It's good to include photos and names to make "the user" more realistic and memorable. Personas are based on user research (qualitative and quantitative) findings, they should seem like descriptions of actual people, allowing the project team to keep a vivid picture of each user group in mind throughout a project.  Personas describe real people with backgrounds, goals, and values.  Personas are tangible and provide more specific, vivid portraits of users than the lists of general characteristics in user profiles.  Personas provide details on the user skills and motivation. 31  Personas express and focus on the major needs and expectations of the most important user groups.  Personas give a clear picture about how they're likely to use the products.  Personas aid in uncovering universal features and functionality.  Personas are easier for people to relate to, and are more interesting, quicker and easier to read than most user research deliverables. Example of a Persona Source: https://wpamelia.com/user-persona-template/ Scenarios Scenarios describe the stories and context behind why a specific user or user group will use a product, service or an application and will be helpful in designing as well as validating the design. It is really impossible to write down every scenario that every user has but it will be important to write down all the most common reasons that users have for using the product, service or an application and the tasks that users want to do. A good use scenario should include the following: Describes who is the user? User's goals and motivations. 32  Describes a specific task or tasks that need to be accomplished by the user. What are their expectations? Describes how they might do it. Describes some of the interactions. Helps us construct the sequence of events that are necessary to address in our solution. Scenarios also work with personas by serving as the stories behind why the particular persona would use the product, service or an application. What does the persona hope to accomplish? and What are characteristics of the persona that might help or hinder his or her interaction with the product, service or an application? 33 Scenario Example The following is a sample scenario describing a user withdrawing money from an ATM. “It’s Monday morning and Suresh Tyagi is travelling from Kanpur to Delhi. He doesn’t have enough money to hire a cab from IIT Kanpur Campus to Lucknow airport, and he’s running late. He goes to the ICICI ATM located near football field and specifies Rs. 5000 from his savings account. He doesn’t want a printed receipt, as he doesn’t bother keeping track of transactions in this account.” Empathy Mapping Good design is grounded in a deep understanding of the person for whom you are designing. Designers have many techniques for developing this sort of empathy. An Empathy Map is one tool to help you synthesize your observations and draw out unexpected insights. How to use an Empathy Map  Identify Needs: ―Needs‖ are human emotional or physical necessities. Needs help define your design challenge.  Remember that ―Needs‖ are verbs (activities and desires with which your user could use help), not nouns (solutions).  Identify needs directly out of the user traits you noted, or from contradictions between two traits – such as a disconnect between what they says and what they do.  Write down needs on the side of your Empathy Map. Insights often grow from contradictions between two user attributes (either within a quadrant or from two different quadrants) or from asking yourself ―Why?‖ when you notice strange behavior. Write down potential insights on the side of your Empathy Map. One way to identify the seeds of insights is to capture ―tensions‖ and ―contradictions‖ as you work. 34  Fig. 3: Empathy Maps Image source: minimumviableinc.com/book Tools for Ideation Stage Ideation “Ideation is the mode of the design process in which you concentrate on idea generation. Mentally it represents a process of „going wide‟ in terms of concepts and outcomes. Ideation provides both the fuel and also the source material for building prototypes and getting innovative solutions into the hands of your users.” – d.school, An Introduction to Design Thinking PROCESS GUIDE Ideation is the process where you generate ideas and solutions through sessions such as Sketching, Prototyping, Brainstorming, Brain writing, Worst Possible Idea, and a wealth of other ideation techniques. Ideation is also the third stage in the Design Thinking process. 35  Fig. 5: Desk Lamp Ideation 3 Greg Hayter Image source http://getdrawings.com/desk-lamp-drawing#desk-lamp-drawing-35.jpg Brainstorming Brainstorming is a method for generating ideas to solve a design problem. It usually involves a group, under the direction of a facilitator. The strength of brainstorming is the potential participants have in drawing associations between their ideas in a free-thinking environment, thereby broadening the solution space. Brainstorming combines a relaxed, informal approach to problem solving with lateral thinking. It encourages people to come up with thoughts and ideas that can, at first, seem a bit crazy. Some of these ideas can be crafted into original, creative solutions to a problem, while others can spark even more ideas. This helps to get people unstuck by "jolting" them out of their normal ways of thinking. Therefore, during brainstorming sessions, people should avoid criticizing or rewarding ideas. You're trying to open up possibilities and break down incorrect assumptions about the problem's limits. Judgment and analysis at this stage stunts idea generation and limit creativity. SOURCES: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/brainstorming https://www.mindtools.com/brainstm.html https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/design-thinking-bootleg http://getdrawings.com/desk-lamp-drawing#desk-lamp-drawing-35.jpg https://wpamelia.com/user-persona-template/ Image source: minimumviableinc.com/book 36 SESSION 2 - DESIGN FUNDAMENTAL 1. GEOMETRY AND SPACE The geometry and space concept is applicable everywhere in design theory and practice. We can talk about geometry in prints and how the space in print design is planned from a design point of view. We can also plan space in interior design of a building as humans interact with space and its element in that building. For example, humans sit on office chairs and work on computer on a table. The space around the table and char is vacant. So, a designer has to plan where she will keep the table, and where she will keep the computer, depending on total area, proximity to door or light from the window. Similarly, in Graphic design field, a designer plans the type of geometrical shapes will be placed in a website for a fashion company. Geometrical shapes here will be seen as texts, pictures and graphics along with the colors that you plan to represent the theme of the garment category. The basic principle of how we see design elements in a space is known as Gestalt principle of psychology. The following theory is explained below through visuals. What are Gestalt Principles? The Gestalt Principles are a set of laws arising from 1920s‘ psychology, describing how humans typically see objects by grouping similar elements, recognizing patterns and simplifying complex images. Designers use these to engage users via powerful -yet natural- ―tricks‖ of perspective and best practice design standards. The Gestalt Principles – a Background The Gestalt Principles of grouping (―Gestalt‖ is German for ―unified whole‖) represent the culmination of the work of early 20th-century German psychologists Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Kohler, who sought to understand how humans typically gain meaningful perceptions from chaotic stimuli around them. Wertheimer and company identified a set of laws addressing this natural compulsion to seek order amid disorder, where the mind ―informs‖ what the eye sees by making sense of a series of elements as an image, or illusion. Early graphic designers soon began applying the Gestalt Principles in advertising, encapsulating company values within iconic logos. In the century since, designers have deployed Gestalt Principles extensively, crafting designs with well-placed elements that catch the eye as larger, whole images so viewers instantly make positive connections with the organizations represented. “The whole is other than the sum of the parts.” - Kurt Koffka “Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole. When trying to make sense of the world around us, Gestalt psychology suggests that we do not simply focus on every small component. Instead, our minds tend to perceive objects as part of a greater whole and as elements of more complex systems. This school of psychology played a major role in the modern development of the study of human sensation and perception.” Source: verywellmind 37 Gestalt Principles Some of the most widely recognized Gestalt Principles include: Closure (Reification): Preferring complete shapes, we automatically fill in gaps between elements to perceive a complete image; so, we see the whole first. Common Fate: We group elements that move in the same direction. Common Region: We group elements that are in the same closed region. Continuation: We follow and ―flow with‖ lines. Convexity: We perceive convex shapes ahead of concave ones. Element Connectedness: We group elements linked by other elements. Figure/Ground (Multi-stability): Disliking uncertainty, we look for solid, stable items. Unless an image is truly ambiguous, its foreground catches the eye first. 38 Good Form: We differentiate elements that are similar in color, form, pattern, etc. from others—even when they overlap—and cluster them together. Meaningfulness (Familiarity): We group elements if they form a meaningful or personally relevant image. We perceive complex or ambiguous images as simple ones. Proximity (Emergence): We group closer-together elements, separating them from those farther apart. Regularity: Sorting items, we tend to group some into larger shapes, and connect any elements that form a pattern. Similarity (Invariance): We seek differences and similarities in an image and link similar elements. Symmetry: We seek balance and order in designs, struggling to do so if they aren‘t readily apparent. Synchrony: We group static visual elements that appear at the same time. 39 Gestalt Principles are in the Mind, Not the Eye The Gestalt Principles are pivotal in visual design, notably in Graphic and Interfaces, as users must be able to understand what they see—and find what they want—at a glance. A good example are the principles of proximity and common region, as seen in the figure below – where colors and graphics divide the page into separate regions. Without it, users will struggle to make associations between unrelated clustered-together items, and leave. For designers, the true trick of Gestalt is never to confuse or delay users, but to guide them to identify their options and identify with organizations/brands rapidly. Gestalt in Practice The idea that a whole is perceived as different or more than the sum of its parts is commonly employed in design, even if the artist is consciously unaware of its use. The following eight design principles are derived from Gestalt theory: image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/How-to-Apply-Gestalt- Principles-to-Your-Designs-for-Maximum-Impact-Infographic-1-1.png 8 Gestalt Design Principles with Examples 1 Gestalt Law of Simplicity image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Gestalt-Principles- Simplicity.png 40 According to the first Gestalt design principle, also commonly referred to as emergence, people perceive and interpret ambiguous or complex images in their simplest form. Consider, for example, the Girl Scouts of America logo below. While the design consists of irregular shapes with negative space in between, we see three silhouettes. Even more simply, those who have seen the image before are most likely to perceive the whole as a single logo instead of even three faces. We don‘t have to stop and think about it first. It‘s just what we see. image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Girl_Scouts-1.png 41 According to psychologists, when we identify an object, we first seek to identify its outline. We then compare it to known shapes and patterns. Without even realizing we‘re taking these steps, we finally combine the identified elements to recognize the whole. Therefore, a simple and well-defined design will more quickly communicate the desired message than detailed illustrations with ambiguous contours. 2 Gestalt Law of Similarity image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Gestalt-Principles- Similarity.png 42 43 According to this Gestalt design principle, objects with similar characteristics are perceived as more closely related than objects that share no similar features. Our minds simply group the similar objects together regardless of their proximity to one another. Think about a group of shapes consisting of three squares, a triangle, a circle, a hexagon and a star. Most will perceive the three squares as a group apart from the other shapes. The same effect occurs with a group of squares that are either blue or green. Even though they are all the same shape, the blue shapes will be perceived as related, as will the green shapes. Design elements can be perceived as related by sharing any sort of characteristic, including color, shape, size and texture. 3 Gestalt Law of Proximity image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Gestalt-Principles- Proximity.png Also an essential element of visual hierarchy, proximity is a common way to group design elements. Simply speaking, objects that are close together are generally perceived as more related than objects farther apart. In the above example, the group of 16 circles on the left is perceived as a single group, while the same 16 circles on the right is instead seen as two separate groups of 8. The only difference is the space between. 44 Based on this Gestalt design principle of proximity, objects placed close to each other don‘t even have to share any characteristics to be perceived as a group. A design could include 16 different shapes of varying colors, but if they are within close proximity to each other as compared to other elements, they will be perceived as a group. RELATED: 11 Rules of Composition for Non-Designers 4 Gestalt Law of Closure image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Gestalt-Principles-Closure.png The closure principle dictates that a complete outline isn’t necessary to convey the same message as a partial outline. Even if parts are missing, the human psyche will make every attempt to match it to a known object just as long as the designer includes enough information that viewers can fill in the gaps. If too much is missing, the design will instead appear as its separate parts. image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/WWF-logo-Closure.png 45 Consider the World Wildlife Fund logo, for example. What would otherwise be a group of irregular shapes combine to form a recognizable design? Notice that some upper portions of the outline are missing, and the design is somewhat incomplete. We still instantly recognize the shape as a panda. 5 Gestalt Law of Figure and Ground image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Gestalt-Principles-Figure-and- Ground.png 46 In any design, elements are perceived as either the focal point in the foreground or part of the background. The figure is generally described as the focal point, while the ground is the element on which the figure rests. In most cases, designs with a definitive point of interest, emphasis or contrast capture and hold viewers‘ attention more effectively than designs without a focal point. People tend to determine the figure and ground relationship before making any other resolutions about what they see. We‘ve evolved to prioritize this perception so we can better navigate our surroundings. Without it, we‘d be running into objects and tripping over sidewalks. image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/How-to-Apply-Gestalt- Principles-to-Your-Designs-for-Maximum-Impact-Figure-and-Ground-10.png Sometimes designers can use this principle to draw attention to their creations. Consider the above book cover. Do you see a silhouette of Batman or the Penguin? Both are there. What we see depends on whether we view the yellow or the black as the figure, while the other remains in the ground. 6 Gestalt Law of Continuity According to the principle of continuity, elements arranged in a line or curves are generally assumed to continue beyond their defined end point. In other words, once our eyes begin to follow a line or curve, we believe that line will continue in the same direction until it encounters another object. 47 image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Gestalt-Principles- Continuity.png Think about when you look at a road. Many times, it will expand into the distance further than the eye can see. But that doesn‘t mean you believe the road stops at the horizon. Instead, you automatically assume it continues along the same line beyond what you can see. 7 Gestalt Law of Symmetry image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Gestalt-Principles-Order-and- Simmetry.png People tend to perceive objects as symmetrical shapes whenever possible. It‘s simply human nature to look for order among chaos. Therefore, designers should attempt to provide balance over disorder. 48 Symmetry doesn‘t have to be taken literally to be effective, however. Balance can be created by use of a harmonic color scheme or by a similar but inexact group of elements on each side of a page. image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/How-to-Apply-Gestalt- Principles-to-Your-Designs-for-Maximum-Impact-Order-and-Symmetry.jpg Consider the above group of eyes. Because our minds strive to recognize symmetry whenever possible, most will immediately recognize three sets of eyes rather than six separate items, even though their proximity from one another is equal. 8 Gestalt Law of Synchrony image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Gestalt-Principles- Synchrony.png Also commonly known as common fate, the Gestalt design principle of synchrony dictates that elements moving in the same direction are perceived as more related than the 49 same elements moving in different directions. Regardless of their placement or how dissimilar they may be, we perceive elements that move in the same direction as related. image: https://visme.co/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/How-to-Apply-Gestalt- Principles-to-Your-Designs-for-Maximum-Impact-Synchron-001.jpg Elements don‘t have to be moving literally for the principle to apply. Consider the above design, for example. Most will instantly associate the circles with the upward-pointing arrows as related as opposed to the group with the downward-pointing arrows, even though they aren‘t physically grouped together. Exercises for students Gestalt design principles help take the guesswork out of design. By employing these psychological tenets, designers and non-designers can understand why they make certain decisions and better predict how audiences will perceive various elements. And this doesn't just apply to product and visual design projects. They can also be applied to your own presentations and blogs and, even page design on instagram and Word press. Exercise 1 1. Create a theme for your imaginary product and design one A 4 size visuals using pictures that are cut and paste from magazines and newspapers. For examples – given the theme of “jungle” and create book cover for 6 years old boy. 2. What will be the design elements in this visual and why? 3. What role geometry and space play in designing this visual? What role did color play here? 50  4. Design two more alternatives with change of color theory – eg, monochromatic theme. Exercise 2 Try designing the same visual using Word, Paint or Photoshop software. You can go to internet café and design your visual there if these are not available at home or school. Think about how the use of technology changes your perspective and outcome. Explain in a write up of your project. Exercise 3 Take the visual of first exercise and scan it using the facility of internet café. Scanned image will be exported to Photoshop software. Try changing the image using simple edit tools. Use some other photo editing tools of mobile phone and give it a new color scheme. Try changing fonts and inserting new logo or text. Try changing the visual using color tones and other visual effects for changing a photo. Write about your experience. Present the same in class in the form of a ppt. GESTALT THEORY FOR INTERIOR AND ARCHITECTURE DESIGN When applying the laws, and principles of Gestalt to Architecture, and interior design, it has a completely different approach to what it shows in art as the human brain has to observe the information in front of them that is reality rather than what is on a canvas, and this brings more of an impact to the viewer. 51 52 The Harajuku Protestant Church in above visual, situated in Japan is a relative example of how gestalt justifies working in a public space. The figure ground/relationship that is in the space is the form that creates the multiple arches that continue down the space in a sequence of patterns that overlook the seating layout, this is defined by more principles such as common fate, symmetry and order, and proximity, and also the gestalt law emergence as the arches stand out from the design, and brings itself in the viewers filed of vision. When looking at closure in an interior space the viewer will have to fill in the missing information on a space that is not completely closed, like for exa