Design by simple definition is Form, Function and Feeling…
Form – It is art / volume / what you visually see (it is the structure or visualization behind the product)
Function – It is the science or need taken care of by the product / service (it is the purpose that it wishes to fulfill)
Feeling – is the Empathy component associated with the User of the Form and Function
One of the famous definitions by Tim Brown is “Design” is intersection of – Viability, Feasibility and Desirability…
In order to reach that intersection, designers take a path called Design thinking
Let me take you through a short story and you will realize what Design, and in effect Design Thinking is… A friend of mine had recently made a garbage-picking structure for garbage handlers. He first started off by taking a lot of pictures of garbage handlers in various locations, volume of garbage, type of garbage and he built a complete step by step story album. He did this for a couple of weeks to gather enough information about the general work that male and female garbage handlers do. He then began to interact with the garbage handlers and understood their lifestyles by getting to know their needs in life, goals in life, issues in the work place, issues in the family, problems with health and much more. After a couple of weeks of interaction, he realized that most of them had back-related issues and some of them had stopped working in this field, as they could not handle the pain and visiting hospitals for treatment was too expensive. To solve this problem he made a simple garbage-collector by taking a stick and putting a spoon like structure tied to it to pick up the garbage. This structure would minimize the bending of the garbage handlers and there would be no pressure on the backs of the handlers, which would result in lesser injuries. He took his product to the garbage handlers and gave a couple of these collectors for them to use. He kept meeting them every day for 10 days after providing them the product to ask them how they felt, and from their feedback he realized that the length of the stick and curve of the spoon was not collecting optimum/enough garbage at a time. He went back and made the changes so that the garbage handlers’ problems would be solved. He brought them back in 10 days, but after another trial the feedback was that the weight of the structure was also not comfortable, so he changed the metal to wood and brought it back for the handlers to use. He then visited them for the next 10 days after he made the final changes and realized that now his idea had become a functional product . His product that aimed at solving problems for garbage handlers was able to successfully make their work easier and keep them safe from health hazards.
Through CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) fund he was not only able to make a functional product but to also provide for the entire community of garbage handlers in that region.
The lessons learnt here are:
Empathy (feels the pain of others)
No Fear of Failure
No pressure of being correct the very first time
Passion and Patience
Feedback (Listen attentively)
Acute observation
Sensitivity to situations / society
Purposeful imagination
Divergent thinking
Judgment
Results in meaningful design outcomes!
As parents and professionals we know that the lessons learnt from the story above should be applied in our daily lives. Our focus should be to help our children experience these lessons as early as possible and by the time they choose their careers and professional life, they are truly ready for the world!
Designers and their Design mind-set is required in all fields… Medicine, Engineering, Architecture, Transportation, Education, Technology, Sports and so on….
Initiatives from Design Derivatives not only let your children use the subject knowledge that they pickup in the school, but also add the lessons learnt above – year after year!