context research reflections and new directions
Last year, Karen drew a wonderful diagram representing the cyclic expanding and constricting thought process of research.
Personally, research (especially design research) often feels more like this
This week I've been thinking about many different ideas trying to expand as well as focus. Many are new ideas, inspired by feedback from Jon, Lucas and (our guest) Dickson, as well as their work which they've presented. Some are old ideas, some of which I've blogged about but have not published.
Last week I received some great feedback and suggestions:
(1) Lucas suggested adding specific behavior to general design criteria, his reasoning being so you can design around the criteria towards solving a specific problem.
(2) Dickson suggested going the next step with sharing and further exploring the different cultural aspects of college living, as well as "telling the story" of the different configurations to target purchasers. Dickson's presentation also suggested considering "design qualities".
(3) Jon suggested we bubble up the important concept areas and populate ideas around them - 'Dig deeper and pull out the essence'.
I came up with the following design criteria for my presentation last week.
I think there are some important ideas in my design criteria, but also there are some very important ideas that are missing. They seem mostly based on needs and problems, e.g. work space, organization. I don't think I did a good enough job of explaining (or even understanding) factors such as sharing, conviviality and the college dorm as a home and community ( and how these relate to cooking and eating), even though I touched on them in my presentation and have been thinking about them throughout the semester.
I think my design concepts displayed a deeper understanding of what a college living product should be then I communicated to the class (or I consciously understand myself).
Such as...
When you are at college, your dorm room is your home. Moreover, you have limited resources, especially space. Underdesign is important so students can create their own personal home (albeit a temporary one). There is no room for unnecessary components. Also, creating your own home is a highly personal activity. In essence, the home is a design, a composition if you will.
If the dorm room is the home, then the dormitory is the community. College is about building and maintaining social relationships (perhaps more so than academics; perhaps more so than in the past). College room products often need to have the dual function of supporting individual as well as social activities and desires.
So what qualities should the design embody? Thus far, my criteria have tended to focus on functional qualities and structural qualities (and are focused around preparing and eating food). There are also qualities related to aesthetics (e.g. appearance, style, overall experience) as well as values (what values should the design embody - values of the users, the client and brand, and my own personal values). Perhaps another type of quality relates to personal meaning in relationship to the design.
As I was thinking of qualities the design should possess (which I discuss more below) I also started to think of how they relate to the concepts I have.
One concept I have is for a modular design.
One of the important principles of this concept is underdesign, which I talked about earlier. I think this is important because creating a home is a personal and communal activity. Moreover, many important aspects of the design cannot be known or practically included at design time.
1) system components - The components should all have a few primary functions that they do very well, e.g. the fridge body provides an area to keep items cold.
2) anticipated configurations of system components - The components should all be designed to combine in many combinations for much additional functionality and flexibility, e.g. the fridge body provides a base to put the shelf unit, provides space for fridge organizers.
3) possible configurations of system components - There will likely be configurations that are possible, but not anticipated. This also depends how you define components (should we consider fasteners used for assembly as components?).
4) anticipated configuration in use - In the real world, there will be physical components that are not part of the system, as well as user interactions and other intangibles. e.g. using the countertop for TV and DVD's.
5) iconic configurations - There should be a set of iconic configuration that are designed to fit different contexts. Like Dickson suggested, I can use these to start to show target purchasers what this product could be for them.
6) possible configurations in use - Because of limited resources and a desire to improve and personalize aspects of their home, college students often use products in very innovative, often completely unintended, ways. It's important that the components and configurations be "hacker friendly" and personalizable.
Thinking more about design qualities in some more detail (relating to function, structure, aesthetics, values and meaning)...and my research and understanding of college living...and looking at other products (I plan to look at more)...
...I began aggregating words and images of qualities that I felt were important.
Here are some qualities that I feel the product (especially components and configurations) should embody.
minimal
+ functional (does a few things very well)
+ effective
+ simple
Minimal goes with the idea of underdesign. When space and other resources are constrained, there is often no room for decoration or unnecessary or mediocre functionality.
clever
+ versatile
+ efficient
+ usable
Cleverness is necessary to achieve a versatile, efficient and easy-to-use product from a minimal design.
elegant
+ simple yet powerful
+ refined
+ stylistic simplicity
+ appropriate
Elegance is important not simply for functional reasons, but for aesthetic reasons as well.
This rail with S-hooks by IKEA is a great example of a minimal, clever and elegant design.
It's minimal: Despite the product being inexpensive and using little material, it is very effective at hanging items.
It's clever: The hooks aren't required to hang items on the rack and many different items can be easily arranged on the rack. The hooks can also be used to hang items elsewhere. The rail could be just as useful in the bathroom or bedroom as in the kitchen.
It's elegant: The design is stylishly simple. It is appropriate for the context.
There is another quality in this picture that is more a function of the user's relationship with the products. The rack proudly displays the kitchen accessories creating an expressive, inviting and personally meaningful kitchen area.
[Exercise: Compare these qualities of the rack with those of a cabinet drawer that could also be used to store and organize these very items.]
In my presentation I mentioned this idea of creating space. In particular, I mentioned using the outer space of the fridge to create space in the room for storage and work. I also talked about creating space inside the fridge with organization features, as well as combining inner and outer space ideas (e.g. organizing containers inside the fridge that can be used outside the fridge). One of my dominant concepts, which utilizes these ideas about creating space, is a mini-kitchen system.
I think these concepts have value, but there is more that can be said. I think there are some higher level ideas about what roles these newly created spaces should support. I'm hoping these might help to better refine my concepts, and formulate ideas other than the mini-kitchen concept I already have in mind (e.g. Lucas suggested creating spaces for entertainment, something Bests Buy specializes in).
+ personal-use space (private, protected)
+ shared-use space ( negotiated)
+ space for self-expression (personally created, embedded with personal artifacts, shared with others)
+ sociable space (collaboratively created, spontaneously created, hospitable, convivial)
Here are some ideas for a mini-kitchen concept related to these spaces.
personal-use space
+ work space (e.g. cooking,cleaning) and storage space (e.g. food, cookware) outside the fridge
+ organization space in the fridge
+ organization to help maintain private and protected space for personal items (e.g. moveable fridge dividers)
space for self-expression
+ organization that displays important personal items (e.g. a cubby for favorite tea kettles , tea packets and accessories)
shared-use space
+ organization to help maintain shared and communal areas (e.g. large area for shared pots and pans)
sociable space
+ dining space that can be easily moved or expanded
I plan to brainstorm other concepts around these ideas for spaces, as well as other ideas like underdesign and some of the qualities I listed. For example, the snack fridge, the study fridge, the lounge fridge, the entertainment fridge, the play fridge, the convivial fridge, the mini-bar fridge, the keg party fridge,...what might these fridges be like?
Some other to-dos:
+ understanding and critiquing the client (BEST BUY)
+ understanding related products and their qualities (kitchen and cooking products , college products, products college students have, full-size fridges)
+ business context research
Different values have been implicit in many of the ideas I've discussed. There are two more ideas related in part to values that I think are important:
environmental sustainability
This issue was brought to my attention when I was looking at some concepts of the "fridge of the future." Refrigerators and other appliances consume a lot of energy and seem to vary considerably in their efficiency - some compacts are not much more efficient than some full-sizes. Many college students won't care about efficiency since they don't pay utilities. Best Buy may not either. But apartment owners probably do, and so should schools. Sustainability will also be an issue when choosing materials and thinking about manufacturing. In this case, Best Buy probably will care. Anyway, I think a responsible designer should be on the look out for sustainable solutions, especially when they come with other benefits.
universal design
I learned that compacts are used in assisted living homes (for people who can't reach a full-size). Some of the ideas I have (and plan to have) about organization are likely universal design solutions. Again, I probably won't have the time to do more research on it, but it seems like a good idea to at least keep in the background.
Personally, research (especially design research) often feels more like this
This week I've been thinking about many different ideas trying to expand as well as focus. Many are new ideas, inspired by feedback from Jon, Lucas and (our guest) Dickson, as well as their work which they've presented. Some are old ideas, some of which I've blogged about but have not published.
Last week I received some great feedback and suggestions:
(1) Lucas suggested adding specific behavior to general design criteria, his reasoning being so you can design around the criteria towards solving a specific problem.
(2) Dickson suggested going the next step with sharing and further exploring the different cultural aspects of college living, as well as "telling the story" of the different configurations to target purchasers. Dickson's presentation also suggested considering "design qualities".
(3) Jon suggested we bubble up the important concept areas and populate ideas around them - 'Dig deeper and pull out the essence'.
I came up with the following design criteria for my presentation last week.
I think there are some important ideas in my design criteria, but also there are some very important ideas that are missing. They seem mostly based on needs and problems, e.g. work space, organization. I don't think I did a good enough job of explaining (or even understanding) factors such as sharing, conviviality and the college dorm as a home and community ( and how these relate to cooking and eating), even though I touched on them in my presentation and have been thinking about them throughout the semester.
I think my design concepts displayed a deeper understanding of what a college living product should be then I communicated to the class (or I consciously understand myself).
Such as...
When you are at college, your dorm room is your home. Moreover, you have limited resources, especially space. Underdesign is important so students can create their own personal home (albeit a temporary one). There is no room for unnecessary components. Also, creating your own home is a highly personal activity. In essence, the home is a design, a composition if you will.
If the dorm room is the home, then the dormitory is the community. College is about building and maintaining social relationships (perhaps more so than academics; perhaps more so than in the past). College room products often need to have the dual function of supporting individual as well as social activities and desires.
So what qualities should the design embody? Thus far, my criteria have tended to focus on functional qualities and structural qualities (and are focused around preparing and eating food). There are also qualities related to aesthetics (e.g. appearance, style, overall experience) as well as values (what values should the design embody - values of the users, the client and brand, and my own personal values). Perhaps another type of quality relates to personal meaning in relationship to the design.
As I was thinking of qualities the design should possess (which I discuss more below) I also started to think of how they relate to the concepts I have.
One concept I have is for a modular design.
One of the important principles of this concept is underdesign, which I talked about earlier. I think this is important because creating a home is a personal and communal activity. Moreover, many important aspects of the design cannot be known or practically included at design time.
1) system components - The components should all have a few primary functions that they do very well, e.g. the fridge body provides an area to keep items cold.
2) anticipated configurations of system components - The components should all be designed to combine in many combinations for much additional functionality and flexibility, e.g. the fridge body provides a base to put the shelf unit, provides space for fridge organizers.
3) possible configurations of system components - There will likely be configurations that are possible, but not anticipated. This also depends how you define components (should we consider fasteners used for assembly as components?).
4) anticipated configuration in use - In the real world, there will be physical components that are not part of the system, as well as user interactions and other intangibles. e.g. using the countertop for TV and DVD's.
5) iconic configurations - There should be a set of iconic configuration that are designed to fit different contexts. Like Dickson suggested, I can use these to start to show target purchasers what this product could be for them.
6) possible configurations in use - Because of limited resources and a desire to improve and personalize aspects of their home, college students often use products in very innovative, often completely unintended, ways. It's important that the components and configurations be "hacker friendly" and personalizable.
Thinking more about design qualities in some more detail (relating to function, structure, aesthetics, values and meaning)...and my research and understanding of college living...and looking at other products (I plan to look at more)...
...I began aggregating words and images of qualities that I felt were important.
Here are some qualities that I feel the product (especially components and configurations) should embody.
minimal
+ functional (does a few things very well)
+ effective
+ simple
Minimal goes with the idea of underdesign. When space and other resources are constrained, there is often no room for decoration or unnecessary or mediocre functionality.
clever
+ versatile
+ efficient
+ usable
Cleverness is necessary to achieve a versatile, efficient and easy-to-use product from a minimal design.
elegant
+ simple yet powerful
+ refined
+ stylistic simplicity
+ appropriate
Elegance is important not simply for functional reasons, but for aesthetic reasons as well.
This rail with S-hooks by IKEA is a great example of a minimal, clever and elegant design.
It's minimal: Despite the product being inexpensive and using little material, it is very effective at hanging items.
It's clever: The hooks aren't required to hang items on the rack and many different items can be easily arranged on the rack. The hooks can also be used to hang items elsewhere. The rail could be just as useful in the bathroom or bedroom as in the kitchen.
It's elegant: The design is stylishly simple. It is appropriate for the context.
There is another quality in this picture that is more a function of the user's relationship with the products. The rack proudly displays the kitchen accessories creating an expressive, inviting and personally meaningful kitchen area.
[Exercise: Compare these qualities of the rack with those of a cabinet drawer that could also be used to store and organize these very items.]
In my presentation I mentioned this idea of creating space. In particular, I mentioned using the outer space of the fridge to create space in the room for storage and work. I also talked about creating space inside the fridge with organization features, as well as combining inner and outer space ideas (e.g. organizing containers inside the fridge that can be used outside the fridge). One of my dominant concepts, which utilizes these ideas about creating space, is a mini-kitchen system.
I think these concepts have value, but there is more that can be said. I think there are some higher level ideas about what roles these newly created spaces should support. I'm hoping these might help to better refine my concepts, and formulate ideas other than the mini-kitchen concept I already have in mind (e.g. Lucas suggested creating spaces for entertainment, something Bests Buy specializes in).
+ personal-use space (private, protected)
+ shared-use space ( negotiated)
+ space for self-expression (personally created, embedded with personal artifacts, shared with others)
+ sociable space (collaboratively created, spontaneously created, hospitable, convivial)
Here are some ideas for a mini-kitchen concept related to these spaces.
personal-use space
+ work space (e.g. cooking,cleaning) and storage space (e.g. food, cookware) outside the fridge
+ organization space in the fridge
+ organization to help maintain private and protected space for personal items (e.g. moveable fridge dividers)
space for self-expression
+ organization that displays important personal items (e.g. a cubby for favorite tea kettles , tea packets and accessories)
shared-use space
+ organization to help maintain shared and communal areas (e.g. large area for shared pots and pans)
sociable space
+ dining space that can be easily moved or expanded
I plan to brainstorm other concepts around these ideas for spaces, as well as other ideas like underdesign and some of the qualities I listed. For example, the snack fridge, the study fridge, the lounge fridge, the entertainment fridge, the play fridge, the convivial fridge, the mini-bar fridge, the keg party fridge,...what might these fridges be like?
Some other to-dos:
+ understanding and critiquing the client (BEST BUY)
+ understanding related products and their qualities (kitchen and cooking products , college products, products college students have, full-size fridges)
+ business context research
Different values have been implicit in many of the ideas I've discussed. There are two more ideas related in part to values that I think are important:
environmental sustainability
This issue was brought to my attention when I was looking at some concepts of the "fridge of the future." Refrigerators and other appliances consume a lot of energy and seem to vary considerably in their efficiency - some compacts are not much more efficient than some full-sizes. Many college students won't care about efficiency since they don't pay utilities. Best Buy may not either. But apartment owners probably do, and so should schools. Sustainability will also be an issue when choosing materials and thinking about manufacturing. In this case, Best Buy probably will care. Anyway, I think a responsible designer should be on the look out for sustainable solutions, especially when they come with other benefits.
universal design
I learned that compacts are used in assisted living homes (for people who can't reach a full-size). Some of the ideas I have (and plan to have) about organization are likely universal design solutions. Again, I probably won't have the time to do more research on it, but it seems like a good idea to at least keep in the background.
posted by jamesjpierce at 3:26 AM
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