design methods & processes of innova3on
class: DS71055A | professor: Mike Waller #goldsmithsmethods student: Vanora Fung | #33246797 co201vf@gold.ac.uk 0
once upon a 3me… This porEolio will explore and document a set of non-‐formulaic
methods*-‐-‐ qualita3ve in nature, that aim to foster a crea3ve and cri3cal approach towards innova3on and problem solving through design prac3ce. I have chosen to review, experiment and reflect with these methods and apply these towards my personal interest and Masters disserta3on in Digital Media, in re-‐imagining the humble printed ‘book’. I will, through explora3on and experimenta3on with these methods, aTempt to discover poten3al innova3ons in the way children’s books and literature are used and ‘consumed’. *DESIGN METHODS* Page Lens Tool 4-‐6 Idea3on Drawing 7-‐8 Timelines 9-‐10 Story Cubes 11-‐12 Cultural Probes 13-‐16 Traces & Behaviors 17-‐18 Bodystorming 19-‐20
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… This book, does not speak of different perspec3ves on the body and its diseases. Instead it tells how they are done...These prac3ces in which some en3ty is being sliced, colored, probed, talked about, measured, counted, cut out, countered by walking, or prevented. Which en3ty? A slightly different one each 3me. ATending to enactment rather than knowledge has an important effect: what we think of as a single object may appear to be more than one. Annemarie Mol (2002:vii)
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LENS TOOL
IDEATION DRAWING
TIMELINES
TRACES & BEHAVIORS
CULTURAL PROBES
BODY-‐ STORMING
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lens tool
Method : lens tool What does it do? It spa3alizes a project, analysing different methods and ac3vi3es from different perspec3ves through a metaphorical ‘media3ng lens.’ Put simply: The Lens method is divided into 3 zones. Zone 1 is the context of Produc3on, usually the realm of the creator/ designer/ innovator Zone 2 is the context of Consump3on, usually containing the end user along with the product Zone 3 The Media3ng Lens Flowing between Zone 1 and 2, the Media3on lens provides a dialogical flow and tacEul rela3onship respecEully. This helps us to view these areas in isola3on first, but then how they interact or are viewed within their situa3on or ‘bubble’. We can then view the empathic rela3onship between the innovator , product and designer, to see ‘the current status/ or situa3on’ of where they sit within the context of their connec3ons i.e. produc3on, manufacturing, within society and contemporary culture. This tool is helpful in iden3fying and focusing on the various ‘stakeholders’ or ‘players’ within the different zones and thus allowing us as innovators and end users, to see the rela3onship between them and the object and its use.
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lens tool EvaluaQon: The lens tool was used towards reviewing the object of a story book, in par3cular ‘bed3me’ stories for children. It enables us to iden3fy the various complexi3es and ‘players’ that form the rela3onship between innovator and user(s). In this case, the user(s) is not only the child, but also the parent (or adult), media3ng the object (book) by facilita3ng the enjoyment via reading/ performing/ reci3ng the book. I found this tool useful at a baseline, to review the limita3ons and constructs of what can be seen as a set of complex ideas and rela3onships.
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idea3on drawing Method : Idea3on drawing What does it do? As a process and as artefact, is a thinking space– not a space in which thought is represented but rather a space where thinking is presenced. It is thinking in ac3on and ac3on as thinking. It Is a dis3nct drawing type; as an act of raw thinking and as artefact is something that is instrumental in the thinking process. In Idea3onal drawing, physical and mental processes are linked ‘isomorphically and crimped together’. Simultaneously, the process is both mental and physical. (Rosenberg 2008:109) EvaluaQon: This method, I admit, it a personal favourite, not necessarily because it has been the most effec3ve for my project, but perhaps because it is, to me, one of the most fun. I enjoy drawing as an ac3vity in general, and idea3on drawing as a method, allows explora3on within mental and physical thoughts and ideas, beyond the ‘real’ or perhaps yet to be. Through my drawings, I found that I was aTemp3ng to re-‐imagine what it would be like to read from different types of plaEorms, scrolls with projected 3D images, altering the shape of the reading surface, a flat oval shaped reading plate (that may have projec3ons on it). I think there are many links of idea3onal drawing towards the 3meline method involving fic3onal futures that requires idea3on processes with which I will discuss further in the next pages. 8
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3melines “The best way to predict the future is to invent it!” Alan Kay (2007: 155) Method: Timelines (Technosocial/ Fic3onal Futures) What does it do? Timelines are a tool to create a visual representa3on of a passage of 3me and the events within it. Within that framework, an issue can be contextualised to gain a deeper understanding of its connec3on in rela3on to other points in 3me. It may be used for both research and idea3on. This makes them a natural progression from idea3onal drawing, especially when it applies to imagining fic3onal futures. EvaluaQon: This is an interes3ng method to apply, given that in terms of my own project interests, seeks to review the historical aspect of technology of the prin3ng press, ,and now, more recently, the inven3on of ‘smart’ devices’ and e-‐reader devices. Where will the future of ‘books’ or current ‘e-‐reading’ devices go? Perhaps projectors will be embedded within our eyeballs, or there will be inven3ons of ‘virtual paper’, it will be interes3ng to see how current forms of childrens books will converge between the physical and the digital versions they now inhabit. 10
story cubes 11
Method: StoryCubes What does it do? They are a tac3le thinking and storytelling tool for exploring rela3onships and narra3ves. The 6 sides can illustrate or describe an ac3on or an idea, a thing. By crea3ng mul3ple StoryCubes, they can be ‘thrown together’ and combined, like a ‘roll of the dice’ to formulate new connec3ons and perhaps un forseen associa3ons. EvaluaQon: Firstly a narra3ve development approach -‐I thought the different types of StoryCube themes that would be interes3ng to ‘mash-‐up’. To write out different types of prin3ng surfaces i.e. fabric, digital, paper, cardboard for what a childrens book might be printed on, mixing with StoryCubes that contained story genres, animal characters, types or colours. This was considering what possible combina3ons that might formulate a new type of story. Secondly,I considered an approach that was more ‘idea3onal-‐ futuris3c’, in crea3ng cubes that contained sides that explored different digital surfaces or current media-‐ remedia3ng possible new connec3ons. Sides such as ‘flat’ and ‘round’ and ‘tablet’, ‘television’, ‘glass’, ‘table’ in an aTempt to see what ‘new’ combina3ons or innova3ons that might evolve. Again, this method was fun and highly experimental, but I’m not sure if I found it to be the most effec3ve in bringing about results in innova3ng the book. As it is predominantly a story-‐telling tool, it is perhaps more suited for the ‘innovator’ or the ‘writer’ of storybooks for their content, as opposed to the crea3on of the physical object the actual book. My results are encouraging to pursue this further, as there are endless combina3ons depending on what one chooses to place on the sides of the StoryCube.
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cultural probes
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“ Experience as story is a vehicle used to transmit, condense and reflect on an experience” (Kolko 2011: 63) Method: Cultural Probe What does it do? It is a crea3ve research tool (qualita3ve) that helps us understand users and their contexts in a closer setng. It is a set of engaging ac3vi3es that prompt a response. These may be elicited through storytelling, diaries, drawings, mapping, emo3onal ques3oning and others, over a dura3on of 3me, which could extend from between a few hours to a month. EvaluaQon: I wanted to engage a cultural probe with two under seven subjects (my niece (3years old) and nephew (7years old) as I wanted to explore their favourite children’s books and what they enjoyed reading and playing. This was done primarily through storytelling and emo3onal ques3oning in hopes of drawing out the perspec3ve of what makes a certain book a ‘favourite’. I discovered that the physical book was a valued object, and in par3cular, ‘picture’ books were more important to my niece, as she was yet to learn to read, although she could recite her favourite book, ‘The Gruffalo’. My nephew however, was learning to ‘read books without pictures’, which culturally, is a sign of his ‘grown-‐up-‐ness’. What is interes3ng to note, that during this method was enacted over a ‘skype’ chat (they reside in Australia), was the ‘show and tell’ element of not just the books they enjoyed, but the iPod games that they have proficiency over and their subsequent ‘sou’ toys they wanted to show me as well. This was by far the most engaging method applied, and further probes and discourses would uncover more ideas, of perhaps how to remediate the complex rela3onship between captured interest, stories, objects, books, narra3ves and their consump3on.
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cultural probes
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EvaluaQon: (conQnued) The age of exposure that children now have access to digital technologies and media are getng exponen3ally younger as Parents own ‘smart phones’ and engage with these machines , their children also want to ‘play’ with them. My niece and nephew are no excep3on. There is s3ll a divide between the ‘bed-‐ 3me book’ and ‘playing video games or engaging with apps’ (See above ‘Tom the talking Cat’ a popular iPhone applica3on) which is essen3ally what is enacted through the modern smart phone. Beyond the constraints of this porEolio, the explora3on of psychological impact and cultural viewpoints of what is deemed ‘acceptable’ use of the consump3on of these different types of media, would be a topic I would wish to explore further. This method is by far, the most compelling in bringing about more ques3ons and encouraging a deeper discourse through further research. 16
traces & behaviours
‘Young children make sense of t h e c o n Q n u i Q e s a n d d i s c o n Q n u i Q e s i n d i s Q n c t communiQes of pracQce at home and in early year se_ngs. At home rites and rituals emerge from parQcular family cultural histories and tradiQons, the pre-‐ occupaQons of significant adults and siblings, and the impact of popular culture.’ (Garner 2008: 101)
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Method: Traces aka ‘Unobtrusive Measures’ ( Mar3n & Hanington 2012: 190) What does it do? It is a non-‐invasive observa3onal method in seeing how subjects/ people relate to their environment/ context without direct contact. This may come as a form of physical traces, where there are marked paTerns of use, e.g. in a library, you will see which sec3ons of the children’s books are used more or interacted, tears, fingerprints, wear and tear. EvaluaQon: This method would be best enacted within either a school setng, a library or home, where children would be voluntarily engaging with books or video games. This links back to the psychological ideas that might be connected to the results of the applica3on of this method. What mo3vates the user? Why do they habitually use or read a par3cular book? Does the material of the book engage them in a par3cular way? Why did they leave the book and play with their other toy? This method would be suitable to see how children engage or have engaged within a space or item, and form 18 conclusions from the ‘traces’.
body storming
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Method: body storming What does it do? It is an exploratory way of re-‐imagining spaces and ideas, by physically using bodies within different approaches via ‘en-‐ac3ng’ and ‘story telling’ through forms of improvisa3on and performa3ve exercises, this could be through wri3ng or group exercises with test subjects. EvaluaQon: This method could be a useful tool in conjunc3on with the traces method, in that you could start by seeing how a space is used (unobtrusively) and then subsequently, through bodystorming-‐ re-‐ imagining the space of use by engaging with e.g. children’s play area within a store. I found this method to be an interes3ng engagement and the wri3ng part, an extension from the StoryCubes in crea3ng new narra3ves and ideas. Overall, this method would be more suited for exploring the use of physical spaces and imagining how someone would engage with it. For my project, I see this method as much more specula3ve and less relevant for my project, although through the futuris3c lens, one might imagine a room in the future could be filled to project stories, books, ideas, and how the child might engage with it.
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conclusion
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Overall, these methods for me, were just scratching the surface of explora3on. Within the constraints of 3me, resources and exis3ng technologies, they have provided a framework and window to view problem solving and innova3ng for me, in new ways. I am not sure if it is a self-‐fulfilling prophecy to predict that I may not in fact, be able to invent some ‘machine’ or futuris3c programme in which children and adults would engage everyday in a wonderful new way in consuming books. However, these experimental methods have allowed me to imagine that I can, too explore them, in my imagina3on transferred through as ideas, processes and poten3als. What is clear is that, although the methods explored have their own individual constructs, they are not mutually exclusive. What I found most interes3ng to see was how they intersect and feed off each other. Whether this limits the scope of vision towards ‘innova3on’, I am not sure. However, what I have learnt from this, is that all experimenta3on is good, as it allows to see what works and what does n’t. Although solu3ons may not be abound like striking ‘Eureka’ or ‘The million dollar idea’, the different qualita3ve approaches, as the journey is rewarding. I thoroughly enjoyed exploring these different methods and seeing which ones seemed to be more suitable than others. The very premise that new approaches to old problems could be viewed in a new light has been very appealing. What is exci3ng about applying these methods, is that you never know what ideas may accidently spring forth from using them. Since researching these tools, I have since found many other types and styles of methods that could be explored further in order to explore new possibili3es.
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bibliography Chapman, J., Gant, N. (2007) Designers Visionaries and Other Stories: A Collec3on of Sustainable Design Essays, Cromwell Press, Trowbridge Garner, S. (2008) Wri2ng on Drawing-‐ Essays on Drawing Prac3ce and Research. Intellect Books Kolko, J. (2011) Thoughts on Interac2on Design 2nd edi3on. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Elsevier Mar3n, B. Hanington, B. (2012) Universal Methods of Design – 100 Ways to Research Complex Problems, Develop Innova3ve Ideas, and Design Effec3ve Solu3ons) Moggridge, B. (2007) Designing Interac2ons MIT Press Mol, A. (2002) The Body Mul2ple: Ontology in Medical Prac3ce, Duke University Press Sudjic, D. (1985) The Cult of Objects. Paladin Books, London Online References (All accessed on 14th January 2013) Timelines hTp://newspaper.li/3meline/ Talking Tom Cat – Apple iTunes App store hTp://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ 2011/jan/24/best-‐apps-‐toddlers
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