2. Takeaways
• How do designers think ?
• What do designers do day-to-day ?
• What makes a good design ?
• What can you learn from a design
process that’s relevant to you ?
48. Exercise (Part 1 : Design Idea)
Think of a hobby, skill or interest that you
have had lately but have not been
successful at (e.g. learning a musical
instrument, sports, beating a boss in a
game) and write it down. This will be the
basis of your design idea
Kickoff
65. • Day-job outside music
• Works mostly from a computer
or tablet
• Uses music software and understands
basic music production concepts
• Not trained in music theory
• Want to produce dance music
• Want to create original sounds
for tracks
• Does not want to take it too seriously
immediately
• But, will take more interest if the
experience is enjoyable and grows quickly
• Curious
• Tactile
• Likes to be original
• Likes to figure out things
independently
Profile Attitude
Goals Personality Traits
66. Recap
Research
• Good research is crucial for every project
• Assumptions are risky
• Work from accurate models of the
system and user behaviours
70. Elements of a Design Brief
Design Brief
• What is the main problem ?
• What do you think is the cause for it ?
• How do you plan on exploring the
solutions ?
73. Exercise (Part 3)
Design Brief
For the design idea you identified in the
previous step, and referencing the
persona you developed, identify the main
design problem and write a design brief
that explains ways that you can solve the
problem
76. Example: Synthesizer
Design Brief
Brief
Design the concept of a new synthesizer
interface. This should:
• Invite experimentation
• Make it easy to understand concepts
• Be immediately easy to use
77. Recap
Design Brief
• A design brief helps provide a focused
direction for generating ideas
• A deep analysis of the problem helps us
uncover root causes
92. Exercise (Part 4)
Ideate
Can you come up with 10 distinct
solutions to solve the problem from your
brief ? You can draw thumbnail sketches
(preferably) or write down descriptions
100. Ways to evaluate Ideas
Evaluate
• Design Patterns & Principles
• Design Critique
• User Testing
101. Design Patterns & Principles
Design patterns are a means of capturing
useful design solutions and generalizing
them to address similar problems
Evaluate
102. Why Design Patterns Exist
• Reduce the design time on new projects
• Improve the quality of the design ideas
• Facilitate communication with
developers
Evaluate
109. Using established design principles &
patterns, as well as our experience, we
evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of
each design solution.
Design Critique
Evaluate
112. Usability/User Testing
• Can get quantitative information by
measuring how long it takes test users
to perform tasks, etc.
• Can get qualitative information by
asking test users to think out loud about
their process and feelings, etc.
Evaluate
118. Recap
• Critically analyze all the ideas
• Always refer back to the User Research,
Problem and Brief
• Design Patterns, Experience, Testing
• Modify existing ideas or generate
new ones
Evaluate
122. Being able to explain your work in an
engaging and inspiring fashion is essential
to the success of your design. If no one is
inspired by your vision, all the great
thought you put into your design will go
to waste
Storytelling
Present
123. A story can be
• Webpage for a commercial product
• Case study in design portfolio
• An ad for a product
Present
124. A Formula for Design Storytelling
• Why ?
• How ?
• What ?
Present
147. 5-step Design Process
51 2 3 4 EvaluateKickoff Research
Design
Brief
Ideate
Pick the
winning idea
Come up with
lots of ideas
Study the
problem
Gather all
the facts
Start the
project
148. Engages Several Modes of Thinking
• Creative
• Analytical
• Optimistic
• Emotional
• Organizational
• Fact Storage
