The Design Process

As we have already seen, design does not actually create an artefact, design is an integral part of an overall system through which a gap in the user experience is sensed and a plan for an artefact is created.  That is the design part, and after that some production process is usually required to transform that plan into an artefact itself.

Credit: Karl Ulrich - Design Creation of Artifact in Society

We are interested in developing a design process that gets us from the gap in the user experience to a plan for an artefact that can actually solve the problem.

The Design Process follows the PCDA Cycle of Plan Do Check Art.  It is a process that has been used in quality improvement for more than 50 years. In many ways it is the foundation of the design process we are going to be looking at.

The basic idea behind the design process is that if we breakout the piece of the overall system (Design and Produce) that transforms the gap into an artefact, the design portion is made up of 4 pieces.

The first piece is the recognition of the gap; the recognition that there is a problem.  Sensing the gap is somewhat self-evident as it is you as the user or the designer that is going to experience some discomfort, pain, lack of satisfaction, around some element of the user experience that is going to give rise to the design challenge.

My Saturday chores involve waking up by 3 am, sweep the house and scrub while the kids are still asleep. I find great dissatisfaction in the mops I use and in the last couple of months I have bought several mops and still not satisfied. So as a user or designer, this lack of satisfaction with my mop can be a base for a new design process.

In the case of the design project that is the bases of this blog, I designed a case for my Kindle PaperWhite.  I had used the official Kindle case before and although it is a well built and quality product, I did find some gap in using it.

When I go places where I would have to sit for a long time, I do take my Kindle so I could read. So I took the Kindle to the hospital but quickly realised it didn’t have a pocket for me to keep my hospital card or a jotting sheets.  Getting the Kindle out of the case is also a difficult task, and the Kindle case is rather expensive compared to other products in the market, or even compared to the price of the Kindle itself.

The gap with the current solution can be one of or a combination of various gaps: it may be ergonomics, it may be aesthetics, it may be ease of use, and it may be cost.

Besides sensing the gap there are three other steps in the design process and they are: Define the Problem; Explore Alternatives, and Select a Plan.

The problem definition phase tries to characterise the nature of the gap in a way that designers can internalise what the problem is.  It is an attempt to state the problem in a way that the solutions can be imagined.  Now, you will rarely get it right but problem definition is about trying to figure out, before you embark on an exploratory process, what the problem or gap really is that we are trying to close.
The goal of the next step, exploring alternatives, is to look under every rock, look behind every bush and make sure you have a complete map of the landscape of possibilities. You ensure that you know all the alternatives and can make an informed choice from the array of possibilities.

In design these alternatives are not laid out in front of you. You actually have to do some hard work to go look for them and in many ways this is the beef in the design process; it is the hardest part and the hallmark of design.  Exploring alternatives is a divergent thinking about all the different ways in which the challenges can be addressed.

If you think of my Kindle case, you may think of all the different ways that you can hold the Kindle; it might involve holding it in a sack like a pouch, it might involve carrying it in a wooden box like a pack of cigar, or it might even be wearing it around your neck if you can pull off the Apple Pocket Watch  trick.  It might involve sliding it into some form of protective shell.  These are just alternatives for carrying the Kindle, there can also be some alternatives for how you use the Kindle while in the case.  Would it have an elastic strap to secure it to your hand? Would it have a stand by which it can sit on the table while reading?

There would also be alternatives relating to safeguarding the Kindle, protecting the screen, there would also be alternatives pertaining to the ease of use; does the case put the Kindle to sleep when you shut it or you would need to push the power button.

Exploration is fundamentally divergent and its goal is to unearth as many possibilities possible so that you understand what the best solutions might look like and eliminate from consideration those solutions that are not as promising.

The last step, selecting plan, is about accessing that landscape of possibilities and horning in on the approach which is going to best meet the user needs, which is going to best close the gap in the user experience.  So in general, the design process is about characterising the problem, understanding the user needs, and then diverging from that to understand the full space of possibilities, and entering into a process of convergence in which that space of possibilities is narrowed down to a few great alternatives or approaches that you can take with the product.

Going forward, we are going to be exploring in greater details those 3 key steps which are define problem, explore alternatives, and select plan.

What is Design

Design is conceiving and giving form to artifacts that solve problems.
                           -  K Ulrich

Artifact is used in a very broad sense here to describe any product of intentional creation including physical goods, services, software, business models, etc.

Design ultimately solves a problem.  This is easier for me to understand, as a mechanical Engineer, design entails calculating the forces and selecting the material for a machine or structures.  This is different from the general perception of design as aesthetics.  A good design is a creation that solves the problem effectively.

We can visualize the design process by thinking of a cave man, let’s call him Kumba, who recently discovered the fun of camping and desirous of digging holes for a bamboo tent - the gap, goes off to create a charcoal sketch of what some alternatives might look like - concept generation. Then after settling on an alternative, Kumba goes on to create it.

There was a problem/gap that Kumba was responsive to, then he conceived of some form and produced that form to create an artifact.  This is what design is all about, in other words it is conceiving and giving form to artifacts that solve problems.

Design is part of a human problem-solving activity beginning with a perception of a gap in a user experience, leading to a plan for a new artifact, and resulting in the production of that artifact.   This problem-solving process includes both design and production of the artifact.

There is a distinction between design and production.  Design transfers a gap into a plan, which might be represented with drawings, computer models, or parameter values.  Production than transfers that plan into an artifact.

It is typical for the first effort or version in design not to create a very nice form of the artifact, in other words doesn’t do the job well.

So how do we go from the first effort to a highly refined and very successful product that addresses the gap quite well.

That is what I will be addressing over the coming posts.

My Introduction to Design

Design was not a topic I was familiar with, I knew I wasn’t good at design so I accepted my fate.  But I came to understand that almost all things in life can be learnt especially when you put your heart to it.  The difficult part was first building up the interest.

So what got me interested in design? A lot of things but the turning point was listening to Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson.  Ok, I am a lazy reader so most times if I can get an audio version of a book, especially biographies I get that instead.

Learning about Job’s taste for good design, I too consciously began to get a sense for design; I began to recognize good designs.  Another thing I learnt from Steve Jobs was minimalism.  So uncluttered design became a subject I was interest in.  Truly, “simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.

As with anything I get interested in, I went all out to build my design skills.  The first formal design course I took was with Udacity; "The Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman. Then like finding gold I stumbled upon Karl Ulrich design course on Coursera; "Design: Creation of Artifacts in Society". This website started as my weekly assignment for the course. After the course I began buying books that would improve my design skills and the things I have learnt are what I hope to share on this platform.  I still search for any course or programme that has the word design in my bid to learn all I can.

BETA/FINAL PROTOTYPE

After additional refinement from last week, we are here now.

1. My artifact is named Kindle Pouch, being that it allows me safely carry my Kindle about.

2. Below are images of the artifact

Casing acting as a stand for the Kindle in portrait mode

Kindle Pouch opened to show the pocket to hold paper, cards, and other writing material as well as the elastic holders for the Kindle.

Case acting as a stand for the Kindle in landscape mode

Case opened and folded

Kindle Pouch closed and locked

Kindle Pouch opened with Kindle inplace

Kindle Pouch side view

3. Gap: In what way may I securely carry my Kindle Paperwhite and writing materials about. 

Key user need:

• The Case protects the Kindle
• The Case should not be bulky
• The Case should be easy to use
• The Case invokes admiration
• Ability to use the Kindle without holding it
• The Case holds writing materials as well
• The Case should be portable
• Case is affordable
• Case should not hinder accessibility
• Case should be durable

I love reading on my Kindle, and I get to carry it about. So a casing would be appropriate to securely carry it about. I have the official Kindle Papewhite casing but I have three main problems with it.

i. It is very expensive

ii. It lacks a form of pocked where I can keep jotting materials like a sheet of paper or my hospital card when I take my Kindle to hospital.
iii. Fixing and removing the Kindle from the case was difficult, as it acts like an almost permanent case.

The Kindle Pouch has solved these three problems and met the key user needs rather well.

4. For further refinement, the stitching would be done with machine rather than the thread and needle I used for this case. The cardboard used for the core (in between the outer material for the case) then to buckle when standing in portrait mode, this would have to be changed to something stronger like a sheet of plastic. Lastly, the strap that locks the kindle blocks the micro USB port meaning it cannot be charged while locked so this can also be fixed by way of a refinement.

5. To reduce the cost of searching for or identifying the Kindle Pouch, assuming it is lying on a shelve in a store, the name of the artifact is written on it.

Artifact showing brand name (Kindle Pouch)

ALPHA PROTOTYPE

From the refinement in previous weeks, I have committed to making the "Vertical Flip" Kindle Case. Beside the choice of the case, user test revealed that a form of magnetic lock would be desired, this has also be incorporated into the Alpha Prototype.

Unlike the initial prototype that was build from cardboards, this one was built out of fabric, something closer to the desired material.

Vertical Flip Case acting as a Kindle Stand

Case Showing Lock

Case while opened

I have passed the prototype to my users to try out and taking of their suggestions.

One of such suggestion is to change the material used from fabric to something stronger maybe synthetic leather.

The casing has a cardboard core, while I was sewing the casing I realized the core needs to be smaller by 2mm around, so that would be taken care of in the next prototype

Question 5.1 Concept Testing

Selected Concept

1. Concept D: the vertical flip case was selected

Sketch of Selected Concept

Gap;

In what way might I securely carry my Kindle Paperwhite and writing materials

Primary Needs:

• The Case protects the Kindle
• The Case should not be bulky
• The Case should be easy to use
• The Case invokes admiration
• Ability to use the Kindle without holding it
• The Case holds writing materials as well
• The Case should be portable
• Case is affordable
• Case should not hinder accessibility
• Case should be durable

2. Process of testing concept

To arrive at this concept I carried out physical tests with users using the 4 prototypes created.

5 users were shown the prototypes and all five preferred the selected concept.

Besides the overall concept, I also tested their preference for some key features. They all thought that holding the Kindle in place by way of elastic wasn't very secure even when I explained I could change the design to make it more secure. So I dropped the idea.

The key deciding factor for picking the concept was the ability to have the Kindle stand in both vertical and horizontal orientation. The selected concept produced the best result.

As for the case holding a pen and paper (writing materials) all five agreed it was cool to be able to hold a jotting sheet or card but only two of the five participants were cool with holding a pen in the case, so I would give that further consideration as the class progresses.

All suggested that some form of magnetic clip for the lock would be most desirable.

Question 4.2: PROTOTYPING

Below are photographs of my prototypes.

C Horizontal Flip

Horizontal Flip Closed

Horizontal Flip acting as Kindle stand

D. Vertical Flip

Vertical Flip empty

Vertical Flip Landscape

Vertical Flip side view

Vertical Flip Portrait

I. Elastic Fixator

Elastic Fixator closed

Elastic Fixator empty (showing elastic)

Elastic Fixator opened

G. Magnetic Clip Lock, changed to Elastic Lock (could not get magnetic clips)

All