Insighting, Ideating, Iterating

I took this section from http://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/the-innovative-organisation-learning-from-design-firms-3833
It describes for me so clearly the design process and the way I was taught in architecture school although nobody ever defined the stages like this.

User-centric insighting: In order to create value in novel ways (the goal of innovating), you must first locate opportunities to do so. Where to start looking is easy to see—with the end-user—but it’s far more difficult to detect and synthesise actionable information within the complexity of the user experience. Customer surveys and focus groups simplify the process, but are often removed from how people authentically respond in the marketplace. Designers, by contrast, prefer observation to interrogation, developing empathy to discern unarticulated, even unconscious, user needs. As Tim Kobe, CEO of design firm Eight, Inc. put it, “We represent the end-user in all the design decisions that take place in these innovation projects.” And that’s why building empathy with the target user is crucial, as Continuum did when working with Procter & Gamble to reinvigorate the Pampers brand. Observing mums and their babies, designers realised that the mothers’ ultimate concern was their infant’s development, not the diaper itself. With that in mind, they devised a line of premium diapers for different developmental stages (Swaddlers, Cruisers, etc.) rather than segmenting by age.

Deep and diverse ideating: Designers generate heaps of new ideas based on user insights. This phase is where they unleash their creativity, coming up with as many and as distinct potential solutions as possible before putting much thought into implementation. These preliminary solutions are the product of an organisational process that deliberately cultivates a broad range of perspectives. Far from avoiding eccentric and exceptional voices, design firms seek them out and encourage their contributions within an atmosphere of freedom of thought and playfulness. Playfulness is so important at IDEO that they have created a Toy Lab where designers conceive and test out some of their creations by playing with kids as young as 18 months.

Rapid and cheap iterating: Designers understand that the creative flurry of the ideation phase can take them only so far. They are quick to make ideas concrete and not shy to declare them failures when they don’t live up to expectations. For designers, failures are not negative events but learning experiences. Producing fast and cheap dummy versions to test out concepts means that even when the experiments flop, it’s still a win-win. Singapore-based multidisciplinary design consultancy Awaken Group makes “low-resolution prototypes” of spaces using stacked cardboard boxes to represent walls. That way, alterations can be made to the design in a matter of moments as the client walks through the demo space.

Thank you to Manuel Sosa. Read more at http://knowledge.insead.edu/blog/insead-blog/the-innovative-organisation-learning-from-design-firms-3833#IubtlgXCQALWBUiK.99

The Graphic Design of Signage

The research I should have done before transferring this post from my notebook to here

London underground schematic: How many colours/lines in original?
An example where it was not appropriate... (look in transit maps of the world book)
An example of circles with numbers along route line
Example of brussels STIB timetable that makes sense.

Observations and frustrations

On a recent visit to Portugal, I ventured to the public bus stop at the airport to make my way to the city centre (and from there I was to travel to Vilamoura).

The concrete area where taxis and buses left from displayed a two-sided pillar-board. Stray people would approach it and look at one side, then go around to look at the other side. Puzzled. One side of the pillar-like information board had a map on it; the other side had time tables. The trick was to make sense of the two together while not looking like an eejit dancing around the post.

The side with the schematic diagram used colours (how many colours / lines?) and a legend / key re route number with colour [the bus number could have been written in a circle along the line at regular intervals as is done...]
The side with the timetables used only the bus numbers, no colours (so you had to use the little legend to be able to cross-refer between timetable and schematic - and remember those two pieces of information are on different sides of the board/post).

Scale of the schematic map

When looking at the schematic map, it was hard to tell if it represented a city, a region, a country or the outskirts of a city etc. For example, I wanted to travel to Vilamoura, others wanted to travel to other holiday destinations in the region - the schematic didn't indicate how wide an area was served by this bus company.

Summer time / winter time 

Although there were three bus-routes listed in the timetables, there were four timetables. There was winter or summer written on top of each. But actually, the option only applied to one bus. I think the bus number could have been repeated with the word summer/winter - it wasn't clear if  the winter times referred to the equivalent route timetable above or below it. Maybe the spacing was wrong... Maybe... something was wrong.

Timetable / Stops

The timetable didn't just give the time from the airport stop; in fact I'm not sure if it gave that time at all. Two or three destinations were listed and therefore it was difficult to match these with the schematic. Some destinations were listed twice. It wasn't clear what the start and end point of the bus-route was; or what point on the route we were at. What is the distance between stops and the time the journey will take? This was indicated with 7mins, 5mins etc in a vertical line alongside the destinations but I couldn't decipher it what with the circular route and the destination names appearing more than once. As far as I could make out, the bus was doing a circular route. I thought this because names of stops seemed repeated and there was an arrow by the side of the list of stops - a down vertical area but the list of stops ran over two columns - I don't know why - was the slip in the list arbitrary? A neat half/half of the names?

Times on the timetable

The convention used for listing times was not appropriate. It was similar to the one used in Brussels which mostly works well. But when there is only one bus or less per hour, this method is daft!

Alternative?

I wondered whether an electric sign that changes for winter/summer would be useful. But what do you do when an electric sign is misbehaving as was the case actually in the bus terminal in Faro city centre when I got there.

When schematics work

The `London Underground' multi-coloured linear schema (originally designed by Harry Beck) works especially well for subways and undergrounds because it is mapping *underground* which needn't correspond with the layout of streets and access point to the stop/station are limited in number and location.

Destination

I did get there! A bus came, I asked the driver... that's how I got the information in the end!

The birth of a new blog

Over this past while, and especially these past few days, my interest in sewing has grown. It is fascinating - FASCINATING - to see the variety of blogs that are out there.

• Some people blog to gather their own ideas together like a collage (which is what this Design blog has been for me, a collecting-point for my thoughts and little by little I can see my own style become recognisable)
• Some people blog for support and to share their projects and ideas
• Some people blog as a business - they promote their shop or their products
• Some people blog to promote their ideas and way of life, to voice their opinions

One blogger, Adrienne, from All Style All Substance, is doing a thesis on feminine studies, and if I understand correctly the topic is sewing and women and the blogosphere.

I enjoy my Design History Musings very much. And I am still grappling with what "design" really is... or at least what it really is for me.

I don't want to confuse my sewing projects with my design musings. I want to partake in the sharing and commenting and admiring of the community of sewing bloggers! And my sewing projects don't need to be interrupted by postings about spoons!!!

There are many other online ways to gather together sewing enthusiasts. And by 'sewing' I really mean dressmaking because there are quilters and crafters out there and they're a whole other kettle of very interesting fish! Other tools include

• burdastyle
• flicker for photos
• etsy or dawanda as an online shopping 'street' for retailers, consumers and window-shoppers all
• pinterest (although I don't get the need to link to facebook or twitter)
• facebook
• twitter
• patternreview

But for all that, I find blogs are leading the way.

My past few posts have been very wordy... that needs to come to an end too! More images, please.

I bought this postcard in the Museum in Ixelles in Brussels recently. I saw so much on my month in Europe that I haven't processed the half of it! I loved the postcard because the work is so concentrated and the pencil is touching the paper. He his Paul Hankar, an architect during the Art Nouveau style period. It is a poster drawn by Paul Crespin (1859-1944) and shows Hankar's concentration while doing the work and his body bent over the desk. I need my mind to give way to my hands and give way to physical production too.

I chose another two postcards while I was away; it strikes me now that they all have that theme of physicality and concentration on the task at hand.
This one is of a choral singer doing a solo line, or maybe she is a soloist and the other singers behind her provide backing... I'll never know! It resonated with me because I sing. I sing in a choir. And just before I left for Europe, I sang at the funeral of a good friend's grandfather. And I daresay I didn't look as composed  or as humble as this soloist does!

The image is a painting by Henry Lerolle (1848-1929) entitled À l'Orgue. I picked up the postcard in the Orangerie gallery in the Jardin des Tuilleries in Paris.
The next image could be haunting, but when you study the girl, she is just so concentrated and so immersed in reading the pages that the feeling changes to one of intrusion on her space. I imagine she's reading a script and about to go on stage. Or maybe she's directing the play or the film or... I don't quite know why I like it and I don't quite know why I can't help looking!

This postcard was bought in the Pompidou Centre in Paris. It is from an oil painting by Gerhard Richter (b. 1932) and is entitled Lesende.
I hope these three images are a satisfactory way to remind me of the purpose of this particular blog and to satisfactorily make the move to a dress-making only blog. Find it at fuail.blogspot.com

Irish Sewing Blogs and suppliers

I'm off work for a few days, off sick and not up to much other than sitting up in bed with my laptop and surfing and planning projects and things to do when I'm back to myself.
Yesterday, I got immersed in sewing patterns... and blogs and fabrics... I ended up spending almost €100.
Today, it struck me that I should have a trawl around the web for local bloggers, and find out where they source their patterns and their fabrics and notions. How do they avoid paying overseas postage and packaging... etc.
I'm going to start off with a "disclaimer" and that is my disinterest in quilting and patchworking so I have quickly left blogs on those topics that I have come across rightly or wrongly. Wrongly, undoubtedly, because there is something to be learnt from everything but the sheer amount of blogs and postings causes me to impose some kind of 'rules'.

A great start: Etsy Ireland Crafty Team - but they seem to be quite beady and cardy and crafty orientated as opposed to sewing specific. Hmm. This sourcing is tough.

Fiona in Dublin has an Etsy shop called Threads2000 selling 100% egyptian cotton threads sourced from Greece.

Fabric Shops in Dublin:
Hickey's on Mary or Henry Street (can never remember where on starts and the other ends)
Murphy Sheehy's near the Powerscourt Shopping Centre and Grogan's Bar
Woolen Mills, near Ha'penny Bridge on North Side (upstairs for the big range of fabric)
TWI, 24 Mountjoy Square East - I haven't been here yet.
Ikea

Other crafty shops in Dublin:
The Yellow Brick Road, Bachelor's Walk (though I think it may have closed down?!)
Trimmings shop on quays near beside Crown Alley / Temple Bar / Ha'penny Bridge
Rubenesque in Powerscourt Shopping Centre (used to have shop next to the music shop but may have moved from there into bigger premises)

Knitting shops:
Craft Cottage, Ratoath, Co. Meath
Trim, Co. Meath
Winnie's Wool Wagon, Woodbine, Booterstown (near UCD), Co. Dublin
woolshop in Swan Centre, Rathmines, Co. Dublin
This is Knit, Powerscourt Centre, Dublin
The Gingham Duck, Sligo

Lots of info on Knitting Classes in Ireland. I keep getting distracted by information that is available as opposed to the information that I want.


The Crafter's Basket, North Sligo - have the facility for selling patterns but none in online shop as I look today. Sells fabric, vilene, a dressmakers dummy, sewing machines and other items.

Yay! I've found Pippablue. She's blogging from Galway, Ireland. Further investigation... there's an online Pippablue Shop - hurrah! The list of products is potentially very exciting... but the stock is very low. One to keep an eye on, I suppose. The real shop is on 1 Middle Street, Galway City.

Just Judith is in Belfast - a quilter though, not my métier!
A room in a cottage - sewing homewares made in Ireland
Sarah from Cork is also a quilter
Fluffy Sheep Quilting is based in Ireland... but I think the clue is in the name! She has blogged a brilliant list of quilting fabric stockists in Ireland
Emily lives in Ireland and she likes to make things... here's hoping there'll be a link or two to a whole world of Irish bloggers in her blogstream....
Linda Coleman is in Dublin. Her projects seem different to mine but I might steal a friend from her blogging community.
Cuada are a textile designer in South West Ireland... website seems to just sell finished products.
Millie (the same name as my Gran!) lives on a dairy farm in Ireland and she SEWS. Just like me. My hopes are raised again.
The Roma and Mary blog is kept by Amanda in Ireland who likes a variety of handiwork and crafts, including sewing, she says.

A lot of these links were found using the "Sew Irish" group on flicker. But many of the members of that group are not based in Ireland. I just think in terms of sourcing materials and fabrics and patterns, and sew alongs (for practical time-zone-related reasons!) that it would be nice to be part of a community of Irish amateur dressmakers. But maybe my expectations are too high. I have a few leads and will follow them later.

Designing a Game

Dunno entirely if this post qualifies to be in this blog.
It's the rules for a family quiz game we invented last night. When we started off we were joking that we were having more fun creating the game than the game was going to be but that did not turn out to be the case. It worked well!
We started throwing out ideas like: "a topic should be named" and we'd run with that idea and sometimes dismiss suggestions or sometimes run further with them. My brother became disillusioned at one stage when we asked for his approval of an idea: "sure, you're no longer going with my idea..." So I suppose there was issues about chairing the discussion, managing people's involvement etc: team leadership!
In the end, the idea for the game grew from everybody's input.

1. Everyone gets a pen & paper
2. The youngest person names a topic
3. Everyone writes a question and answer for that topic; a question of general knowledge
4. The person to the left of the 'topic-namer' asks their question first and everyone else writes their answer to it. And so on around the group until all the questions have been asked
5. Now, depending how much the group trust each other, the answer sheets can be swapped for correction
6. Go around the group again - each person posing their question and hearing people's answers and giving the correct answer
7. Points are given:

• 2 points for a correct answer
• the questioner receives 1 point for every wrong answer provided the question has been answered correctly by at least one person

The game is quite strategic in terms of topics that might be chosen and choosing a question that the questioner is confident can be answered by one of the other people present.
That's it - it's not boxable and manufacturable unfortunately! But it is a good way to pass an evening.

The Bag Levy

I can't remember exactly when it came in, I could prob find out for sure on the Department of Environment website but it doesn't really matter. The consequence of the bag levy is what I want to discuss.
In Ireland, we have to pay for plastic shopping bags. It used to be 15c, I think it's gone up, I never take a bag now. It's supposed to free the hedgegrows of ugly plastic bags and help the environment etc.
But I am cursed, as a result, finding the right-sized plastic bin liner for my kitchen bin. I went through a phase of having a big bin with a black bag in the kitchen, to cut down on the small bags I was using but this was, needless to say, less than hygienic. So I'm back to using the little bin which is a perfect size for the handled bags we can get in supermarkets to bring home the groceries (the ones I don't get any more cos there's a levy and I'm trying to be good to the environment...) and I end up buying a roll of 50 bags in Tesco or somewhere. But they're never the right size. It's so frustrating. I don't know if the size of my bin was designed to accommodate the grocery bags or if that was a coincidence but my bin certainly wasn't designed to accommodate any of the bin bags I've bought so far.
Phew, I've got that off my chest! - that's what bloggings for eh?

Disposable Cup

I really am catching up on my blogging ideas over these few days!

I got a train to Cork on the October bank holiday weekend and we were served tea and coffee in these cups. I couldn't wait to get home and photograph them and take them apart and try to understand them better!

The basic cup is plastic, with corrugation for heat insulation and then it's wrapped or covered in cardboard. The cardboard could have any pattern or logo of any tea/coffee etc brand on it. There is a rim on the inside about an inch from the bottom, it seems to me that this part could (and perhaps did) contain the instant coffee granules or the tea bag or whatever and could be sealed over with maybe an aluminium cap which could be removed when the hot water is being added.

Think that's about all I have to say about it! Enjoy the photos, I don't think they're bad considering they were taken on my mobile phone...

An Ideal Hotel

Haven't blogged in ages and feel bad about it. New job - trying to settle down and such excuses.
Stayed in a hotel with my mam back in mid-November. We don't stay in hotels as a rule but I won a prize.
Got me to thinking about my ideal hotel room:

• suitcase rack
• place to hang/place used and therefore damp towels
• underfloor heating in the bathroom
• bedside reading lights that won't disturb the other person.

They seem basic enough requirements and I'm sure there's much more that could be listed there. It reminds me of a documentary I saw - an interview with the American architect, Philip Johnson filmed in his pavillion-like collection of buildings where he lived. The guest house was purposely missing things like light-switches positioned next to the bed and nice touches like that to intentionally annoy his guests and ensure they didn't overstay their welcome.

Road Signs

I've been taken with Irish warning road signs for years now. Maybe this is as good a place as any to record my photos.

Here's one of my favourites.
Spotted on the quay in Newport, summer 07.

"intuitive design"

I've a few things I want to write about but the cable for my camera is gone missing so I can't upload photos.

Was at a Crystal Reporting course this week. The course tutor was excellent. Kept using the phrase "remember this cos it's not intuitive". She meant that the command we were looking for wasn't in an obvious place. I thought it was a useful reminder to designers to be obvious and make things "intuitive". I know I aim for that in my own designs ;O)

Blogging II

My blog has passed its 21st posting. It's growing up in the world. Establishing itself in terms of tone and content. I thought I would have things of greater worth to say here. It's good to see I have opinions though. But they're not particularly deep!
One of the purposes of starting to blog was that I would ensure I did something design etc related at least once a week and so far I have found that to be the case. I remind myself that I need something as fodder to blog about so I go to an exhibition or notice an object or read something etc.

Blogging

I think at some point all bloggers blog about blogging. What were my intentions when starting this? Who was I hoping would read my thoughts (if anyone)? What was I going to write about? How often will I write?

I want to document my interactions with things related to design and design history. Exhibitions, lectures, books. And subjects that interest me, websites or links to other blogs or articles that I come across and enjoy.

Should the entries be in the form of essays? - it is a skill I need to brush up on; I check in with the Design Research Group blog (http://designresearchgroup.wordpress.com/) and the essays are interesting, informative and of a certain high discourse that I would like to aspire to. And so I started with the entry on The Frankfurt Kitchen - but I find it too jam-packed with information, and nothing new really. Another design blog I've come across and find really interesting, inspiring and informative is 1+1=3 (http://www.oneplusoneequalsthree.com/). It has lovely pictures and captured thoughts. My last few blogs have been statements of where I've been and a casual comment on my opinion of the exhibitions. Again, I am disatisfied. I think they should be more meaty! So I will try to write as if I am telling a friend about whatever it is is on my mind regarding a certain subject. Chatty, personal.

Onwards and upwards!

NCAD Dilemma

Trying to make decision regarding going back to NCAD to study History of Design & Visual Culture. I'd started the course before - extremely interesting but I'm so conscious of the stress and pressure of assignments and then thesis. I've sought advice from loads of people but now just have to decide on my own for myself! Maybe starting this blog will fill the void. Give me a target for book reading/research that would interest me without putting me under pressure. After all the job prospects don't seem great. The museum tend towards people with Archaeology degrees. My primary degree is in Architecture.