This course is called Design Creation of Artifacts in Society. Now I guess technically design doesn't actually create the artifact. Design is an integral part of an overall system, through which first a gap in the user experience is sensed, and then a plan for an artifact is created. That's the design part. And then some production process is usually required to transform that plan into an artifact itself. So, for instance, in the case of the Zyliss ice cream scoop, there, there the designer began with some problem. Some challenge with the existing solutions. Created probably some drawings or some computer models of a, of a desired solution. And then there's a production process that produces the artifact itself. One of the key elements of this course is to deliver a process for doing design. Most of us are interested in actually being able to solve problems, to be able to actually address gaps in the user experience, and it isn't really all that helpful to just say the design is conceiving and giving form to artifacts that solve problems. We want to know how to actually do that. So what I want to do is I want to lay out for you a design process. That, gets us from A to B, that gets us from the gap in the user experience through to a plan for an artifact that can actually solve the problem. Now, The design process, the process that I'm gonna articulate to you, really has its roots in the Shewhart quality improvement process, which sometimes goes by the name PDCA cycle, or plan do check act. And, that process is one that has been used in quality improvement and process improvement for more than 50 years. And in many ways that's the root of the that's, that's the foundation of the design process that I'm gonna describe for you. And if you really think about it, it may even go back to the scientific method as articulated by Francis Bacon. So the basic idea behind the design process, is that. If were to break out that piece of that overall system that transforms gap into artifact. The design portion of that has four pieces. Or I'm going to use, I think it's useful to think about it as having four pieces. Now the first piece is kind of easy, which is that basically you have to at some point sense that there is a gap, recognize that there is a problem. Now, sensing the gap is somewhat self evident. You, as the user, or you as the designer are gonna experience some discomfort, pain, lack of satisfaction around some element of the user experience. And that's gonna, Give rise to, to the design challenge. Now, there is certainly some skill involved in sensing gaps and finding needs and identifying problems in the world. But, I'm going to put that aside for a moment and I'm going to focus on the remaining three steps in the design process. And those three steps are, define the problem, Explore alternatives and select a plan. Let me take the three, Made steps in the design process and illustrate them with an example. If we go back to the ice cream scoop example, let's start with defined problem. Probably in the case of the Zyliss designer, there was some kind of existing solution, this, this scoop is the dominant, was the dominant commercial design, say for the past ten years or so. And, The, the problem definition, Phase of the design process is really concerned with, one of the central. Elements of the gap here in the user experience. Is that, is the problem ergonomic, that is does it, does it relate to wrist strain. Is the problem aesthetic? People thinks these are ugly or, or look unsanitary. Is the problem sanitation? Is there is there a problem with disinfecting the ice cream scoops?Is Is the problem the aesthetic of the scoop itself the form that the ice cream takes on. Is the problem production costs? Maybe the existing solution. Are too expensive. The problem definition face, Tries to characterize the nature of the gap in a way that the designer can internalize what the problem is that, that's to be solved. Now, you'll rarely get it right, but problem definition is really about trying to figure out before you embark on an exploration process. What really is the problem? What's the gap you're trying to close? Now the next step, exploring alternatives. The goal here is to look under every rock and to look behind every bush, and to make sure that you have a complete land, complete map of the landscape of possibilities, that you know what all the, the alternatives are. And, once you know them then you can make an informed choice. But, in general, those alternatives in design are not laid out in front of you. You actually have to do some hard work to go look for the alternatives, to go unearth the alternatives, to generate the alternatives. And in many ways, that's the hardest part and the hallmark of design. Which is that divergent thinking about what are all the different ways that we could address the, the challenge. So, in the case of the ice cream scoop, if we think about the exploration challenge, you really want to think about what are all the different ways that you could form a scoop of ice cream? There might, you, it might involve shaving, it might involve molding, it might involve cutting like a cookie cutter, it might involve working with a preformed log or, Or cylinder of ice cream that's part of the packaging. And those would just be the alternatives related to forming the ball or forming the, the, the, the serving of ice cream. There would also be alternatives related to, the interface or the interaction between the hand and handle there would be alternatives related to how you prevent sticking and, and enable the release of the scoop and there will be alternatives related to the aesthetics, surface finishes, and ways that you clean the ice cream scoop. So you can, Hopefully understand that exploration is fundamentally divergent. And it's goal, is to unearth all of the possibilities or as many of the possibilities as possible. So that you understand what, where you can go. What the best solutions might look like, And have really eliminated from consideration those that, those solutions that aren't as promising. And then the last step in the process is about assessing that landscape from a possibility and, Honing in on that approach which is gonna best meet the user needs. Which is gonna best close the gap in the user experience. So overall, the design process is fundamentally about characterizing the problem. Understanding the user needs, And then diverging from that, to understand the full space of possibilities. And then, Entering into a process of convergence, in which that space of possibilities is narrowed down to a few great alternatives. To a few great approaches that you can take with the product. Now we're gonna spend the rest of the course, really, exploring in greater detail those three key steps. But that gives you a sense for what the design process is about.
