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November 07, 2006
The Process of Design
So a good friend of mine has asked a most very interesting question:
"What is your process? What do you consider important? What is all hype to you? What works well in school but just is not feasible in the real world?"
Of course I am referring to the Random Dude's humongous question about how people's design process work. Well, ask a silly question get a silly answer.
My process usually involves thinking in the beginning; and I mean real thought thumping brain power going into whatever it is I am doing. Let's say I am designing something new about the toilet. In Industrial Design we like to know our user. Many times, at least as a student, designers will go and observe their users. Usually, we just watch and observe how our user uses what they use. The handy-dandy ID research kit usually include a small notebook, a pen, a camera, and possibly even a tape recorder. But enough about that - lets get into the gritty work.
With observations done and in-home interviews complete, us ID'ers like to stew and contemplate about our findings. "Hmmm", we say. "What can I do that is new enough to be different but not different enough that it might scare people?" After a lot of synthesizing and deducing through obscene graphs, charts, personas, storyboards, and brainstorming we come to finally drawing. Drawing is the most basic and essential tool in the ID arsenal, excluding of course the mind blowing thinking we do. Sketch, sketch, sketch...toilet, toilet, toilet.
So it is usually about here where things get a little more serious. Okay, we've been sketching and even computer rendering like crazy now and it is time to review. "Good idea, bad idea, scary idea, what the hell is that, why do you work here, that's not so bad, l kinda like this but can you use this over here and put it on this here, great...yeah." It goes like this for a while where more and more serious designer aspects come into play. Aspects like materials, color, form detailing, other refinements, and possibly manufacturing processes.
Finally, you get to the "do it or loose it" round - by the way I just totally made that up, like right now. Anyhow there is a lot of either "hey that's cool, real nice, this is coming together" or "I liked what you had two weeks ago, I think you're loosing focus, what happened to your concept, get out of my face, try looking at other people's work for examples and inspiration." Okay. So you either make it with little tweaks here and there or you get squished down hard core and still have to come up with something.
Regardless of your work there is still more to be done. You have to get the most amount of details figured out before you present it to your teacher or boss. Basically you go back again to the drawing board to make some adjustments and modifications. At this point you might have just figured out what you are doing because until now you have probably been lost trying to figure out your own concept. This happens most of the time. You are close to Jedi ability if you have a solid concept and know exactly how to execute it from day one. What was the subject again...oh yeah, a toilet. At this time your new and totally awesome toilet is ready to be unveiled with all of its awesomeness.
Here we go! (3-minute sketches to illustrate weeks of hard work)
That's right, the same damn thing that is already out there but a different shade of white.
It's a toilet that utilizes a monkey (with glasses) that flushes it for you.
I can't even begin to figure out how to use it. (AKA, the over-designed / over-engineered thing I need to take a dump in).
Or, the all that was needed was a better ergonomic seat.
So out of the group of designers or students this is what ends up coming out. One is picked and then brought through the production phase of sourcing materials and manufacturers to make it at a competitive price. However, there might even be a chance that it does not go into production at all. Then it all starts back over again.
Trust me, if I told you this in any other way you might have fallen asleep out of boredom. Yes, ID is possibly the funnest thing to do, EVER, but there is certain dryness to it sometimes. Kinda like British humor and even that is hard to get through. There are a lot of nuances left out of my article because each project is very different. There are about a million more things that go on and happen that are project unique.
By the way, this is just one of many methods that Industrial Designers use to create objects. There is another methodology that eliminates the research and the designers just design. They don't need to think and cram over copious amounts of data to design a beautiful object. They instead rely on their great talent and sense of aesthetics to get the job done. This is totally acceptable. In my mind there is no 100% right way or wrong way. There is just a way. It is up to you to find your way and apply it so. It is that kind of thinking that makes a designer unique and creative. If we all fit into the same mold of thinking and practice of design we’d still be using the candlestick instead of a light bulb.
Posted by Will at November 7, 2006 06:08 PM
Comments
LOL - GREAT article. I guess you could say that we would still be using a hole in the ground instead of the toilet! My favorite one has to be the monkey :) Your writing style on this post was a Virginia Woolf inspired industrial design stream of consciousness musing. Keep writing, keep drawing - keep up the good work!
Posted by: Leah at November 8, 2006 06:56 AM
Thanks Leah. I really had a lot of fun writing this article. I did most of the writing all in one sitting.
Posted by: Will at November 8, 2006 08:13 AM
did they ever teach you in Industrial design that cruelty to animals is passe?
did you ever consider what happens when the monkey reaches his/her expiration date?
And why does he/she need to have glasses?
Good article overall. Excellent illustrations.
Posted by: kelllie at November 8, 2006 07:28 PM
In response to "Kellie's" comment:
If you notice there are a lot of items currently out on the market that need to be refilled, replenished, replaced, or repaired. Some kind of end or failure is designed into a product.
For example, the cheap metal art stools that would comforted you for 4 years in college. I'm sure you ran across bunches that were broken. Yet the best example of a waste product is the disposable toilet bowl cleaner. It is a little sponge thing that is attached to the end of a wand that is used to clean the inside of the toilet bowl. Back again to toilets, I don’t know why. When used it can just be dropped in and flushed away. So instead of using a reusable funky towel or sponge you can instead keep polluting and wasting in the name of convenience.
Some group or single designer came up with that solution to a problem. Now to be fair it might not all have been the designers idea. The company that employed the designer probably gave them a brief saying, "market research shows us that people hate dealing with toilet soiled sponges. Make something more disposable and not as messy."
What I am trying to say here is that waste and failure are just as designed as the material the product is made out of. True, sometimes designers can't help but end up creating a wasteful product. However, it is their creativity that can push beyond waste to make a better product which in turn helps the client’s company look all eco-friendly and stuff.
By the way, you can pick up a toilet flushing monkey at any Safeway. They are on the bottom shelf. The glasses denote intelligence. Only monkeys with a degree in leverage can flush the toilet.
Posted by: Will at November 9, 2006 02:55 AM
Here's a revelant post i hope you don't erase.
http://www.mocoloco.com/
Posted by: kellie at November 16, 2006 01:34 AM