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7 Train. Week’s Summary

Empathise >                 Define >        Ideate >                 Prototype > Test
define the problem   |     specify |   learn from prototypes to test new ideas   |    keep testing and ideating

This week we learnt how to begin a design project, starting with the most critical part: The research.

The methodologies learnt during the week involved different kinds of Mapping, like domain mapping, mind mapping, concept maps and topic maps. The interesting part about the mapping process is that it allows for two seemingly arbitrary words, to generate a lot of words and ideas that eventually relate to each other.

The videos watched during the week were all very interesting, Tinker Hatfield’s episode from Abstract was by far my favorite. It is an inspiration to see how his ideas evolve from his mindless doodles, and how he’s not afraid to take risks when prototyping, even if he knows it might not work now, there’s always hope for ideas to develop in the future.

Two important notes I highlighted during this week were:

Always make your “WHY” the most important part of your research, it should never change as it is the root of your problem. The “HOW WHAT WHERE” can change depending on the solution, they should stay flexible.

and

MAKING & ITERATION IS A TYPE OF RESEARCH
creating personas, user testing, prototyping and keep trying!
Often I find myself quitting upon the second or third failure as I forgot to consider the iteration and prototyping process an important part of the research. I must remember that I am still learning from the mistakes and should use them to improve my design and ask better questions.
Other important notes include:
  1. Looking at precedents! Whether conceptual, aesthetic or technical. What have others done and how I can do better?
  2. When ideating, involve others for input and do not dismiss ANY ideas!
  3. Finally! Research isn’t a single step, it happens:
    1. at the beginning of the design process > always start by getting insight into a WIDE DOMAIN then go into the specific TOPIC within it.
    2. whenever new info is needed
    3. during iteration and prototyping > to make better decisions + looking up ways to gain the skill to execute your design.
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