Exposing the Magic of Design A Practitioner's Guide to the Methods and Theory of Synthesis

by Kolko, Jon

• ISBN13: 9780199744336
• ISBN10: 0199744335
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-01-28
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

As the world deals with increasing complexity in issues of sustainability, finance, culture and technology business and governments are searching for a form of problem solving that can deal with the unprecedented levels of ambiguity and chaos. Traditional "linear thinking" has been disparaged by the popular media as being inadequate for dealing with the global economic crisis. Standard forms of marketing and product development have been rejected by businesses who need to find a way to stay competitive in a global economy. Yet little has been offered as an alternative. It is not enough to demand that someone "be more innovative" without giving him the tools to succeed. Design synthesis is a way of thinking about complicated, multifaceted problems of this scale with a repeatable degree of success. Design synthesis methods can be applied in business, with the goal of producing new and compelling products and services, and they can be applied in government, with the goal of changing culture and bettering society. In both contexts, however, there is a need for speed and for aggressive action. This text is immediately relevant, and is more relevant than ever, as we acknowledge and continually reference a feeling of an impending and massive change. Simply, this text is intended to act as a practitioner's guide to exposing the magic of design. There are three simple goals for this text. The first goal is to present a theory of design synthesis in a simple and concise manner. This theory is based on academic research and discourse, but presented in a way that is clear and valuable to a practicing design manager, designer or design researcher. This theory of design synthesis can then be used to substantiate single methods of synthesis. The second goal is to offer a rationalization of why design synthesis is important, both in a general sense ("why should I care about this at all?") as well as in a more immediate sense ("why should I care about this right now?"). The final goal is to present a set of actionable, learnable methods for design synthesis that can be applied to any design problem. Practicing industrial designers, interaction designers, interface designers, and designers of other disciplines can use these methods to make sense of complicated design problems and to move seamlessly from various forms of research to design. The methods can add a systematic sense of rigor to an otherwise subjective, often introspective process.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. xi
A Lack of Method in Practice Leads to Problems	p. xii
The Goals of This Text	p. xv
The Immediacy of This Text	p. xvii
What Is Synthesis?	p. 1
A Theory of Synthesis	p. 03
Understanding How People Solve Problems	p. 04
Acting on an Informed Hunch	p. 08
Making a Judgment	p. 08
Using Partial or Incomplete Information	p. 09
Understanding, and Breaking, Constraints	p. 09
Sensemaking, Frames, Models, and Patterns	p. 11
The Role of Perspective in Framing Situations	p. 13
The Importance of Models in Sensemaking	p. 15
Mental Models as a Specific Type of Cognitive Representation	p. 17
The Nature of Patterns on Our Experiences	p. 20
Abductive Reasoning	p. 23
Design Synthesis in a Business Context	p. 29
The Value of Synthesis in Driving Innovation	p. 31
What Is Innovation?	p. 37
Design Synthesis Links Innovation Research and Design	p. 38
The Culture of Synthesis	p. 41
Challenging Constraints and Questioning Purpose	p. 43
Being Playful	p. 46
Experiencing Flow	p. 50
Using Visualization as a Primary Mechanism of Thought	p. 54
Changing a Prohibitive Culture	p. 56
Methods and Applicability	p. 59
Methods for Making Meaning out of Data	p. 63
Externalizing the Process (Get out of Your Laptop!)	p. 63
Using Visual Design to Clean up the Mess	p. 65
Organizing to Produce Semantic Relationships	p. 65
Prioritizing the Data to Emphasize What Is Important	p. 66
Judging the Data to Reduce the Quantity	p. 66
Enhancing the Data through "Best Guess"	p. 66
Intuitive Leaps For Example: Getting to Meaning through Story	p. 67
Method: Affinity Diagramming	p. 76
How to Apply This Method	p. 76
For Example: Parallel Clustering	p. 79
Method: Flow Diagramming	p. 86
How to Apply This Method	p. 90
For Example: The Flow through a Hunter Fan Thermostat	p. 94
Methods for Building an Experience Framework	p. 101
Telling a Story	p. 102
Changing the Scale	p. 102
Shifting the Placements	p. 103
Method: Concept Mapping	p. 104
How to Apply This Method	p. 107
For Example: Using Concept Maps in Product Development	p. 109
Method: Forced Semantic Zoom ("Ecosystem Mapping")	p. 125
How to Apply This Method	p. 128
For Example: Breakpoint Diagrams and Other Tools for Transitions	p. 136
Method: Forced Temporal Zoom ("Customer Journey Mapping")	p. 147
How to Apply This Method	p. 147
For Example: The Emotional Touch Points of Shopping	p. 155
Methods for Creating Empathy and Insight	p. 159
Understanding Chasm 3: Empathy and Insight	p. 159
Method: Reframing	p. 160
How to Apply This Method	p. 162
Method: Insight Combination	p. 164
How to Apply This Method	p. 166
Conclusion	p. 169
Glossary	p. 171
Works Cited	p. 173
Index	p. 177
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.