Posts Tagged ‘process’
Prototyping allows solution creators to build and test ideas before introducing them to a world where errors are costly. Prototyping is iterative. One after another, prototypes are build and tested then rebuilt incorporating the lessons of the previous iteration. The iterative process prototyping includes means the design solution is vastly improved before being tested in the world. Whether product, service, or collection of ideas, the design solution is never finished and shipped, merely tested in the world. The deeper concept here is provisionality.
Prototyping and the design mind rely heavily on provisionality. A solution or idea, even if insanely great, is never finished, never perfect, never the best. Design solutions express the best thinking, processes, tools, materials, and choices possible at a particular moment. 
A moment later, the mix that gave rise to the solution has changed and new possibilities for improvement are available. Also, the moment the design solution is free to be tested by the world, the number and variety of tests rapidly exceeds what any designer could accomplish or anticipate. Every test throws off knowledge and, if feedback was part of the design as it should be, the design solution will continue throwing off knowledge about new design challenges and ways to improve the design solution.
As design thinking continues to escape the design studio, we’ll notice a shift in what we mean by “done” and “finished.” The objects, processes, and policies — artifacts of design solutions — that surround us will liquefy a bit. This liquefaction is not the chaotic, rapidly accelerating change that frightens us. Beginnings and endings, roles, identities, and cultural norms will continue to become less rigid and more plastic. Selected and deployed design solutions will continue to perform as we develop our ability to see the lessons they are throwing off while being tested in the world. Provisionality in practice and thought allows us to accept and use the design solutions we have and see the opportunities for building the new solutions we need.
Massimo Vignelli is one of our greatest living designers. One of the core tenants of his design philosophy is: if you can design one thing, you can design everything. He is referring to the discipline of design, but what he is really talking about is process.
What Vignelli speaks to is the power of process, a solid thought process, to solve a variety of problems. Design tools—line, curve, color, type, image, sketching, modeling, proportion, the grid, the layout—are employed in various ways throughout the process. A solid process helps the thinker understand the problem or challenge at hand in its uniqueness, investigate its history, and play with ways of addressing it. A solid process does is not a stock way of creating design, business, political, or any other kind of solution; a solid process helps you see the unique situation at hand, work through and identify a solution, and make that solution real.
Understanding Vignelli is essential for designers, but also valuable for anyone interested in better thinking and a living example of the power of process.
Vignelli Interview with Debbie Millman @ Design Observer
Vignelli’s design principles are summarized in the book, The Vignelli Canon, available as a free PDF.
Sketches, iterations, prototypes, working large, sketch walls, massive whiteboards—these are all part of the design thinking process. What does it look like when it all comes together? The video below shows sketches, massive whiteboards, prototypes, and how ideas develop and grow. It is from fueseproject’s (Yves Behar’s design studio) work in designing the new Sayl chair for Herman Miller.
After more than 70 prototypes and extensive testing, the Sayl chair emerged using fewer components than similar chairs, costing less than Herman Miller’s Aeron and Embody chairs, wearing Herman Miller’s 12-year warranty, and bursting with design choices around sustainability. Sayl is a great chair inspired by the Golden Gate Bridge, but it is also the tangible representation of the design thinking process and visual thinking tools used in creating it.
Why process?
Everyone has idea generation and problem solving processes. People often resist this idea until they are asked what they did the last time they had to come up with a complicated plan. “Well, first I . . ., then . . . .” These are the signs of an underlying process.
Why should you explore process?
How you think is something that touches every moment of your life and is deeply connected to your happiness and success in life. How you approach challenges affects your ability to create solutions and the effectiveness of those solutions. A small improvement in how you think, create ideas, and solve problems will have huge impact on how you live and act as that improved process is used thousands and thousands of times.
How to get started?
Think about how you See, Solve, and Act. Look at the questions here and ask yourself how you would go about answering these questions. Seeing, solving, and acting can be thought of as a simple process model. Finding your process begins with looking at how you see, solve and act in your daily life.
Seeing, solving and acting are the essential components of everything you do.
Better thinking improves and accelerates how you see, solve and act. Learn more.
