People Centered Design

Mike McCoy's lunch lecture was an interesting exploration into the way that we as designers come up with the designs we make, from bouncing them around in our heads, to putting them down in some physical form, to the final presentation to the audience (the people).

One thing that I really go a lot out of was the portion of his lecture where he talked about quickly producing your rough ideas. Getting ideas out into the open is something that is essential to our process. Group brainstorming (with the sticky-note method) or some sort of comprehensive mind-mapping.

Also, bringing some quick, easy to use, easy to modify materials to help present your idea is essential for revising successfully. The example that McCoy used was cardboard and duct tape. If you make a box to a client, take it to them, and they say the size isn't right, then you have to go back to your studio to make changes. But if you came with the supplies, you could quickly produce a makeshift object that still conveys the idea.

Use this check-list -

• actors
• activities
• artifacts
• atmosphere

Design is a zoom lens.

On creating ideas:

• looking
• asking
• envisioning
• trying
• short looping process