Integrated Product Design Workshop
OBJECT STORIES: COMMUNICATING DESIGN
01
7 Ways Writing Is Like Design
Reading Design
03
02
Writing About Everyday Objects
Design Your Object Stories
04
“ “… how writing can communicate design – how it can shed light on the process, the intent, the expression, on how it is so essential and applicable to our most significant human activities (even and especially including the most mundane objects and experiences), how it can shine a light on and clarify the universe of connections and ideas that make design special and valuable — or not.”
Paolo antonelli in the foreword to ‘By Design’ by Ralph Caplan
Caroline Tiger I’ve been thinking and writing about design for more than a decade as a journalist, and shaping the way others think about and look at design through my work as a content strategist, B2B marketer, ghostwriter, editor, educator, and curator. I’m currently the senior content strategist at Bresslergroup, a researchdriven product innovation lab in Philadelphia. Their strategists, researchers, designers, and engineers have a lot to say, and I help them say it.
01
7 Ways Writing Is Like Design
1 tension
2 research
3 clarity
The tension between maintaining your
Research is required.
The clearest points of view are the most
voice while writing to
successful. Clearly
a particular audience. The struggle between
communicated means clearly received - no
a designer’s POV and a
getting stuck on
client’s.
meaning; no need for user manuals.
4 both require making a lot of choices.
Writing product
Product of design
Subject matter
Form factor
Tension
Visual brand language
Scene-setting
Multisensory elements
Word choice
Digital and physical user interface
Choice of quotations and dialogue
Interaction (simple or complex?)
Lede and ending
Content (on UI)
Structure
Materials and color
Pacing
Use of technology Onboarding experience
5 both go through a lot of iterations.
6 both come in many forms.
Writing product
Product of design
Dead tree
Hardware
Tweets
Software
Big screen
Design of environment
Small screen
Architecture
Tattoo
Augmented reality
TED talk
Virtual reality
Song
Gestural
Picture book
System Service
Surface Magazine
Core77
IDEO on Medium
ACM Interactions Magazine
COMPLICATION
1st development
7 both have the user’s journey in mind.
2nd development Writers outline, plot, and structure a narrative arc.
3rd development
resolution source: Writing for Story, Jon Franklin
COMPLICATION Waiting frustrates users.
1st development Computers communicate badly.
both have the user’s journey in mind.
2nd development Computer-human interaction field pushes user-friendliness.
“Who Made That Progress Bar?”
3rd development The majority of people like progress bars.
resolution Progress bars reassure users.
3/7/2014, New York Times
Designers outline, plot, and structure a narrative arc.
02
Writing About Everyday Objects
Pizza Saver
Broken Umbrella
Brannock Device
Snake Mint Can
Digging for gold: Backstory / origins The person (designer) and people (makers? muses? critics?) behind the object Historic and cultural context Details about form and aesthetics/look and feel About process of manufacture and materials, About its intended function About the way users interact with it
snake mint can
03
Reading Design
new york times readings
H o w d o t h e w r i t e r s ...
Look at:
“shed light on the process, the intent, the expression, on how it is so essential and
Subject matter
applicable to our most significant human
Scene-setting
activities (even and especially including the most
Word choice
mundane objects and experiences), into how it
Choice of quotations and dialogue
can shine a light on and clarify the universe of
Lede and ending
connections and ideas that make design special
Structure
and valuable — or not.”?
Sources of tension
Pacing
L o o k at: Form factor Visual brand language Multisensory elements Digital and physical user interface Interaction (simple or complex?) Materials and color Use of technology End-to-end experience
Significant object readings
H o w d o t h e w r i t e r s ...
Look at:
“shed light on the process, the intent, the expression, on how it is so essential and
Subject matter
applicable to our most significant human
Scene-setting
activities (even and especially including the most
Word choice
mundane objects and experiences), into how it
Choice of quotations and dialogue
can shine a light on and clarify the universe of
Lede and ending
connections and ideas that make design special
Structure
and valuable — or not.”?
Sources of tension
Pacing
@alice.rawsthorn
*
How are their perspectives different? How is this communicated in the images and in the writing?
@mmuseumm
04
Design Your Object Stories
Object story #1
No Research Exercise Write 300 words about your object, focusing on its personal significance.
Write about look and feel – try to engage the readers’ senses. Talk about the objects heft, smell, sound. Include what you know about how it might have been manufactured and its materials and origins – but only if these fit in with the personal story you’re telling.
Object story #2
15 Minutes of Research Do 15 minutes of Web research, then write 300 words about your object.
Exercise a more distant, journalistic point-ofview. Take it beyond the personal – what’s at stake here? Why is it significant? What about it will have a lasting impact? How do people interact with it – has that evolved? What does it say about its time/ culture and about the people who use it? About humankind?
Object story #3
Instagram Take a photo, pick a filter, and post your object with a caption that will make your followers see it in a new light. Include at least 3 hashtags. Tag @PennIPD and @PennDesign
Thank you www.carolinetiger.com Instagram: @carolinetiger