This document discusses design methods and tools that can be used in the design process. It covers several learning theories related to design like Kolb's experiential learning cycle, Schön's reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action, and Argyris and Schön's single and double loop learning. It also discusses sensemaking in design. The document then discusses various design methods like prototyping, sketching, and using CAD models. It emphasizes that prototyping allows designers to learn through making and that sketching is an important tool for visualizing ideas.

1. Design Theory
Lecture 03: Design as Learning / Methods & Tools
Communication &
Multimedia Design
Bas Leurs (b.l.f.leurs@hr.nl)
March, 2014

2. what we discussed
two weeks ago...

4. Today’s programme
Design as learning
Methods & Tools

5. design as learning

6. Learning is interpreting and
understanding reality in a
different way.
Learning is making sense or
abstracting meaning.
Learning is the acquisition of
knowledge (or skills) through
experience, practice or study.

7. We will discuss three types of learning:
• Experiential Learning Cycle (Kolb)
• Reflection-in-action / Reflection-on-Action (Schön)
• Single-Loop Learning / Double-Loop Learning (Argyris & Schön)
and...
• Sensemaking (Weick)

8. Doing
Understanding the phenomena, drawing conclusions
What does it mean?
Doing an intervention What do I feel
see, hear, taste,
smell etc.?
Experiencing a phenomena
Thinking
Reviewing
Feeling
Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory
Kolb (1984)

9. For Schön designing is not primarily a form
of problem solving, information processing
or search, but a ‘reflective dialogue’
between the designer and the materials of
the situation he/she is in.
Herbert Simon (1995)
Donald Schön
Reflection-in-action

10. After the experience a practitioner
analyses their reaction to the
situation and explores the reasons
around, and the consequences of,
their actions.
Reflection-in-action can be described as to
‘think on their feet’, otherwise known as
‘felt-knowing’. It revolves around the idea
that within any given moment, when faced
with a professional issue, a practitioner
usually connects with their feelings, emotions
and prior experiences to attend to the
situation directly.
Reflection in Action Reflection on Action
During the project (while designing) After the project (after designing)
Reflection-in-action vs Reflection-on-action

11. the belief systems
and values which
the individual or
organisation is
trying to maintain
The moves and plans
used by people to keep
their governing values
within the acceptable
range
In 'single loop' learning an individual (or
organisation) becomes increasingly more
knowledgable
Single loop learning is useful when you
want to make a process more efficient and
external elements remain fairly constant
and predictable.
'Double loop' learning occurs where there is a
paradigm shift in understanding.
The people involved start to think on a different
level i.e. they start to question the questions that are
being asked or the assumptions behind them. This
can start to open up new questions for exploration.
Argyris & Schön (1974)
Single and Double Loop Learning

12. design is
sensemaking

13. paper over interviews
hoe doe je een interview:
vragen stellen
Do you need to
complete the puzzle
to know what it is
about?

14. paper over interviews
hoe doe je een interview:
vragen stellen
Bounded rationality
See Simon (1991) and Selten (1999)
You always design with the
knowledge that is available
Design projects are always
restricted by time. Therefore
you will never find all the
answers that you need.
However you don’t always
need to finish the whole jigsaw
puzzle to form a mental picture
about its theme or final state.

15. Sensemaking
Sensemaking is about people understanding what
happens around them
(Kolko, 2010)
“structuring the unknown”
(Waterman, 1987)
“attributing meaning to surprises”
(Louis, 1980)
“Sensemaking is the process of fitting data into a
frame, and fitting a frame around the data.”
(Sieck et al, 2007)
Sensemaking is about attributing meaning to
discontinuities or discrepancies in between mental
representations and the real world.

16. forming
predictions
assumptions and
anticipations
experiencing a
discrepancy between
predictions and actual
experience
a need to explain
the discrepancy
Consciously or
Unconsciously
attributing
meaning to the
surprise
revising
assumptions
Based on Louis (1980)
“Sensemaking is attributing meaning to surprise”
SURPRISE
Discontinuity
in activity

17. how to become an
avalanche expert (the
quickest way)

20. Expert stories
18 minutes
90% chance of survival
35 minutes
30% chance of survival,
death is due to suffocation
90 minutes
20% chance of survival, people
die because of hypothermia
130 minutes
3% chance of survival
25 minutes
Prins Friso

21. Expert stories
Basic backcountry safety gear
Avalanche transceiver
(Beeper)
Probe
Shovel
Airbag

22. Get as much ‘real
life’ experience as
possible!!!
Using products
Interviewing people
Watching product demos
Observing product use

23. Expert stories
geholpen!worden.!De!meeste!van!de
zijn.!
!
Professionele$hulp$komt$voor$de$meeste$lawineslachtoffers$te$laat.$Foto$Menno$Boermans,$Gasenried$$
Listening to stories
Interviewing experts
Observing the audience

26. Our moment of surprise:
Snow in an avalanche may
contain rocks and ice.
You’re exhausted after two
minutes of intense shoveling

27. Model of
what ‘is’
What ‘is’
Model
of what
‘could be’
What
‘could be’

28. Design is making
sense out of nonsense

29. learning – and thus
designing – is questioning

30. How many
designers does it
take to change a
lightbulb?
Warren Berger (2009)

31. Why does it have
to be a lightbulb?
Warren Berger (2009)

32. It takes one designer to
change the lightbulb
...
and a second designer to tell
the other how to do it better.
Charlie Mulholland
another feasible answer...

33. why?

36. why,why,why...

37. Check out his Ted Talk... it’s anexcellent summary of his book.www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMLSrqYk0UE
Simon Sinek (2011)
the golden circle

38. Why do designers ask
so often... “Why?”
Because the why question reveals the structure of a system,
it helps designers to identify cause and effect relations.
“Question asking is a fundamental cognitive
mechanism in design thinking”
(Eris, 2003)

39. design methods &
tools

40. Can you put the word ‘design
thinker’ on LinkedIn profile if you’re
not able to make a drawing?

41. design thinking is not
enough, you also
need to do design
acting... make things
(sketches, prototypes)
See Jon Kolko on: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKTYQAFDwhA

42. Methodology
The system of methods followed in a
particular discipline.
Method
A procedure or routine for
accomplishing something
Technique
A way of carrying out a particular
task.
Tools
An instrument used in the performance
of an operation
French cuisine
A recipe
Chopping
Knife
Participatory
design
Context
mapping
Generative
techniques
Video
camera

43. Discover
Research
Specify
Inspire
Ideate
Define
Direction
Concept
Embodiment
Create
Design
Envision
Develop
Deliver
Prototype
Articulate
research
methods
context mapping
ideation
technique
brainstorming
visualisation
technique
sketches
prototyping
tools
arduino
evaluation methods
usability testing

44. What is the role of methods in design?
To relieve a designer from time-consuming and difficult tasks with
a systematic and structured approach. This is especially the case when
the purpose is straightforward production of already designed functions
or systems.
Design work is always carried out in a social context. The method can
serve as a common ground for more successful communication between
the stakeholders in a design process.
Lonas Löwgren & Erik Stolterman (1999) Canale (2007)
“Methods as learning tools”

45. prototyping

46. We define a prototype as any
representation of a design
idea — regardless of medium
Houde & Hill (1997)
Cognitive
Prototype

47. Yet, we know that failure is often a
powerful way to learn. Within our
work culture at IDEO we have found
that prototypes help to create a “safe
space” for failure and therefore free
people up to make discoveries and to
learn more quickly.
Coughlan, Suri, Canales (2007)
“Prototypes are learning tools”

48. knowing through making
Maarit Mäkelä (2007)

49. High Fidelity
Low Fidelity
Crude sketches
Few visual details, mimicked behaviour
Working Beta version
Very detailed visuals. Fully functional product.
Wireframes, paperprototyping,
Wizard of Oz
1 hour to a few days
a few seconds to 10 minutes
a few days to a few weeks
(or even months)
Not many skills required (sketching)
Good skills of programming required

50. High Fidelity
Low Fidelity
Crude sketches
Few visual details, mimicked behaviour
Working Beta version
Very detailed visuals. Fully functional product.
1 hour to a few days
a few seconds to 10 minutes
a few days to a few weeks
(or even months)
Not many skills required (sketching)
Good skills of programming required
Flash Catalyst
Sketches
Flash
Arduino
Max / MSP
Role playing
Enactment
Dreamweaver
Powerpoint
Wireframes Wizard of Oz
Stop motion
Axure
Java
C#
VVVV

51. Our moment of surprise:
Snow in an avalanche may
contain rocks and ice.
You’re exhausted after two
minutes of intense shoveling

52. Making prototypes
(visualize the future)
Discussing
Using prototypes
Critiquing

54. knowing through
making
Some rough clay model sketches.

56. #CADModel
Apart from the functional prototype of the Orto-
vox Lynx, we decided to make a digital 3D-model
to be able to quickly simulate and visualize the
decisions we make. Also for measurements the 3D-
models can be very useful (Figure A).
The handle and the lower grip-rings have some
more organic shapes (Figure B), which are dif-
accuracy by milling foam. The milling was done
by computer fully based on the CAD-model (see
Figure C). This way we could test whether the
CAD-model was accurate.
For example we tested the handle on its ergo-
nomics and aesthetics (Figure D). This way some
adjustments were made in the CAD-model. In the
are milled the same way, but out of PVC see #Low-
ergripFinishing and #HandleFinishing.
With the CAD-model renders could be made,
with approximations of the colours and materials
(see Figure E). As close as the CAD-model is to
functional level.
The technical drawings were also made based on
the CAD-model.
C
Figure A
Figure B
Figure C
Figure D
47,12
13,12°
6
5
4
172,33
24,71
212,60
1
3
2
792,74
229,96
278,70
104,71143,08
179,55 1 Handle subassembly
2
3
Locking mechanism
4
Blade
5
Ring
6
Lower Shaft
Upper Shaft
1
1
1
2
1
1
Rubber - Lexan
Al 6061 T6
Lexan
Al 6061 T6
Stainless Steel
Al 6061 T6
Some renderings of the final
product, foam models and
technical drawings.
Drawings
Prototypes

57. Final prototype
Prototypes

58. * Beast Saw is missing in this overview

62. sketching
(drawing)

63. their form and function, their dimensions
and appearance, were determined by
technologists-craftsmen, designers, in-
ventors, and engineers-using non-
scientific modes of thought. Carving
knives, comfortable chairs, lighting fix-
tures, and motorcycles are as they are
because over the years their designers
and makers have established shape,
style, and texture.
Many features and qualities of the ob-
jects that a technologist thinks about
cannot be reduced to unambiguous ver-
bal descriptions; they are dealt with in
his mind by a visual, nonverbal process.
His mind's eye is a well-developed organ
that not only reviews the contents of his
visual memory but also forms such new
or modified images as his thoughts re-
quire. As he thinks about a machine, rea-
soning his way through successive steps
in a dynamic process, he can turn it over
in his mind. The designer and the in-
material surroundings for, in their innu-
merable choices and decisions, tech-
nologists have determined the kind of
world we live in, in a physical sense.
Pyramids, cathedrals, and rockets exist
not because ofgeometry, theory of struc-
tures, or thermodynamics, but because
they were first a picture-literally a vi-
sion-in the minds of those who built
them (1).
This article attempts to clarify the na-
ture and significance of nonverbal
thought. It traces the development of
nonverbal thought as practiced by tech-
nologists since the Renaissance, points
to the many drawings and pictures that
have both recorded and stimulated tech-
nological developments, and reviews the
graphic inventions, such as pictorial per-
spective, that have lent system and clari-
ty to nonverbal thinking. A concluding
section considers changing attitudes to-
ward the nonverbal component of tech-
nology as they have been reflected in en-
gineering curricula and suggests some ef-
fects of such changes upon the nature of
our technology.
sweep of a suspension brid
ample, is much more than an
geometry. The distinctive
three great suspension brid
York-the Brooklyn, Georg
ton, and Verazzano Narro
more strongly the conceptua
their designers and the tim
construction than they do t
requirements of their respe
Different builders of large po
use many common elemen
designs, but certain charact
internal "style" distinguish
of one maker from those of a
opportunities for a designer
his particular way of nonverb
upon a machine or a structur
ly innumerable. This open-
cess can be seen in the desig
iar, compact machine such as
gine.
The designer of a diesel
technologist who must cont
his intuitive sense of rightn
ness. What will be the shape
bustion chamber? Can I use
The author is professor of history at the Uni-
versity ofDelaware and curtor oftechnology ofthe
Hagley Museum, Greenville, Delaware 19807.
26 AUGUST 1977
The Nature of Design
he Mind's Eye: Nonverbal
-Thought in Technology
h pictures" is an essential strand in the
history oftechnological development.
Eugene S. Ferguson
e too readily assumes
ledge may be incor-
ifacts of technology
rom science. This as-
modem folklore that
nscientific decisions,
all, made by tech-
sign the world we in-
ts of daily use have
nced by science, but
ion, their dimensions
were determined by
tsmen, designers, in-
gineers-using non-
of thought. Carving
ventor, who bring elements together in
new combinations, are each able to as-
semble and manipulate in their minds de-
vices that as yet do not exist.
If we are to understand the devel-
opment of Western technology, we must
appreciate this important, if unnoticed,
mode of thought. It has been nonverbal
thinking, by and large, that has fixed the
outlines and filled in the details of our
material surroundings for, in their innu-
merable choices and decisions, tech-
nologists have determined the kind of
world we live in, in a physical sense.
Pyramids, cathedrals, and rockets exist
There may well be only one acceptable
arrangement or configuration of a com-
plex technological device, such as a mo-
torcycle, but that arrangement is neither
self-evident nor scientifically predict-
able. The early designers of motorcycles
could not ask science to tell them where
to put engine, battery, fuel tank, and
spark coil; they had to make their choices
on other grounds (see cover). In time,
wrong choices would be revealed,
but not by scientific analysis. Making
wrong choices is the same kind of game
as making right choices; there is often no
a priori reason to do one thing rather
than another, particularly if neither had
been done before. No bell rings when the
optimum design comes to mind. Nor has
the plight of designers changed funda-
mentally in the 20th century. They must
still weigh the imponderable and sound
the unfathomable. All of our technology
has a significant intellectual component
that is both nonscientific and nonliterary.
The creative shaping process ofa tech-
nologist's mind can be seen in nearly
every man-made object that exists. The
sweep of a suspension bridge, for ex-
ample, is much more than an exercise in
geometry. The distinctive features of
three great suspension bridges in New
York-the Brooklyn, George Washing-
Ferguson (1977)
The mind’s eye

64. Zafer Bilda, John S. Gero and Terry Purcell (2006)
Sketching is a dialogue
Sketching helps for ‘seeing it (the design) as
parts and seeing it as a whole’
Sketching captures the moment and stores it
Sketching is for externalizing a mental image
Sketching is like a language, learn to use it
Purpose of Sketching

65. Designing without drawings
Ferguson (1992)
Idea Thing
by craftsman
Idea ThingDrawing
by engineer / designer by worker
Also referred to as ‘indirect design’ (Doblin, 1987/2002)
Designing with drawings
F.C.A. UX Designer “Coder”

69. The prescriptive/storing sketch
Refers to the designers communicating
design decisions to persons that are outside
of the design process
Eugene Ferguson (1992)
Three kinds of sketches
The thinking sketch
Thinking sketches refer to the designers
making use of the drawing surface in support
of their individual thinking processes. It is to
focus and to guide nonverbal thinking.
The talking sketch
Refers to designers making use of the
(shared) drawing surface in support of
the group discussion
Thinking Talking
Storing
Manufacturer /
Programmer
Designer Design team
Rough / Crude Refined / Detailed

70. storytelling

71. Stories are vehicles of
experiences and values.

72. Scenario

73. Mieke van der Bijl-Brouwer, Stella Boess anf Christelle Harkema (2011)

74. the studio
environment
as a tool...

75. Who likes to work in
this studio?

76. UNITiD

77. what do you
usually do with
your research
data?

78. Computers and servers are excellent devices to
store knowledge on. However, retreiving the
knowledge might take some (or too much) effort.
For example... in order to share your insights with
your teammates during a meeting you have to
switch on your computer, open the document or a
webbrowser, navigate to the specific page.
The problem with storing knowledge on a computer

79. Capture Cards
Parts of this image are intentionally blurred or obscured
“War room style”
(See Kolko 2010)

80. Designers surround themselves
with inspiration.
Walls are used to store idea’s,
sketches, inspiration etc and are
used during brainstorming or
discussions.

81. The situation

82. "We have become the owners of this
space, it feels it is ours, this is where I
feel comfortable."

83. "It was nice to have your own place, that is always
the same. You would find your stuff in the same
position as you left it the day before.";
“You stay immersed in the project”

84. "It helps us to look back to all the ideas we came up
with. Some of these ideas turned out to be more
valuable than expected."
“You can see the whole process”

86. Make space
Facilitating students
with space, supplies,
tools
Facilities
Make place
Fostering a sense of
belonging and
ownership
Ownership
Make sense
Overseeing the whole
process, identifying
patterns, forge connections
Shared understanding

87. Salut!
Please return
the cards!
Next lecture:
Design Expertise
Design Thinking