Design Theory - Lecture 01: What is design?

Design TheoryLecture 01: What is design?

Communication &Multimedia Design

Bas Leurs ([email protected])February 10, 2014

Is design cognition a black box?

Input Output

Also see Jones (1970) on black and glass boxes

Design theory tries to describe or explain

design activityWhat is design?

And why do we actually design?

How do designers think and act?

This lecture

This lecture

industrial design

environmental design

architecture

software design

interface design

typographic design

graphic designproduct design

educational design

engineering design

interaction design

user experience design

experience design

webdesign

editorial design

service design

game design

interior design

database design

emotional design

information design

Categories of Designsound design

social design

strategic design

communication design

Some definitions of design...

Jot down three keywords that you think should be found in the definition of

design

Design is to design a design to produce a design

John Heskett (2005)

a general concept an actiona plan or intention the outcome/

result

noun verb noun noun

Design is a profession that is concerned with the creation of products, systems, communications and services that satisfy human needs, improve people’s lives and do all of this with respect for the welfare of

the natural environment.

profession?

Charles Owen (2004)

Koskinen, Zimmerman, Binder, Redstrom & Wensveen (2011)

Designers are people who are paid to produce visions of better futures and make those

things happen.

Page (1966)

The imaginative jump from present facts to future possibilities

Harold Nelson & Erik Stolterman (2002)

ability?

"Design is the ability to imagine that-which-does-not-yet-exist, to make it

appear in concrete form as a new, purposeful addition to the real world."

The Design Way: Intentional Change in an Unpredictable World

Design is about making decisions, often in the face of uncertainty

Joseph Zinter (2012)

Asimow, 1962

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

Bryan Lawson & Kees Dorst (2009)

Designers typically produce novel unexpected solutions, tolerate uncertainty, work with incomplete information, apply imagination and constructive forethought to practical problems and use drawings and other modelling media as means of

problem solving

Herbert Simon (1969)

"Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations

into preferred ones."

Most cited definition of design

initialstate process future

state

transformation functioncurrent situation desired situation

A very basal model of design

Doblin (1987)

John Chris JonesDesign Methods: Seeds of human future(1970)

Get ready for...the ultimate definition of design

John Chris JonesDesign Methods: Seeds of human future(1970)

P R E L U D E

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CHANGE IS

DIFFERENCE •

CHANGE OF DIFFERENCE IS

PROCESS •

CHANGE OF PROCESS IS

EVOLUTION •

CHANGE OF EVOLUTION IS

DESIGN

Fig. I-5 Hierarchy of Change The challenge to cultures, or societies, on how to deal with change at these multiple levels was formulated by Arnold J. Toynbee (1948), and presented in mythic terms in the work of Joseph Campbell (1968)(see Fig. I-6). According to Toynbee’s findings, based on his research into the behavior of past civilizations, social systems historically evoke four types of responses when confronted by change. The only cultures that successfully move through major challenges, or crises, are those that engage in change in a manner that is consistent with design wisdom and leads to transformational change.

Of course, cultures, civilizations, nations and other forms of large-scale social systems can escape major change over extended periods of time. But, when the pressures for change build internally, or externally, accidentally or intentionally, successful survival and improvement seem to come only as consequences of an approach that can radically transform the existing order of things as per Toynbee’s model. Such an approach can be characterized as a design approach.

A. “RETURN” TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS B. “HANG-ON-TO” THE PRESENT C. “REACH” FOR A UTOPIA D. RADICALLY “TRANSFORM” THE EXISTING

Fig. I-6 Toynbee’s Social Change Strategies

Harold Nelson & Erik Stolterman (2002/2012)

Design = Change

However... there is even a final ultimate definition !

“...but now, more than thirty years later, and in a changed world, I am no longer happy with man-made nor with things...”

John Christopher Jones (2002)

http://www.softopia.demon.co.uk/2.2/digital_diary_02.07.14.html

Design is to initiate change in man-made things

thoughts and actions intended to change thoughts and actions

John Christopher Jones (2002)http://www.softopia.demon.co.uk/2.2/digital_diary_02.07.14.html

Awesome... or not?

cognitive (thinking) acting, doing

Designer

“User”

thoughts and actions intended to change thoughts and actions

John Christopher Jones (2002)http://www.softopia.demon.co.uk/2.2/digital_diary_02.07.14.html

Design is the core of purposeful and creative action of the active building or relations between man and his world Jantsch (1975)In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains and sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service. Jobs (n.d.)

Design is to initiate change in man-made thingsJones (1970)thoughts and actions intended to change thoughts and actionsJones (2002)

Designers are people who are paid to produce visions of better futures and make those things happen. Koskinen, Zimmerman, Binder, Redstrom & Wensveen (2011)Designers typically produce novel unexpected solutions, tolerate uncertainty, work with incomplete information, apply imagination and constructive forethought to practical problems and use drawings ans other modelling media as means of problem solving'Lawson & Dorst (2009)Design is the translation of information in the form of requirements, constraints, and experience into potential solutions which are considered by the designer to meet required performance characteristics. Luckman (1984)

The entire activity from the stage of realization of a need to change to translating the image of the future system into reality is termed design. Mathur (1978)Design is the solution to the sum of the needs of a particular set of circumstances Matchett (1968)No longer associated with objects and appearances, design is increasingly understood in a much wider sense as the human capacity to plan and produce desired outcomes.Mau (2007)

A designer is a planner with an aesthetic senseMunari (1966)Design is the investigation of contemplated and present systems to formulate, through the ideal systems concept, the most effective systems Nadler (1981)Design generates, organizes, and evaluates a large number of alternatives; keeping focused on the best possible or most ideal solution, rather than on collecting and analyzing data about he problem.Nadler & Hibino (1990)

Design is the ability to imagine that-which-does-not-yet-exist, to make it appear in concrete form as a new, purposeful addition to the real world.Nelson & Stolterman (2002)Design is a profession that is concerned with the creation of products, systems, communications and services that satisfy human needs, improve people’s lives and do all of this with respect for the welfare of the natural environment. Owen (2004)The imaginative jump from present facts to future possibiliesPage (1966)

Design is integral to all life and human activityPapenek (1972)Design is a conscious and intuitive effort to impose meaningful order.... Design is both the underlying matrix of order and the tool that creates it.Papenek (1983)Design is the method of putting form and content together. Design, just as art, has multiple definitions; there is no single definition. Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.Rand (2001)

A creative activiy, design brings into being something new and useful that has not existed previously Reswick (1965)The designer intends to change a segment of the universe. His motivation is consequential action, not understanding or explanation... He designs whatever purpose he has in his mind devises a schema to accomplish this Purpose.Rittel (1973)Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.Simon (1969)Design is a contiunuum of processes, an endless but moving chain of development, realization, and evaluation, directed toward purposeful creation Van der Ryn (1966)Design consists primarily of six types of activity: intelligence, analysis, synthesis, choice, communication, and interpretation. The implementation of design its concrete phase. The

failure of any one of the six fundamental types will usually assure failure to implementWarfield (1990)Design is a new way of resolving basic human conflicts, critical for securing safe passage to a desirable human future Weisbord (1992)Design is about making decisions, often in the face of uncertainty.Zinter (2012)

Design is initiated by using a very broad brush in

sketching the first version. Then details are gradually

added. The process continues until a sufficiently

detailed design is obtained that enables us to carry it

outAckoff, 1981

Design is the use of scientific principles, technical

information, and imagination in the definition of a

system to perform specific functions with maximum

economy and efficiency.

Archer (1966)

The act of designing is the prescription or model of the

finished work in advance of its embodiment.

Archer (1984)

Decision making in the face of uncertainty, with high

penalties for error.

Asimow (1962)

A pruposeful activity, design is directed towards the

goals of fulfilling human needs

Asimow (1962)

Design aims to conceive the idea of a desired system

and prepare a description of it

Banathy (1979)

Designing is creating a structure that organizes the

logic in the system.

Beck (2000)

Design establishes and defines solutions to and

pertinent structures for problems not solved before, or

new solutions to problems which have previously been

solved in a different way.

Blumrich (1970)

Design simulates what we want to make before we

make it, as many times as may be necessary to feel

confident in the final result

Booker (1964)

Design is the human power to conceive, plan and re-

alize all of the products that serve human beings in

the accomplishment of their individual or collective

purposes.Buchanan (2006)

A designer is an emerging synthesis of artist, inventor,

mechanic, objective economist and evolutionary

strategist. Buckminster Fuller (n.d.)

Design is primarily a thought process and

communication process, tranferring ideas into action

by communication. It is a natural function, expressed

in the many activities we engage in. For the

teleologist, design means the conscious attempt to

create a better world. For the antiteleologist design is

the conscious part of action.

Churchman (1971)

Design is “values made visible”

Chick & Micklethwaite (2011)

Design is what links creativity and innovation. It

shapes ideas to become practical and attractive

propositions for users or customers. Design may be

described as creativity deployed to a specific end.’

Cox (2005)

Design is seen as a process of "variety reduction" with

the very large number of potential solutions reduced

by external constraints and by the designer's own

cognitive structures.

Darke (1984)

Design is an act of love.

Desmet (2011)

Design is more than an agent of change, it is change.

Doorley & Witthoft (2012)

... a plan for arranging elements in such a way as to

best accomplish a particular purpose.

Eames (1989)

Design is a mode of action.

Eames (n.d.)

Design means to map out, to plan, or to arrange the

parts into a whole which satisfies the objectives

involved.FitzGerald & FitzGerald (1987)

Design is a quintessential cognitive task. The activity of

design involves the mental formulation of future states

of affairs. The products of design activity are external

representations of such possible futures.

Goel & Pirolli (1992).

Design is to design a design to produce a design

Heskett (2005)

Design is the purposeful organization of resources to

accomplish a goal.

Hevner, March, Park & Ram (2004)

Thus, labeling an activity ‘designing’ generally

presupposes the existence of a use plan and a group

of prospective users.

Houkes (2008)

A designer is anyone engaging in an intentional,

purposeful activity with the aim of devising a

description (plan) for a product or artefact.

Hybs & Gero (2006)

Design is a creative activity whose aim is to establish

the multi-faceted qualities of objects, processes,

services and their systems in whole life cycles.

Therefore, design is the central factor of innovative

humanisation of technologies and the crucial factor of

cultural and economic exchange.

ICSID (n.d.)

A Digest: Definitions of DesignBy Bas Leurs – February 6, 2014

Zie N@tschool!

satisfy

improve

purposefulaims

plansintentions

imaginative

present

futureprefered situation

existing situation

problem

solution

uncertainty

humanpeople

users

creating

changingdecision making

problem solving Changing an existing situation into a preferred situation, requires imagination

to formulate a plan that deals with uncertainty that the future holds.

new

innovative

“One of the difficulties in understanding design, is its multifaceted nature. There is no single way of looking at design that captures the 'essence' without missing some other salient aspect.”

Bryan Lawson & Kees Dorst (2009), also see Buchanan (1992, 2001, p. 27)

As you might have noticed... design is quite an ambiguous notion

Design as...• A mixture of creativity and analyses

• Problem solving

• Evolution

• The creation of solutions to problems

• Integrating into a coherent whole

• A fundamental human activity

• Etc...

Bryan Lawson & Kees Dorst (2009)

let’s try to grasp the very essence of design... actually the problem designers are facing in

their everyday practice

design =

easyYes, or no?

“Design is the performing of a very complicated act

of faith”

John Christopher Jones (1966/1970)

But, what makes design such a

complicated activity?Write down one word!

What makes design so complicated according to Jones?In Design Methods (1970)

“The fundamental problem is that designers are obliged to use current information to predict a future state that will not come about unless their predictions are correct.”

“The designer must be able to predict the ultimate effects of their proposed design as well as specifying the actions that are needed to bring these effects about.”

47

effect(s)customer clientbusiness

designer plansketch/prototype

productionmanufacturing

product

Design is not (only) about the product. Actually it is about the effects you want to achieve

BusinessCompetitive advantage

UsersPleasurable experience

Ecology/societyEcological footprint/

wellfare

short termeffects

mid termeffects

long termeffects

However, effects are not easy to predict...

We cannot know what the unintended consequences of a design will be, and we cannot know, ahead of time, the full, systemic effects of a design implementation.

Nelson & Stolterman (2002)

See Jones (1970)

“If we can design our way into difficulty, we can design our way out.”

John Thackara (2005)

Designers are optimists

Designers

Everyone is a designer!

True, or false

Het Beste Idee van Nederland

Nigel Cross (2011)

"Everyone can – and does – design. We all design when we plan for something new to happen, whether

that might be a new version of a recipe, a new arrangement of the living room furniture, or a new lay tour of a personal web page. […] So design thinking is something inherent within human cognition; it is a key

part of what makes us human.” (p. 3)

IKEA!!!

“Design ability is possessed by everyone”Nigel Cross (1990)

http://www.ikeahackers.net/

IKEA Hackers

Innovative use of the BJURSTA dining table to hold two toddlers. And the best thing is, when adults need to eat, the holes can be covered.http://www.ikeahackers.net/2011/01/best-hack-of-2010-your-vote-needed.html

"Everyone designs who devises courses of action

aimed at changing existing situations into preferred

ones."

Herbert Simon (1969)

What is the difference between an amateur

designer and a professional designer?

Laten we eens kijken naar de ontwerpen van Ed Baars. Ed is een ontwerper/uitvinder en ontwikkelt

“hulpmiddel apparaten”...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBP1nOXul1c

“Smeer en snij spaan voor de pindakaas of de chocoladepasta voor de sneetje brood”

http://www.youtube.com/user/idea28ed/videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeFqauOU1xk

“Accuboor aardappel schilmachine”

“aan douw hagelslag spaan” “broodjes snijplank snel en veilig”

“broodtrommel met klok” “keuken kitchen accu boor drill mixer eten food make”

Mijn favorieten

“We must design, because we are not perfect.”

Harold Nelson & Erik Stolterman (2002/2012)

“On a more abstract level, we are drawn to design because we may feel a lack of wholeness—we do not find the world in a condition that is satisfying or fulfilling for us. And, ultimately, we are motivated to design because it is an accessible means to enlightenment, to bring order, and to give meaning to our lives.”

“Like Hephaistos, we have to design because we want to survive, but humans also seem to have a will for continuous improvement and development.”

Why do we design?

"Designers are change agents in society. Their goal

is to improve the human condition, in all its aspects, through physical change."

John Gero (1990)

Position of design

design =

artTrue, or false

Bruce Archer (1979)

arts

design

engineering useful art???

science

Rich Gold (2007) / John Seely Brown (2009?)

Art Science

Design

outwardfocus

move minds move molecules

inwardfocus

Engineering

Charles Owen (1991)

Value freeValue driven(biased) (unbiased)

“Design, as a unique way of thinking and acting, does not have a long, well-developed scholarly history. Other intellectual traditions, such as science and art, have enjoyed thousands of years of considered thought...”

Harold Nelson & Erik Stolterman (2002)

Design Methodology Movement started in 1960’s.

Since Henry Ford introduced

the Model T (1908), designers

helped manufacturers to

produce more products for less.

experiences

objects

Functionalpractical / useful

tangible: can be perceived by

the senses

intangible: can be perceived by

�ma^�a^Zkm�

attractive / emotive

Expressive

Symbolic

Physical

experiences

objects

Functionalpractical / useful

tangible: can be perceived by

the senses

intangible: can be perceived by

�ma^�a^Zkm�

attractive / emotive

Expressive

Symbolic

Physical

Engineering

ArtDesignCMD

Art makes statements. Designs work.

Donald Norman (n.d.)

“The natural sciences are concerned with

how things are.”

“Design is concerned with how things ought to be, with devising

artifices to attain goals.”

Herbert Simon (1969)

Science vs Design

To conclude...

Art Science

Design Engineering

Creating culture Creating knowledge

Creating solutions???Creating meaning

Salut!

Please return the cards!

Next lecture: Design processesProblem solving