IDEO Deep Dive

The IDEO Deep Dive video that we watched today in class showed how a real company uses brainstorming to come up with ideas for products.  One of the things that helps them come up with so many useful and innovative ideas is how eclectic their group of employees is.  There are people from all kinds of different backgrounds who all come up with very different kinds of ideas because they think in different ways.  Another element that helps this company brainstorm so well is that there is no corporate hierarchy.  Everybody is essentially on the same level and all of their input is of equal importance.  This also means that although there is technically a boss, it is not a bad thing to disagree or come up with different ideas than him or her.  During the Deep Dive (total emersion in problem) criticism of ideas is not allowed because sometimes its the craziest ideas that provide a place to build from and can spawn new ideas.  As the ideas materialize, they are posted on the walls so that the other team members can look at them and vote for the ideas that they think are the best.

Brainstorming Activity

Why a Binder Clip is Good Design

            A binder clip is good design because of its intrinsic simplicity.  It is so simple that it is enduring and does not break easily.  It is also unobtrusive due to its simplicity and small size.  It is versatile and can be used for many different purposes, even for things other than what is intended.  It is also good design because it is not over-designed.  Its design reflects its purpose and it does not have any embellishments or superficial additions.  It is self-explanatory and fulfills its purpose precisely and straightforwardly.

Response to Reading #1

            The first section of the reading was thought provoking because it emphasized how design is a much more prevalent thing in society than most people realize it is and how it is also considerably more important that the majority of people realize it is.   It was interesting how the first author correlated the story of the segregated theatre to the process of design, concluding that design is just a way of making things right and changing things into what we need.   I thought the part where the second author stated, “design is to design a design to produce a design” to show how the concept of design can be confusing to some people because even the word itself can be used in so many ways and mean many different things.  The part where the third author explained the experiment with the math students and design was very intriguing to me.  It made a lot of sense that the math students and the design students went about solving the problem in completely different ways because I have always thought that I think about things differently than people who are really good at math or numbers.

Response to Objectified

            I thought Objectified was a very interesting and engaging film.  Where some documentaries about the same subject might have been extremely boring and dull, Objectified managed to keep my interest throughout the entire film.  Part of the reason for this is that the film in itself seemed to use design to make it visually appealing and engaging to the audience.  I liked how the film highlighted certain designers who all practiced very different kinds of design.  It was interesting to see what each of these designers did and how the did it.  It was also interesting to hear about how the different designers thought about design and design related problems and how they came up with solutions.  Many of the designers stressed the importance of continuing to draw throughout their career because this is the basis of design and is very important in communicating and laying out ideas.  I especially liked the part that highlighted the head designer for Mac.  It was funny to see how obsessive he was about his job and the aspects of design that related to all the Mac products.