Design thinking workshop with M P Ranjan

This was a three day seminar held at the Transcultural Design Centre, Srishti

Following are my notes:

• General to the ultimate particular

Erik stolterman explains this as: “The outcome of a specific design process…is an ultimate particular. It is something unique. It is not the universal car, the universal organizational structure, or curriculum. We are creating a particular, which, when taken together with other particulars, makes up the whole of our experienced reality."

  "Distinctions between what is true (e.g., universal or general) and what is real (e.g., particular, full particular and ultimate particular) can be made in the following ways. A painting by Cézanne is real; the atomic weight of copper is true. An experience is real; a scientific observation is true. An organization is real; a proven fact is true. An individual’s perspective is real; a predictable event is true."

Though I am yet to fully grasp the concept. But this is what I understood so far: designs are the outcome of a problems/ opportunities. They are created in a certain context so even we have an answer to a problem, it is not the same when applied onto a different situation. So certain things are fixed. The way we may approach a problem, our reference points yet when applied to a specific situation, it takes its own form.

[Referred from the Nature of Design Practice and Implications for Interaction Design Research by Erik Stolterman, http://transground.blogspot.in/2009_09_01_archive.html]

[Link: http://www.ijdesign.org/ojs/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/240/148]

• Something could be graphical to something very design centric
•  Fuzzy front end of design
• Skeleton versus rich picture

When we solve a problem, the first step includes making a map of the product, service etc from beginning to end. The point Ranjan made here is that instead of limiting ourselves to just the basic wireframe of the product, service etc. cycle, he suggested why not keep the complexity is alive.

His point was that often we ignore or miss out on vital opportunities due to extreme refinement of the thought process in the initial iteration process.

• Understand the scope of a project by mapping the nodes, lines from one service or object to another. Each node could represent one area of opportunity.

This adds on to the point above. only when we have a near exhaustive maps can we see the opportunity points. As the product/services move from one point to another, it will encounter different problems. For example if we have to deliver pizza from a shop to a house, would mean something as common as bribing the  police to operate smoothly to learning what happens to the trashed can. In short, something as common as the bribing in India doesn't need a special research but happens as we spend time with the community.

• While designing, talk about the alternative: It gives the option to negotiate in different situations

Another point that can be applied to any creative practice. Always have options, even we choose to go with one. So not just we can show our work and explain better why a certain idea is much more worthwhile to pursue. It also works a repertory in case the situation changes.

• Importance of fuzzy drawings help us in understanding the quality of a space but it may not have a name (Christopher Alexander)

I loved the way Christopher explains the essence of experience. So during his thesis, he came to India and spent few months to study the evolution of the patterns of the civilization that lived near the Ganges basin. While explaining the same, he concluded that experience is not something that can be explained through strict lines. Each place has its own essence so even if the patterns are same, the essence will vary. So having a very graphically structured drawing will show only half the truth. Fuzzy drawings are good. It does what a perfect rendering would fail to achieve.

• ‘Design thinking is about talking plus doing’

There needs to be a balance between the two of it. Talking can help in explaining why a certain member  of the team chooses a specific post-it to being able to crit within a team.

It is as much important that we do (write, prototype etc.) what is in our mind and not talk about it solely.

• ‘Thinking about how we behave is essential to understanding how a group works.’

This works especially when there is  a team. Our reactions, the way we negotiate for our ideas, understanding how each one of us behaves when a certain idea is dropped can give us cues to what, when and how each member behaves and believes. Having a good team is as much important to a design process as is having a good output.

• ‘Learn how to do it. Not reading design methods. We don’t need knowledge, but insights.’

This is what Ranjan told me, when asked how do we know if the certain process is worth any effort at all. I told him how in the other course we were following a very strict guideline on how to come about a solution. But what happens when the situation changes, can a process which is so effective in one be effective in another situation?

•  Reference: 101 design methods, Service design tools.org, Designing design by Jogn Chris Jones
• Basic classification of design process by Ranjan:

Intuitive

Categorize

Analytical

Explorative

Abduction: Fusing of two design ideas to create new alternatives

Synthetic

Reflective