Thursday 24 September 2009

25.9. Who is the user?

At present the world of design and business abound with user-centered design and methods developed for studying with and for the users.

We can talk about our experiences with user-centered design - and methods we have used, e.g. cultural probes like Gaver's Presence project. And what is the significance of practices?

We also did an exercise of mapping practices around a certain theme that involved a potential design issue: coffee machines, doors, micro-wave ovens.

And went through some approaches to practices by Michel De Certeau (Practices of Everyday Things), Aristoteles (The Nichomachean Ethics) and Paolo Virno (Quando il verbo si fa carne/ When word becomes flesh).

Motto being A. Einstein's: "You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created."

18.9 Introduction to Design Thinking and Design

Taina talked about design and based it on man/ human being being something and somebody that is always made and constructed. Man is the first thing, culture is made of clay, molded from material with a live spirit blown into it. Man makes himself, his world, he makes things. Making things is the work of master - mastery is solving a riddle, constructing a labyrinth, gaining experience through time. Platon was referred to, likewise Taina's book Kaupunki on ihmisen koti, and Walter Benjamin (for instance Some Motifs in Baudelaire/ Silmä väkijoukossa)

Marjo talked about design, what it is as a profession. She showed slides about history of design, and talked about the design approach to things.

Patrizia Schettino presented her thesis about designing for multicultural users. Nancy Adler participated in the discussion.

- as did the students, thank you!

Thursday 3 September 2009

Design Thinking program 2009

Course description: The role of design in human culture and creativity. The course provides a historical perspective to design thinking and design practices and gives tools for understanding the role design as form giving plays in all cultural activities and productions. It introduces the emergence of design as a profession and its broadening into an applied science; and the expanding role of design in creative economy, and of the role of the user in social and p2p production. The founding design principles of functionality, usability, user-centeredness and accessibility (Design for All) are explored, and creativity and innovation studied also by concrete examples. The aim of the course is to provide the students with an understanding of the role and functioning of design, and with first hand insight into design process.

Study mode: Lectures, discussions, workshop exercises and a final essay.

Schedule: 
Fri  18.9. 10 - 14  What is Design? Basics, contexts, values.
Fri 25.9.  10 - 14  What is Co-Design? Who is the user?
Fri  2.10  10 - 14  What is Sustainable Design?
Fri  9.10  10 - 14  Design and Management - what has design got  to do with it?