What does design mean?

by KEVIN SILVER :: SEP 26, 2006 :: COMMENTS (1)

Design is on my mind. This is mostly driven by my extracurricular reading, currently “Thoughtful Interaction Design”; I just finished Saffer’s book: “Designing for Interaction: Creating Smart Applications and Clever Devices”. Also, I sift through numerous blogs daily that focus on user experience and design in general. At work, we have been talking about design and the meaning of user experience extensively over the last few months. Our conversations culminated in Chris’ Intro to UXD presentation for the local STC chapter. I attended the presentation and enjoyed the discussion afterwards. At one point during the discussion, I explained how to utilize design as an approach to tackle problems faced in creating a sound user experience. I found myself giving a rote answer: design is about solving problems using design thinking, user centered methodologies, and so forth...

Afterwards I started thinking about my answer and I asked myself, “Really, what does it mean to design?” A passage in chapter 2 of “Thoughtful Interaction Design” resonated with me. The authors talk about design as a thought process and at the end of this passage they state:

“... the first prerequisite for change and development in design thinking is to have a deeper understanding of design as such. Armed with this kind of knowledge, it is possible to start 'designing' your own way of design thinking."

That’s it, “your own way of design thinking.” I don’t think I need to design it -- it’s there, I’ve been practicing it. Maybe I need to identify it or better yet explain it. So over my next few blog entries using “Thoughtful Interaction Design” as a catalyst I’m going to try and answer my own question, “What does it mean to design?”

A good place to start to answer this question is with a quote I put on our internal message board the other day:

“In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts mind there are few.” Shunryu Suzuki

Tom Kelley talks about the “beginners mind” (shosin) in both “The Art of Innovation” and “The Ten Faces of Innovation”. Kelley persists in his description of the anthropologist persona that they “practice the Zen principle of 'beginner’s mind.'” He continues to state, “They have wisdom to observe with a truly open mind.” This reminds me of the four questions the youngest child is supposed to ask at the Seder dinner table, “Why on this night do we only eat matzoh?” The curiosity of a beginner, of not knowing where a project might take you, identifying and learning about a new design situation, and asking questions; all of these things fuel the design process.

In “Thoughtful Interaction Design”, the authors talk about challenging “the present situation”, avoiding simple solutions, and “that almost everything of importance in a design process is a result of thinking rather than preconditions, limitations, or “obvious problems.” They go on to say, “... questioning becomes a way to challenge the very reason for the design process to take place.” This thought process is an extension of the “beginner's mind”: unforeseen opportunities might exist when you look beyond any assumptions that you or your client have made in regards to the design situation you’re working on.

This leads me to an important characteristic of my design thinking: when you design you should question and challenge all assumptions. Asking "why" allows you to gain insight into and understanding of the true meaning of the design situation in front of you and hopefully permits you to identify unforeseen opportunities and solutions.

tags: ART OF INNOVATION, DESIGN, DESIGN THINKING, INTRO TO UXD, TEN FACES OF INNOVATION, THOUGHTFUL INTERACTION DESIGN, USER EXPERIENCE DESIGN

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