Rethinking the design mindset
This #Rethinking series will be my reflection on what I have learned in my current master's studies in HCI. I will be citing a lot, reflecting tons or drawing inspirations from my classes.This semester, I took a design thinking class from our MBA school. I was enthralled by the class mission and the opportunity it entails. In the class, we aim to solve problems picked from the 17 Goals of the United Nations Sustainable Development. As an amateur environmentalist and sustainable fanatic, designing a solution to solve these problems has been one of my life goals. Plus, I want to experience the design thinking process run by our business school — how different is it from ours (Information School)? Finally, I knew from the syllabus that this course is composed of students with diverse disciplines — engineering, business, design, public policy, law and social work. The idea of working in a diverse team excites me — I want to step out of my comfort zone and work on a design project with different people.
In the beginning, I joined with a certain expectation of how “design thinking” should have worked out, and I left without any fixation in how design should have been done. Instead, my heart was filled with a strong sense of achievement and experiences of coming up with unforeseen solutions. It was a semester of great learning as a start-up designer — we worked in a studio-based environment and got together every week in that space as a team.
Design impact is not only about digital products
This semester, our team was working on a problem that combines education and poverty — the economic burden for the low-income students to receive higher education. Our goal was originally to use FinTech to solve the problem. For example, a solution to help disadvantaged students navigate through the process of a student loan application.
For other teams, they were working on water quality and also FinTech as a solution to local fund.
By setting these social issues as the problem, we had the chance to broaden our horizon about design thinking — it’s not only about wireframes, pixels or handoffs. It’s about how we approach a problem and how are open to the whole process of improving and getting closer to the core.
5 key design takeaways I left the studio with and I want to carry them to my design career.
Although our team has delved deep into the realm of raising awareness of social capital inequality, I want to talk more about the high-level concepts I learned from the class because they are applicable in different areas. Among all of the great readings, key concepts, guest speeches, and team works, I felt most with certain topics and they are the main points I think I want to particularly work on in the future. The followings are key takeaways I have gathered from this class.
Wabi-sabi | It’s perfectly imperfect.
Timing of usage: presenting prototypes/mockups, bringing up ideas, usability testing, iterating
First of all, the concept of wabi-sabi really opens my mind because it basically encourages us to embrace the flaws in our current work with a tender heart and keep improving it over time. By definition, Wabi-sabi is a word originated from Japan and it means “a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection”. Although in the UX design field, it’s common to know that we need to “iterate” and receive feedback, especially when the idea is under development and hence not perfectly fleshed out. However, it’s very different to directly and officially name out the concept of presenting the imperfection and the vulnerability of an idea, which is sometimes related to the designers’ ego and perception of self-value.
By naming the notion of presenting imperfection in order to improve, Wabi-sabi carves a platform of reversing the traditional stereotype of staying perfect and hiding the scars. Instead, Wabi-sabi normalizes the process of idea development and focuses on the improvement it can help with.
No one is perfect in the beginning, and everything is just a process of refinement. So is design.
There is an article from Marie-Claire Dean talking about wabi-sabi from product design too.
Bricolage | Creativity needs fuel.
Timing of usage: ideation and brainstorming
Bricolage is another key concept I will take with me. I just googled it and found that it originally is a French word that means “Do-it-yourself” with a variety of materials available at hand. However, in design, it means to find inspirations in an analogous context. For example, if I am designing for a loan application process, I may draw inspiration from grocery shopping websites, from sneakers brands, from other unrelated fields because methods used in another area may work brilliantly in your field too!
This concept is now used in the design thinking process to look for potential solutions by “adopting” ideas from seemingly unrelated fields. As a designer, I appreciate the concept of borrowing other ideas because, with Bricolage, designers are consequently encouraged to know more about the world so that we can draw inspirations from other territories.
Business Canvas | Where dreams are grounded.
Timing of usage: all along the iterating process
Another key learning point is to utilize the business canvas in the design process. I didn’t have this knowledge to “update” the business canvas when we are developing the design idea, but in this class, I gradually realize how it can help with the design ideation.
With the simple act of updating the business canvas, or at least keep it in mind, we are constantly aware of the influence of the current ideation to the business, which in a way unconsciously reminds us of the practicality and realization of the project. With business canvas, we can also stay conscious of the interaction of different components in the current design. For me, it plays more effects of the project orientation — how the current idea affects the customer segments, the resources and the revenue flow.
Diversity | A representation of bricolage.
Timing of usage: when forming a team, picking up teammates
In the class, no one can leave the studio without exchanging a sentence with someone who studies across the campus. I have always known the importance of diversity in innovation and teamwork, but I didn’t think it was a serious concept that is backed up by research. However, in this class, it is the first time that it is deeply felt because of the inclusion of social and psychological research into one of the reading materials.
From the article “Taking advantage of differences: Increasing team innovation through identity integration”, I know the scientific proof of the benefits of having a diverse-background team, and I became more aware of what I am exactly learning — I am learning from people with different expertise and we are complementing one another’s shortcomings. By knowing the rationale, I am learning by actually “doing” it, which intensifies the learning experience in every team meeting time.
Habits | A surprising way to frame.
Timing of usage: all the time to establish the habit
Unless we make the knowledge a habit, we will never know how to utilize the skills when it’s needed.
In the last class, our professor told a story of saving his father once with Heimlich maneuver. It was great storytelling, and I was expecting some wabi-sabi-related or bricolage-oriented takeaways. However, a new topic is revealed — a really powerful moral. In the end, he sheds light on the spirit of the learning — unless we make the knowledge a habit, we will never know how to utilize the skills when it’s needed.
As a psychology fanatic and human-behavior observer, I am also an amateur reader of books about habit-forming and behavior changing. Indeed, it usually makes me think about how to develop skills to a degree that I can freely apply the knowledge. Practice, I know, is among the most common answers. However, by adopting the theory of habit-forming, I found it more well-rounded and better describing the application of knowledge and skills. It is the process of internalizing a set of skills that makes us almost respond automatically in terms of how and what to utilize the knowledge to solve problems.
Afterthoughts
In the end, I would say that the best learning experience usually happens when we keep ourselves open-minded, goal-driven and process-enjoying. In the face of a problem as complex as poverty and education, there were times when we felt clueless and small. However, the mindset of Wabi-sabi and iteration always motivate me to move forward. Despite our entangled issue that reflects so many social, historical and economical problems, I feel more grounded to enter the studio every time I know that I am here with a team trying to provide some sparks to make the world better.
If you are interested, these are my other articles about #Rethinking design:
About Paper Prototyping
About Wireframes
References:
Cheng, C. Y., Sanchez-Burks, J., & Lee, F. (2008). Taking advantage of differences: Increasing team innovation through identity integration. Research on managing groups and teams, 11, 55–73.
