Creative Design Lab (HCI206)

Feb. 22 introduction day to HCI course

Rationale for creative thinking is discussed, in the light of developments of the 4^th industrial revolution.

Design is seen as an iterative process, not as methodology. It includes design techniques (or methods) but not organised in a strict way, rather loosely used per stage of the design process.

Design is at the core of human activity; it defines what humans are.

The effort to classify design activity as being (or not) a scientific activity is irrelevant, as that question is invalid (Gedenryd, 1998).

Alexander, JC Jones 1960?s efforts to systematize design methods (treating design activity as scientific activity) later rejected effort tw systematic design methodology

Lawson (1980)

Design is a prescriptive activity Answering ?what it could be? or ?what it could be??

Designers try to define the future by forming an informed understanding of the present.

No optimal design solutions. No absolute method.

Schon (1983)

During the design process the designer iteratively reflects on the problem, provides elements of solutions, evaluated them, in iterative cycles of reconsideration and action based on the previous step.

Design activity is a problem solving activity, investigating and identifying aspects of the problem space.

designers should not design with fixed goals [(Simon, 1969), because design activity is a means to identify further design goals ? even goals that may be inconsistent with the original goals of the design activity.

Each situation that design generates is a starting point for a new design activity, and with this process one gradually identifies different aspects of the problem space.  (iterative process).

Design is systematic in its process

Not in the way it applies its methods

techniques that are analytical , others intuitive

no overall methodology,

3 broad iterative interascociated process phases:

thinking, designing, realizing

Design thinking is a process for practical, creative resolution of problems or issues looks for an improved future result.

combines empathy, creativity and rationality to meet user needs and drive business success.

Unlike analytical thinking, design thinking is a creative process based around the "building up" of ideas.

There are no judgments early on in design thinking. no fear of failure -maximum input and participation in the ideation and prototyping/sketching encouraged.

Design Methods focus on:

Understanding the user and the context of use

Exploring possibilities and constraints by focusing critical thinking skills to research and

define problem spaces for existing products or services?or the creation of new categories; (Brainstorming)

Redefining the specifications of solutions which can lead to better guidelines for traditional design activities

Managing the process of exploring, defining, creating artifacts continually over time

Prototyping possible solution scenarios that incrementally or significantly improve the inherited situation

Trendspotting; understanding the trend process.

BROAD PROCESS vs METHODOLOGY

There is no single way to practice design methods.

inherent flexibility is in the design approach; it is a combined product of the right use of techniques and methods as much as of intuition and skill. (T. Winograd), (Cross, 2008).

 "Methodology should not be a fixed track to a fixed destination, but a conversation about everything that could be made to happen. The language of the conversation must bridge the logical gap between past and future, but in doing so it should not limit the variety of possible futures that are discussed nor should it force the choice of a future that is unfree."(Jones 1991)

Semantic interpretation of images was outlined. Examples from photography, art, advertising, social media and photographic reportage were discussed. Group practised in identifying the visual elements that act as visual signs, then inferring their interpretation (what they signify) was attempted, and subsequently we hilighted taking into consideration the context, the indidual interpretations, cultural understanding, collective or contextual understanding, and importance of text in the interpretation of an image.

A better understanding on deriving meaning and semantic language, is achieved by group brainstorming on photographic examples and follow up discussion.

In Semiotics a second level of meaning is derrived (a "connotative"). These meanings are not objective representations of the thing depicted, but new usages produced by community, often following examples from language (i.e. metaphor, excaggeration, etc). Connotation arises from the relationship between a signifier and what it is signified.

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elements of form and their interrelationships

>--------------------------cause--------------------->

Relationships in the level of content and meaning

Every element in an image is transformed into a sign,

that signifies meaning

Every image tells a story

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Communication System

Communication model

Transmitter –> message -> receiver

application in the articulation of visual message

[ coding …… decoding ]

A simple sentence is transformed

Sentence AABB--->

message  (encoding)

(rhetoric is applied)--->

decoding --->

Sentence (ABBA-ish)

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language and image

In language

  Metaphor

  (i married a bear)

  Repetition,

    exaggeration, etc

In Image

  Transformation,

  replacement, repetition, increase in size, , etc

Semantics

Relationship of signs with what they represent

Syntax (syntactics):

Structure, and the relations between the signs

Interassociations of elements , signs, signifiers, meaning: semantic system

semiotics - Analyse the obvious meaning of text or image in media,

Then identify secondary associations of meanings that are not obvious at first glance, within the system of signs

Actions in images: addition, replacement, omission of visual elements,

In the level of image (signified)

Cause relationships in the level of meaning

System:  Elements and text are seen together to read the picture

The reading is based in Context, personal and cultural background

Watch out for

• Time, place, action, actors
• Mood, information
• Visual rythm
• Light, colour, contrast
• Framing, composition
• Depth of field
• Gaze
• Location of the viewer,
• structure, arrangement of elemets into grid, lines, axis

Scenario Based Design (SBD) is a method that is underlying design ideation, and is the basis of many other techniques (that are often stemming from cinematography or creative writing). Techniques such as text scenaria based on personas, text descriptions, visual storyboards, video prototypes, card based ideation, etc, all step on scenaria descritprion.

Refer to the documents on Carroll's Senario Based Design (paper).

Also read the related sections in Kumars 101 Design methods , section EXPLORE CONCEPTS, paying attention to Persona Definition, Concept Scetch, Concept Scenarios,

and then Kumar's section: FRAME SOLUTIONS: Foresight scenario, Solution storyboard, Solution enactment.

Critical Design uses speculative design proposals to challenge narrow assumptions, preconceptions and givens about the role products play in everyday life. It is more of an attitude than anything else, a position rather than a method. Design as critique has existed before under several guises. Critical Design adopts a highly critical approach of prevailing social values and design ideologies, (it is based on Italian Radical Design of the 1970s), and builds on this attitude and extends it into today's world or projecting it to a future world, that is sometimes dystopic.

In industry, Critical Design is brought in as a useful perspective in creative design workshops, usually in the very first ideation phase steps, wants to form open and often provocative questions in order to establish an out of the box understanding of the problem space, from a heretic or distopical perspective. As an approach it can be considered as avant guard, and its not as straihtforward nor easy to comprehend, nevertheless it is a worthy perspective for students that want to explore the full spectrum of design thinking.

Please refer in the LINKS section, to the Critical Design Links and lectures, with description and project examples that will help you grasp this perspective.

Read also the 2 conference papers on a) Speculative and Critical design, and b) Critical Design as critique to the Status Quo, in Documents section.

Practicing in groups (brainstorming then snowballing), on creating scenaria, concept scetches, concept storybords, solution storybords, concept sorting, process organistation. 

Pay special attention, in the book 101 Design methods: Methods: 5.13, 5.14, 5.15, 5, 16, 6.7, 6.8

Gamification techniques are often used for ideation. Their  benefits is that they offer a guided process, and help people relax, communicate, and have a common reference, and come up with ideas in a playfull but structured way. such methods that use gamification for ideation often use thematic card toolkits. Various card based methods are specially designed, and reported in the links related section: IoT tiles cards, IDEO user centered design toolkit, PLEX ideation cards method, MethodKit card sets, Triggers cards, bord of innovation, are to mention but some toolkits that have been more widely produced and used.

Refer to the section 5.9 of Kumar's book (Ideation game), to the Ideation games and game card techniques links section, as well as to the two related research articles: PLEX cards and Toolkits cards and games.

IDEATION GAMES

Enacting methods are the ideation methods using techniques derriving from theatrical play. Such methods include Role Play ideation, behavoural prototypes (sectoins 5.8 and 5.11 in Kumar's book), and also early prototyping methods, such as video prototyping, (M. Beaudouin Lafon and W. Mackay: Prototyping Tools and Techniques). Students were encouraged to try these out at home, and develop their scenaria further.

Students are expected to study 5.8 and 5.11, as well as the Beaudouin-Lafon & Mackay article.