Design and Evaluate

The focus of discussion in our class this week was in relation to the design aspects of product development and the processes of making a product or service more approachable and usable to customers/users.

Following our previous weeks readings of Expressing Experience in Design by Bill Moggridge (1999) & Usability Evaluation Considered Harmful Some of the time by Greenberg & Buxton (2008), we were provided with a basis of knowledge around the ideas of usability, interface design and functionality.

Moggridge’s (1999) article on experience through design, provided a suitable background to the area of design and the close relationship that its shares with our senses. I found the article quite helpful in providing a basis background to designing for experiences of the user, although the article was quite outdated. It provided the frameworks and the key themes that can still be seen in design today. It is safe to assume that design on its own is just a process in which a functionless item is created, but when the senses of the user are addressed, then we can say that the design process has added value and created a product. Value provision is the key objective of design and is an area that hold to this day. One great example is an iPhone, an iPhone is like any similar phone it calls, it texts & it takes pictures, when we address the customers senses through apps and features such as Siri and retina display, then we can see that value has been added and Apple have provided itself a distinct advantage.

Greenberg & Buxton’s (2008) article on the process of usability evaluation in design processes of interface design illustrates that the procedure for validating designs are suitable some of the time but should not be the default method for measuring the usability of a design. The author argues that innovation and invention have been left impeded by usability evaluations in the computerised human interface. Often leading to an environment where there is a bias for methods that have been tried and tested. As industry has become reliant on usability evaluation, a key take-away point is that there needs to be a new method of measuring the usability of a design, the author indicates that design worthiness is a more structured and opened model that allows for feedback and for new and novel ideas to proliferate.

So our first exercise in class was to watch a video on the process of design by IDEO, the video looks at the process of redesigning a shopping trolley. The item that has been tried and tested in a suitable example of an item that has not changed significantly over the decades.  The main take away from the video is the structure of the team, which is based on an everybody has an input model. The team which is multi-disciplined based, has no hierarchy and the only apparent limitations are time.  The team stress that they are not experts in design but in the processes of design, indicating that they have developed a model and process that allows for them to achieve success in numerous fields. Perhaps the most overlooked feature of the team is that the team receive feedback by most importantly approaching the first-hand users and observers such as cleaners trolley attendants and floor staff, all of which are first hand users of the trolley. These stakeholders provide a more knowledgeable and behavioural approach to how the design should function and what its current limitations are. The end product is not the result here, the result of the video portrays how IDEO have become so innovative in design that many of the world’s top companies such as Apple and Nike have asked IDEO to design products for them.

So following our exercise, which has improved our understanding of what design encompasses, how it is evaluated and what is should contain.  We examine some examples of designs and argument if they have any benefits and disadvantages to the user, the most common and prevalent one in my experience is the door.  The door, which serves it function of allowing us to enter or leave one room and ensuring privacy has quite a flaw in its design that has become somewhat accepted. So how many of us have actually tried to leave a room in which a door has a push or pull sign. The answer is nearly all of us, the door presents an area where sigs are required to inform users of what way to use the item. Some people may argue that the signs may ensure and add to usability, but in reality, in my own opinion the door is an example of a design that has flaws in its usability and one that has become generally accepted worldwide. But however, it has still served its function to this day.

Design should also take into account the position of the user that it is designed to serve. So for instance a toy created for a toddler should be designed to be sturdy to withstand wear and tear, colourful to promote awareness to colours and shapes, interactive to promote activity and mental development and most importantly feature a layout that will appeal to toddlers.

Design which is a crucial aspect of usability no doubt adds value to a product or service and without it we would be unable to find usability in many of our products that we use every day. Imagine typing on a computer that had no screen, it simply would not exist.

IDEO Shopping Cart- ABC Nightline, Accessed on 24/09/2017, Accessible at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM

Greenberg, S. & Buxton, B.,2008, Usability Evaluation Considered Harmful (Some of the time), CHI 2008 Proceedings, April 5-10 2008.

Moggridge, B. ,Expressing Experiences in Design, Design Interactions, July & August 1999, 17-25