This document provides an introduction to design and what design is really about. It discusses the author's experience studying graphic and typographic design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague from 1992-1996. It also discusses perspectives on design education and contrasts romantic versus taxonomic views of the visual design discipline.

1. Hogeschool Rotterdam
Communication & Multimedia Design
UXD Minor
Thinking about Design
An introduction to design and what design is really
about
Bas Leurs february 15, 2010
b.l.f.leurs@hro.nl

2. So, you want to
be a designer?
Officia
l
Dress Designers
code

3. The real secret
about designers...

4. This is
design what real
ers we
ar at n
ight

5. KABK - The Hague
Royal Academy of Fine Arts
Graphic & Typographic Design
1992-1996

6. What’s good about art school?
It’s one big laboratory
One quote from one of my teachers
“That you will fail is
inevitable, so when you do
fail... you’d better fail hard!”
laboratory

7. According to most design
educators (at art schools):
design is a mystery, and it
should remain a mystery.
hans kazan

8. When
uneducated
amateurs start
designing, this
world becomes a
post-apocalyptic
place.
But this ‘romantic’
perspective leads to a
problem...
apocalypse

9. Taxonomy of Visual Design Visual perception
Ergonomics
By Bas Leurs (b.l.f.leurs@hro.nl), version 0.3 (january 12, 2010) Aesthetics
Ergonomics
Rhetorics
Readibility
Critics
Philosophy
Legibility
Semiotics
Gestalt Models
Communication
Dots
Lines Textures Temperature Psychology
Opacity Intensity Perception
Organic Tint Affordances Theory
Colour History
Forms Forms
Subtractive Websites
Geometric
Random Style Additive
Digital
Desktop
Signage Wayfinding
Type design Mobile Games Dataviz
Grid systems User interfaces Information
Maps
Typography
Information graphics
Content
Photographs Elements Newspapers
Illustrations
Media Editorial
Images Books
Metaphors Artefacts Magazines
Icons Symbols
Idioms
Pictograms
Layout Visual Design Logo
Posters
Promotion
Format
Horizontal Identity Brochures
Ads
Grid
Vertical
Composition Style guide
Baseline Golden section Branding
Subtract
Inversion
Abstraction
Sketching
Analog Methods
Tools Deduction
Addition
Induction Divergence
Principles Convergence
Conceptual Contrast
Modularity Symmetry
Photoshop Consistency Asymmetry
Scale
Digital System Emphasis Proportion
Indesign Coherency Hierarchy Transformation
Illustrator Balance Abstraction
Flexibility Rotation
Structure Cropping
Repitiion Rythm
Grouping
Negative space
Juxaposition

10. But design
isn’t just
aesthetics...

11. What is
‘design’
anyways?...

12. Noun, verb,
process and
product?

13. Decision making in the face of uncertainty,
with high penalties for error
Asimow, 1962
The imaginative jump from present facts to
future possibilies
Page, 1966
Design is the practical application of
science, art and creativity to create
something useful and attractive
Beltagui, et al (2008)

14. “All one can say with certainty is
that society, or the world, is not the
same as it was before the new
design appeared.”
John Chris Jones
Design Methods
Seeds of human future
1970

15. Products Transportation
Public
But there is alsoBuildings
the ultimate definition...
Services
Opinions
Communication Processes
Institutions
systems
Design is to
Urban
Laws initiate change in areas
man-made things Festivities
Markets
Interfaces
Social Experiences Brands
networks Food
The ultimate definition of design by John C. Jones (1970)

16. Think about the effects of
your decisions
Immediate
Short term
Long term

17. “If we can design our
way into difficulty, we
can design our way
out.”
John Thackara (In the Bubble, 2005)
trafic jam smog

18. toyota prius

19. If your design
needs to be
futureproof, then
make it extremely
simple

20. Design bricks, not houses

21. Why not build
cathedrals
anymore?
Look ahead, and think about how things are
after three generations.
sagrada familia lego

22. Apparently, the
future is what
makes design so
complicated...
But the real problem with design, is the problem itself...

24. Design problems are In design ‘perfect’ solutions do not
multidimensional, highly exist. Simply because we do not
interactive, ill-structered... also know what the perfect solution is.
refered to as ‘wicked’ problems
Lawson

25. The problem- and solution space are interwoven.
Solution conjectures are helpful to explore and
understand the problemspace
A design is never finished!

26. Scientists versus Designers
problem focused solution focused

27. Problem- and solutionspaces deconstructed

31. Design solutions can never be perfect and are
often more easily criticised than created.
Bryan Lawson (2006)

32. To summarise the previous 5 slides
Overall problem Overall solution
Sub-problems Sub-solutions

33. Generally speaking, it
seems that the nearer you
get to finishing a design
the more accurately you
are able to estimate how
much work remains to be
done.
Bryan Lawson (2006)
why
h at is s start
So t alway
you days ect
w j
a fe re a pro
befo s to be
d
nee hed!
finis

34. I have a confession to make...
We were mistaken...

35. This is what we have taught you...

36. This is what I use to do... (first iteration)

37. This is how my design proces looks like... kind of...

38. But bear this in mind...
Iterate often
Be a harsh critic to your work
But also dare to fail
Reject (early) solutions when you
discover them to be fundamentally flawed
Be open to surprises
Love what you’re doing...

39. So... what to
design?
Models of User Experience Design

40. The Elements of User Experience Jesse James Garrett
jjg@jjg.net
A basic duality: The Web was originally conceived as a hypertextual information space; 30 March 2000
but the development of increasingly sophisticated front- and back-end technologies has
fostered its use as a remote software interface. This dual nature has led to much confusion,
as user experience practitioners have attempted to adapt their terminology to cases beyond
the scope of its original application. The goal of this document is to define some of these
terms within their appropriate contexts, and to clarify the underlying relationships among
these various elements.
Web as software interface Concrete Completion Web as hypertext system
Visual Design: visual treatment of text,
Visual Design: graphic treatment of interface
elements (the "look" in "look-and-feel") Visual Design graphic page elements and navigational
components
Interface Design: as in traditional HCI: Navigation Design: design of interface
design of interface elements to facilitate elements to facilitate the user's movement
user interaction with functionality
Interface Design Navigation Design through the information architecture
Information Design: in the Tuftean sense:
designing the presentation of information Information Design Information Design: in the Tuftean sense:
designing the presentation of information
to facilitate understanding to facilitate understanding
Interaction Design: development of Interaction Information Information Architecture: structural design
time
application flows to facilitate user tasks,
defining how the user interacts with
Design Architecture of the information space to facilitate
intuitive access to content
site functionality
Functional Specifications: "feature set":
detailed descriptions of functionality the site
Functional Content Content Requirements: definition of
content elements required in the site
must include in order to meet user needs Specifications Requirements in order to meet user needs
User Needs: externally derived goals User Needs: externally derived goals
for the site; identified through user research,
ethno/techno/psychographics, etc. User Needs for the site; identified through user research,
ethno/techno/psychographics, etc.
Site Objectives: business, creative, or other
internally derived goals for the site Site Objectives Site Objectives: business, creative, or other
internally derived goals for the site
task-oriented Abstract Conception information-oriented
This picture is incomplete: The model outlined here does not account for secondary considerations (such as those arising during technical or content development)
that may influence decisions during user experience development. Also, this model does not describe a development process, nor does it define roles within a
user experience development team. Rather, it seeks to define the key considerations that go into the development of user experience on the Web today.
© 2000 Jesse James Garrett http://www.jjg.net/ia/

41. The problem with Garrett’s model?
It’s information
oriented
What about tasks (ATM), and immersion (games)?

42. sen ign)
rg e Ol by Des
Geo action
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(Inte

43. e
enc
peri rding
r Ex
Use gn acco r
i
Des n Saffe
a
to D

44. Intangible
Symbolic
Functional Expressive
Rational, objective Emotive, subjective
Physical
Tangible

45. Intangible
Symbolic
Functional Expressive
High penalty for errors Low penalty for errors
Rational, objective Emotive, subjective
Physical
Tangible

46. Intangible
Symbolic
Cognitive science Semiotics Visual arts
Ergonomics Branding
Functional Expressive
Rational, objective Emotive, subjective
Layout of a factory Interior design
Craftwork
Industrial components Physical Sculptures
Tangible

47. Intangible
Symbolic
Functional
Rational, objective UXD
@CMD
Expressive
Emotive, subjective
Physical
Tangible

48. Intangible
Symbolic
Social networks
Functional
Rational, objective UXD
Office applications Interactive environments
Expressive
Emotive, subjective
Tangible interaction
Physical
Tangible

49. humans
IN TE RACT I O N
TE
GY
CH
LO
NO
NO
LO
TECH
GY
N human
IO IN
CT TE
E RA RA
CT
I NT IO
N
TECH
NOLOGY
products / artefacts / environments brands / organisations / companies

50. social sciences
social interaction
communication theory social networks
social cohesion co-creation
humans
INT ER ACTIO N
TE
GY
CH
LO
NO
NO
LO
TECH
GY
(visual) interface design N human IN
IO TE service design
CT RA
RA design research CT
interaction design TE IO brand management
IN N
information design NOLOGY
TECH experience design
information architecture brand experience
products / artefacts / environments brands / organisations / companies
brand design
human factors
usability engineering corporate identities

51. So, you (still) want
to be a designer?

52. As a designer, it’s important to...
Be creative
Be curious
Have empathy (for your users)
Be a harsh critic to yourself and
other designers
Use your imagination (sketching,
scenario’s) at-if
’ sce
na rio’s
‘Wh
Rely on your gut feeling

53. Need to know more? Check these books...
Design Methods Designerly ways of knowing Engineering Design Methods
John C. Jones Nigel Cross Nigel Cross
How Designers Thnk Understanding Design What Designers Know
Bryan Lawson Kees Dorst Bryan Lawson
Find more on my Shelfari: www.shelfari.com/leursism/