Reflections on CoDesign Experience with A&B Sessions 1, 2 and 3
28/09/2014
Context A&B are craft hobbyists who have no formal design knowledge. They have both made many products mostly using crochet, sewing and knitting. In all cases these products have been made as presents for people and made by hand due to the love for the process and act of making that A&B both share. This process of making their own products for presents and for fundraising efforts gave them the idea that it might be fun to make things to sell to people. Their clear desire is for a simple way to make products as a hobby that they could consistently sell. Both being of the Y generation means that their initial vague goal was to sell online either via a site like Etsy or via their own website. They have no idea how to do this and have expressed a desire to get some help to achieve their goals. Despite both coming from the same socio-‐economic and cultural group as me, they represent an excellent opportunity to test the idea of CoDesign as a service and a tool for education and information transfer without the obvious challenges of cultural and language differences. This experience will allow me to reflect on the use of CoDesign in this context and the power differential between myself and A&B. I agreed to spend 6 sessions over 12 weeks with A&B to help them develop their ideas for their business and to share my design knowledge with them. My hope and intent was to teach them how to develop products that will be simple and fun to make but will be more likely to sell.
Session 1 – What do you want to do?
Refer to the Session 1 PDF Presentation for plan for Session 1. The session kicked off with an overview of the Artisan-‐Designer project and A&B’s part in it. I then presented the plan for the 6 sessions of CoDesign, shown below.
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The plan I developed was deliberately broad and more a general set of goals for the whole experience than a strict syllabus. I wanted to cover the key topics and challenges that designers face in developing new products. Session 1 was focused on teasing out and brainstorming in more detail what A&B wanted to do, what they thought their skills were, what expectations they had for the process and their goals. I mapped out a broad plan for the session (shown below) but worked hard to keep the focus on A&B doing the thinking and brainstorming whilst I facilitated, challenged and where appropriate took part as an equal member.
I kept it pretty simple for the first session, focusing on getting A&B comfortable with the idea of developing ideas collaboratively. Both A&B have had some limited experience of team and 3
28/09/2014 collaborative brainstorming in their respective fields, this experience was obvious in how quickly the two got comfortable with this process and had fun with it. We used post it notes, large sheets of paper and the internet on a large tv as tools to serve our collaboration and brainstorming. We started with talking about the hopes and desires they had for their craft based business and also brainstormed the values, attributes and philosophies that they wanted embodied in their business. The themes that came out were as follows: •
Small side business as much hobby as business to make a little money from the craft they love.
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Handmade.
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Upcycling and reuse of old materials.
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Small products that are quick to make – in front of the TV or on the train.
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Good quality source materials.
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Some standard products and some customer customizable products.
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Creating new and interesting products.
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Needs to be fun.
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Want the business to interesting, different but also contemporary and not twee.
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Interested in novel and interesting packaging along with products.
Next we brainstormed around their individual strengths (in terms of craft), we did this using post it notes and stuck them onto a white space. The results are below:
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28/09/2014 Next we brainstormed about what techniques that A&B were good at and were interested in using in their business and techniques to they want to use to make products:
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Next we brainstormed around what crochet products A&B liked and thought would be fun to make:
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We finished the session with a challenge to A&B to start collecting ideas, colours, textures, materials and anything else relevant to the next session “What do you want to make”. I wanted them to start collaborating and collecting ideas together.
Reflections on Session 1 In this session it was quite hard to actually create a high degree of equality in collaboration between myself and A&B. This was not unexpected as there needed to be some time spent setting a foundation for the collaboration and that could only occur through me being more of a teacher than a collaborator. What is important is to set the foundation and have all three of us working together on idea generation. What is clear is that there always will be a balance between facilitation and collaboration in my role. In a different cultural mix and with a different power balance I think that the facilitation role would be even more emphasized and perhaps even expected. Probably what would be useful in that case would be to have multiple designers working with a larger group to help integration and a community feel as well as spending some time just doing some fun ‘making’ and ‘creating’ exercises that would help build rapport and create an environment of trust and creativity.
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Session 2 – What do you want to make?
Session 2 got delayed by a week due to people not being well. This session we focused on brainstorming around what products A&B want to make, what they thought was interesting and then using brainstorming techniques to expand on these ideas. We started by talking through the broad session outline I’d developed that also included a quick summary of the outcomes of the first session.
Next we talked through the homework from session 1 which was collecting ideas for products i.e. existing styles, themes, products, colours and textures.
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Collected Ideas Pt 1
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Collected Ideas Pt 2 Interesting use of Crochet to Cover things (http://www.casasugar.co m/Cool-‐Idea-‐Update-‐ Crochet-‐1549938) (http://number19.wordpre ss.com/) (http://riuteleebloggy.blog spot.com.au/2013_02_01_a rchive.html)
Crocodile Stitch (http://make-‐ handmade.com/2011/08/2 8/craft-‐lessons-‐crocodile-‐ stitch-‐more-‐ideas-‐and-‐ video-‐tutorial/) *Link has video tutorials
Beanies (http://www.crochetconcupiscence.c om/2014/05/link-‐love-‐for-‐best-‐ crochet-‐patterns-‐ideas-‐and-‐news-‐ 17/)
Multi Material (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/310 044755569643665/) (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/501 940320941796312/) (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/346 91859603561129/)
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28/09/2014 Twine – Rougher texture, more durable and stiffer than wool, can be died and lined (http://www.craftster.org/ forum/index.php?topic=16 9239.0#axzz3CUx6xTBj) (http://www.craftpassion.c om/2014/01/crochet-‐star-‐ stitch-‐tote.html/2) Plant Pouches (http://www.pinterest.com /pin/34691859603561129 /) Cushions (http://www.pinterest.com /pin/48237781006094295 2/)
Jewelry (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/540 713498984931609/) (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/302 163456221979842/) (http://www.pinterest.com/pin/481 744491363545255/)
Packaging (http://shimtokk.squarespace.com/)
Mobiles, Hangings (http://www.pinterest.com /pin/44733417545853661 9/) (http://www.pinterest.com /pin/40729436002448427 1/) (http://www.pinterest.com /pin/40525366644277774 5/)
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Discussion of collected ideas The discussion of these ideas was really productive – much more than I expected. With each idea spontaneously creating new ideas and lots of discussion, ideas and envisioning how to make products from these things. This approach is a really powerful one, particularly for those who have regular and easy access to the internet, as it allows the visualisation of ideas and the topics for ideation of new ideas. A&B really seemed to enjoy this process and it would seem that it is more effective than others for their collaborative creation of new ideas. This discussion ended up taking up almost half of the session rather than the guestimate of 10 minutes I had made prior to the session starting.
Mind Mapping, Brainstorming and Quick Sketching
To finish the session we ran two fast thinking exercises to develop new ideas and not allow time to get too fixated on single ideas. We started with a brainstorming/mind mapping exercise where the goal was to come up with as many ideas as possible in 5 minutes. We then talked through all of these ideas, triggering some new ideas or variations as we went along. Next we each picked one of the ideas from these lists; folded a sheet of blank paper into 8 segments and then had 5 minutes to create as many roughly sketched variations on the idea. Again we talked through all these. The results of this brainstorming and quick sketching are shown on the following pages.
Quick Ethnography I had hoped to follow the quick sketching and mind mapping of the products with some exercises to introduce the idea of customer/user profiling and ethnography. We ran out of time to do this so left it for another time.
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Mind Mapping
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Quick Sketching
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Reflections on Session 2 This session was really good in terms of the collaborative nature of the discussion. However, the nature of the dynamic never strayed far from being a facilitator or teacher led experience. With the expectation that I would provide direction any time a given topic was finished being discussed. I suspect with some better planning and greater care with the choice of activities this could be reduced but will never be removed completely. This makes sense, as the offering of a service will always put the emphasis for overall structure and direction on the service provider. The key is to create situations and experiences where the facilitation and leadership is forgotten. I think this session gave a good hint about how this duality of interaction would occur. The modeling of the design process over the 6 session program seems to be working really well with a growing sense of understanding of what A&B want out of this enterprise and how they can create new ideas. The collection of information on who they are, what they like, what they want out of the enterprise and what they want to make is starting to colour in areas of a vision for their little business that is making it so much more real than it was before. They are also recognizing the need to prototype, test and try new things to challenge their current understanding of how to create and make. I think by the end of 6 sessions they will have a feel for all the most important elements of designing a product and will be able to take these ideas and adapt them to their needs and personal approach to design.
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Session 3 – Who are you making it for?
In this session the focus shifted from the ‘what’ to the ‘who’. Understanding who you are making products for is critical to making good design choices throughout the design process. For this session I didn’t have any spare time to create a bespoke program so we just focused on the homework set in session 2.
This homework was to ponder who their customers were and to create at least 2 profiles that described them. This session suffered a little as all of us had been too busy to work on our homework enough. So we just discussed some of the ideas developed and brainstormed out new ones. We identified 10 possible customers (or variations) that could be developed and refined by A&B in the future. These profiles will be documented in the following pages. To turn them into effective tools for design more work is required, so I’ve set up a small template that A&B can fill out if they want to develop them further.
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Caitlyn (stay at home mum) Picture (paste a representative picture)
Snapshot
Important Details
Caitlyn is a stay at home mum. She’s just had her first child and it seems like everyone in her life is having kids or expecting them. It seems like every other week there is another baby st shower or 1 birthday to go to. She isn’t working at the moment so money is tight but so is time. She finds it hard to get out of the house without a lot of hassle and effort and when out can’t really take time to enjoy her time shopping. So tends shop online.
Age:
28 – 38
Gender:
Female
Occupation: R’ship Status: Finances: Mobile?
Mum (and part time work) Single or partnered Low, single or partial income Not easily, home based
Think, believe and behave
Why buy?
Caitlyn loves to buy unique presents for her friends and family. Things that are different, thoughtful and high quality.
Caitlyn would buy small run and custom crochet products because they are different from the mass-produced products available; they are unique and have a much greater sense of story attached to them.
She struggles to like many of the commercial mass produced products available and finds them expensive. If she had the time she would love to make presents for people. Caitlyn has strong memories of her grandmother knitting and crocheting blankets and clothes for her as a child.
The products aren’t highly expensive and their handmade aesthetic makes them seem more personal as a present. Having the option to have certain products custom made to a bespoke set of colours adds to the greater sense of involvement in the product as a present. Being able to buy them online means she can make purchases in the 15-30 minutes of space she gets sporadically throughout the day.
What products?
What aesthetic?
Baby focused products for presents for friends and family. i.e. blankets, booties, beanies etc
For baby products - a modern look but with a connection to the traditional styles of the past. A wide range of possible colours to satisfy different peoples tastes when products are given as gifts. High quality materials and finishes and easily washable.
Small products like beanies and scarves for herself (or presents for adults).
For small products for adults – modern styles and colours but with an unashamed sense of being handmade and crocheted, colours that are easy to mix and match with other clothes. Comfortable, high quality materials.
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Lana (retro loving hipster chick) Picture (paste a representative picture)
Snapshot
Important Details
Socially and environmentally conscious woman who has a leaning towards a hipster/hippy/retro style. She lives in the inner north of Melbourne and spends a lot of her time out with friends at bars, gigs, foodie events and loves music festivals. She is web savvy and purchases a lot of goods online Lana has a love for op shopping to find interesting and different examples of clothes and accessories but has pickings become increasingly slim as this approach has become more popular. She loves the idea of recycled and upcycled fashion and has been dabbling in the growing ‘craft’ movement particularly being drawn to ‘craftervism’ as a form of social statement.
Age: Gender: Occupation: R’ship Status: Finances: Mobile?
23-30 Female Studying and/or Working Single or partnered – no kids Part time pay and ausstudy Highly mobile, loves to travel
Think, believe and behave
Why buy?
Lana is concerned about our impact on the environment and the mass consumerism that seems to be focused on making money, manipulation and celebrity.
Lana would buy handmade crocheted goods because they are unique, come with a story attached and are a story in themselves.
Lana believes strongly in living for today and having as much fun as possible but has a deep concern for her impact on the world. She is concerned with the outcomes of neoliberalism in our society – the lack of social justice, the gap between rich and poor and rampant economic rationalism.
She would love the idea that she found a small quirky online business operating locally that was dedicated to the handmade, recycled and upcycled goods. Particularly if none of her friends had heard of it yet.
Lana loves to travel and is driven by a desire to have amazing experiences. Lana tries her best to make decisions (small and large) that remain true to her social and environmental beliefs whilst maintaining an edgy subversive but cool style.
She would expect a high degree of quality, innovation and finish in the products and would be attracted to a humble but well designed website and packaging.
What products?
What aesthetic?
Lana would be looking for small accessories (purses, bags, quirky home goods) along with small clothing items (beanies, bonnets, headbands, broaches, necklaces).
She could be attracted to a variety of aesthetic styles: •
Smart reinterpreted retro styles and colours.
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Modern minimalist styles with solid block colours and smart colour combinations
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Deliberate mixture of retro, kitsch and twee styling that is in direct contrast to the ‘mainstream
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Olivia (craft savy bride to be) Picture (paste a representative picture)
Snapshot
Important Details
TBA
Age: Gender:
Think, believe and behave
Why buy?
TBA
TBA
What products?
What aesthetic?
TBA
TBA
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28-40 Female
Occupation:
TBA
R’ship Status:
TBA
Finances:
TBA
Mobile?
TBA
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Daniel (design savy bloke buying a present for girlfriend or female friend) Picture (paste a representative picture)
Snapshot
Important Details
TBA
Age:
Think, believe and behave
Why buy?
TBA
TBA
What products?
What aesthetic?
TBA
TBA
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25-40
Gender:
Male
Occupation:
TBA
R’ship Status:
TBA
Finances:
TBA
Mobile?
TBA
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Beth and Jerome (interior designers) Picture (paste a representative picture)
Snapshot
Important Details
TBA
Age: Gender: Occupation: R’ship Status: Finances: Mobile?
Think, believe and behave
Why buy?
TBA
TBA
What products?
What aesthetic?
TBA
TBA
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25-45 Male or Female Interior Design N/A High, commercial business. N/A
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Julie (stylish home decorator) Picture (paste a representative picture)
Snapshot
Important Details
TBA
Age: Gender: Occupation: R’ship Status: Finances: Mobile?
Think, believe and behave
Why buy?
TBA
TBA
What products?
What aesthetic?
TBA
TBA
25
30-45 Female Lawyer, Manager, Doctor Single or Partnered Medium-High, likely double income. N/A
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Sue (older mum buying presents for family) Picture (paste a representative picture)
Snapshot
Important Details
TBA
Age: Gender: Occupation: R’ship Status: Finances: Mobile?
Think, believe and behave
Why buy?
TBA
TBA
What products?
What aesthetic?
TBA
TBA
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40-60 Female Teacher, social worker, admin etc Partnered with grown kids Medium Partially, but tied to place with kids and responsibilities
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Serge (city based professional) Picture (paste a representative picture)
Snapshot
Important Details
TBA
Age: Gender: Occupation: R’ship Status: Finances: Mobile?
Think, believe and behave
Why buy?
TBA
TBA
What products?
What aesthetic?
TBA
TBA
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25-40 Male Public servant, designer, photographer Single or partnered but no kids Medium Highly mobile, loves travel
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My reflections on Session 3 This session was a little lacking in preparation on my part and it was telling in how the interaction played out. In the end this session was much more focused on me pushing A&B to develop the above customer personas. This in itself is an interesting outcome as it shows that the ‘group exercises’ that help generate ideas and collaboration are really important to provide a structure that encourages this sort of interaction. In the end I think the outcome was useful for A&B, who are getting better and better at developing ideas about their business and the products they will make. This indicates to me that in their minds the picture of what their little business will be like is starting to solidify in their minds. We came up with 8 possible personas, we didn’t develop them all in detail but I put the above persona summaries together and sent them to A&B so that they can be developed in more detail as their thinking moves forward. This gives them a template and a tool for how to develop personas to inform their designs and their marketing/brand identity.
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