Student/Hung,Wei-HsuanProfessor/Wang, Hung-Hsiang

Course/Contemporary Theories in Design Research

Master Program of Innovation and Design,Department of Industrial Design National Taipei University of Technology

My Design Theory

“The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest men of past centuries.”

—Descartes

• John Chris Jones：Design Methods

• John Zeisel : Inquiry by Design • Herbert A. Simon : The science of The Artificial • Donald A. Norman : Design Everyday Things • Donald A. Schon : The Reflective Practitioner • Victor Papanek : Design for The Real World • Klaus Krippendorff : The Semantic Turn • Enkuan Kenji : The Aesthetics of the Japanese

Lunchbox

8 Contemporary Design Theories

Design Theories Review

John Chris Jones：Design Methods

+ Designing as the process of devising not individual products but whole systems or environments such as airports, transportation, hypermarkets, educational curricula, broadcasting schedules, welfare schemes, banking systems, computer networks. + Design as participation, the involvement of the public in the decision-making process. + Design as creativity, which is supposed to be potentially present in everyone. + Design as an educational discipline that unites arts and science and perhaps can go further than either. +And now the idea of designing Without a Product, as a process or way of living in itself.

John Zeisel : Inquiry by Design Tools For Environment-Behaviour Research

+ Design training to teach people how to take risks, research training to teach people how to reduce the risk.+ Environmental-Behaviour descriptions that can enable designers to improve control over behavioral side effects of their decisions include six elements: actor, act, significant others, relationships, context, and setting.

Observing Environmental Behavior

Qualities of the MethodEmpathetic Direct Dynamic Variably intrusive

Observer’s Vantage PointsSecret outsider Recognized outsider Marginal participant Full participant

Recording DevicesNotation Precoded checklists Maps Photographs Videotapes and movies

What to ObserveWho: actor Doing what: act With whom: significant others Relationships Context Setting

Herbert A. Simon : The science of The Artificial John Zeisel : Inquiry by Design Tools For Environment-Behaviour Research

Limits of Adaptation But matters must be just a little more complicated than this account suggests. "If wishes were horses, all beggars would ride." And if we could always specify a protean inner system that would take on exactly the shape of the task environment, designing would be synonymous with wishing. "Means for scratching diamonds" defines a design objective, an objective that might be attained with the use of many different substances. But the design has not been achieved until we have discovered at least one realizable inner system obeying the ordinary natural laws one material, in this case, hard enough to scratch diamonds.

+ Artificial things are synthesized (though not always or usually with full forethought) by human beings. + Artificial things may imitate appearances in natural things while lacking, in one or many respects, the reality of the latter. + Artificial things can be characterized in terms of functions, goals, adaptation. + Artificial things are often discussed, particularly when they are being designed, in terms of imperatives as well as descriptives.

Donald A. Norman : Design Everyday Things

Three levels of processing: Visceral, Behavioral, and Reflective. The visceral level is fast: it makes rapid judgments of what is good or bad, safe or dangerous, and sends appropriate signals to the muscles (the motor system) and alerts the rest of the brain. This is the start of affective processing. These are biologically determined and can be inhibited or enhanced through control signals from above. The behavioral level is the site of most human behavior. Its actions can be enhanced or inhibited by the reflective layer and, in turn, it can enhance or inhibit the visceral layer. The highest layer is that of reflective thought. Note that it does not have direct access either to sensory input or to the control of behavior. Instead it watches over, reflects upon, and tries to bias the behavioral level.

SENSORY MOTOR

Reflective

Behavioral

Visceral

The System Image

Designer’sConceptionalModel

User’sMentalModel

The designer's model, the system image, and the user's model.

For someone to use a product successfully, they must have the same mental model (the user's model) as that of the designer (the designer's model). But the designer only talks to the user via the product itself, so the entire communication must take place through the "system image": the information conveyed by the physical product itself.

Donald A. Schon : The Reflective Practitioner

Reflection-in-action can happen very quickly or over an extended period of time. It might also be on various aspects of practice, but the author suggests that it “is central to the art through which practitioners sometimes cope with the troublesome divergent situations of practice”. Such reflection might indicate that there is a problem with the practice, or that something needs tackling differently. In these instances, the practitioner will act experimentally (we are given several examples of this) in order to solve the problem.

Victor Papanek : Design for The Real World

In an age of mass production when everything must be planned and designed, design has become the most powerful tool with which man shapes his tools and environments (and, by extension, society and himself). This demands high social and moral responsibility from the designer. It also demands greater understanding of the people by those who practise design and more insight into the design process by the public. Not a single volume on the responsibility of the designer, no book on design that considers the public in this way, has ever been published anywhere.

Design Contribution

The Real

Problems of Design A Country

Design Contribution

The Real

Design Contribution

The Real

The world

Klaus Krippendorff : The Semantic TurnVictor

Meanings of Artifacts in

Use Language Life cycleEcology

act use, not in languageLanguage, not in their life cycle

Their life cycle, not in ecology

Relations between four theories of meaning of artifacts.

Enkuan Kenji : The Aesthetics of the Japanese Lunchbox

+ Beauty is Function + Flexible Functionality + Equipment That Draws Out Creativity + Saving Grace of the Prototype + Pine-Bamboo-Plum-Unification in Diversity + All-Inclusive Assimilation and Structuring + Developmentality of the Lunchbox + Untrammeled Adaptability- Hypothetical Culture + Model for a Civilization of Maturity + The Ultimate Spirit of Service-Heart of the Merchant

Develop My Design Theory

Difference Between Designers and Researchers

I agree with there are different professions between designers and researchers. For example, designers do better in transferring image into object. On the other hand, researchers do better in using information to examine concepts. However, John Zeisel mentioned that master designers and master researchers should have the same skill. That is, an ability of simplify. One concept is easier to simplify and also it is easier to examine, and of course that consequence will be mature. Hence, to be a designer, I should have an ability of simplifying, as many designers said about that more simple is harder to design.

E0 1 2 3

Design Methods?

John Chris Jones provides 36 design methods in the book which designers called it the “old bible”. But, I am wondering that is it possible to use these methods to deal with each design projects? I remember my first time being an internship in the design studio. I asked my boss “Why we do selections of design in such a short time?” I believed that there was a perfect SOP in designing a project. But my boss said” Because design happened in the present at 20% product time, and finished in the future(produce) at 80% product time. Also, the customer generally only gave designers a few time to do design.” As result, In my opinion, using Design Methods depending on different situations that maybe in a big scale project. Moreover, some case just depending on personal intuition. Hence, I realise that Design Methods is not so important in some design cases.

INTUITION

Three Levels of Processing

I agree with Donald A. Norman’s theory “Three Levels of Processing”. At first, I think these three levels are very interesting, and after reading the theory , it made me feel closer to human-centered. During the process of designing, I must think why people are attracted by the products. When people see the products, how to guild them to use the products. And also, what would influence their emotions towards the product and remain good impressions in people’s minds. Then, Norman also provides “The designer's model, the system image, and the user's model. “ For me, human-centered is the most important thing. However, when I face a hight innovational design project, it is hard to help me to come out with breakthrough ideas. As results, “Conceptual Models” maybe is not useful for innovational design.

The System Image

Designer’sConceptionalModel

User’sMentalModel

Environmental-Behaviour

John Zeisel took many architectures and Interior design example to explain the term E-B. Nevertheless, in product design, designer also should consider environmental elements. For example, double-door refrigerator. Designer considers saving spaces of kitchen, so design a double-door to save more space. Take another example, chair, designer always do observing of people’s behaviour, by observing how people set on the chair to adjust chair design, such as the most comfortable degree of back and most comfortable material of surface. So, in my opinion E-B is useful in product design.

Limits of Adaptation

What is design can do for the world? Can designer be a saviour? Designer is not a superman. For example, I always want to provide a flawless solution of problem. However, all I can do is balance all conditions, that is finding a satisfactory solution.

The Reflective Practitioner

Realising what you are doing in designing is an important thing for being a master designer. Take my personal experience as example, when I finished a design project, I always think about how can I do better in next project. That is to say, I keep chasing the ideal model of design. Not only experience many design project but also make reflection from project. So, for me, it is a necessary way to become a master designer.

The Responsibility of Designer

Victor Papanek statements a big problem during the machine age. Mass production affects earth environment, and world over surplus useless products. Before every single product be produced by designers. So, designers must take the responsibility with society. But, I am wondering that defining designers are main offender of mass production is it lifting overly? In the industry, designers are part of the chain, big power comes from business people. Designers do not have strong authority. When products are manufactured, the power of decision stand with the primary people who obtain benefits. In fact, every citizen has a responsibility to make better global environment, the designer has the ability to educate consumers, but consumers themselves are not completely ignorant, consumers are not confused, they have the right to make the final decision to buy or not to buy products..

Products And Goods

In my opinion, products and goods are divided, "Goods" is something after the advertising company's marketing. And “Products” is the objects before become “Goods” . Designers should not think that they are designing a profit targeted “Goods”. Designers should consider the real level of people’s demands. So, the designers has the responsibilities to design products that human beings real need.

Products

Advertising

Goods

Emotional Design

Klaus Krippendorff and Donald A. Norman described the process of user understanding the product. For example, as I saw Philippe Starck's alien juicer, I was attracted by its interesting appearance. The first stage had been reached with the “Visceral level”. Next, I think about how to use it, it tells me that put orange on top of its form. Then, squeeze orange juice falling sown along curved shapes. So, I know to put the cup under it. Although it may not good to use, but I can learn from it how to use through product semantics. Then it completed “Behavioral level”. Finally, because I have this product placed in the home decor. Also build my good taste. So, came to the final stage”Reflective level”. On the other hand, Enkuan Kenji ’s book Aesthetics of Japanese Luch Box also mentions the harmony beauty in life, he suggests “Feelingology”. Hence, designer should rethink the sensitive side of product.

Design in The future

Today's world is changing. Civic movement power wave towards social justice. Also, there come out many social enterprises and social designer. As entrepreneurs or designers, etc. Facing changes in the world, and the only way to being better is to be honest. I think the question is raised of years ago, people have seen the question and facing now.

What is Design for me?

Have Abilities of simplify things

find satisfactory solution take responsibility to the world

Doobservation

reflection

Besensitivehonest

Hung,Wei-Hsuan Email: ahxuan17@gmail.com

Contemporary Theories in Design Research

Master Program of Innovation and Design,Department of Industrial Design National Taipei University of Technology

Thanks for your attention.