Design isn't just about creating pretty pictures. It's about meeting basic human needs. In design, we identify problems by finding specific users with specific needs. Then we solve problems by prototyping and testing solutions with the user in their environment.

1. What is Design?
Prof. Lydia Chilton
Art of Engineering
18 October 2019
No screens Say your name
1

2. I teach UI Design (spring)
and Advance Web Design Studio (fall)

3. I’ve been teaching web dev for 10 years
2008-2010
MIT
2016-2017
Stanford
2018-present
Columbia

4. What is design?
4

5. 5“Design is when things look awesome.”

6. 6
the perfect gaming chair
Hassel free way to keep the
room temperature perfect
Learn a language in
easy steps
A device to browse the
web on the go
Processes that Increase
organ donation
Deliver $10/month to poorest
women in PakistanClean the house easier
Design is also…
Design is about meeting basic needs.

7. 7
Looks
awesome
Meets a
basic need
Comfortable home
Global communication
(getting a job!) Communicates:
Energy,
Fun,
action

8. How do I select a
basic need to address?
8

9. What are the kinds of things
politicians, beauty queens, and silicon valley
say they will solve?

10. What are the kinds of things
politicians, beauty queens, and silicon valley
say they will solve?

11. What’s appealing about general goals?
They sound grand and important.

12. What’s the problem with general goals?
They aren’t actionable.

13. General Vs. Specific Goals
Goal 1:
“Clean the house.”
Goal 2:
“Fold that basket of laundry.”
General goals sound appealing,
but specific goals are actionable.

14. So how do we solve general problems?

15. Let me tell you a story
15

16. 16
This is Nadia. She’s 11. She lives in Houston.

17. 17
Nadia is struggling with fractions at school

18. Her uncle wants to help, but he lives in NYC
18
He uploads them to YouTube

19. This videos help Nadia. She aces the test!
19

20. This video helps other students pass their
fractions tests, too.
20

21. Videos in this format help students learn
other topics.
21

22. These videos became Khan Academy.
22
Very general problem

23. 23
But it started by helping
a specific person with a specific need
Nadia, age 11 Ace this fractions test

24. Specific Needs
vs. General Needs

25. General needs are actually Domains
Domain:
“Clean the house”
Specific goal:
“Fold that basket of laundry.”

26. What’s the risk with a specific goal?
“Fold that basket of laundry.”
Specific goals might be too trivial.

27. Specific goals can be trivial
But, if you start specific,
you can usually generalize

28. Specific Need
Uncommon books
Harvard students
looking up major,
dorm, relationship
status
Web-based
No page reload
Never Delete
Generalized to
Clothes,
Food,
Amazon Fresh
Other sellers
Ivy League
US Colleges
Everybody
Chat
GDrive

29. If you start general, you may never start.
If you start specific, you can usually generalize later.

30. 30
How do I select a problem?
Identify a specific person with a specific need
Nadia, age 11 Ace this fractions test

31. How do I solve the problem?
31

32. 32
CCB+A+

33. Iterative Design
33
C

34. How do get from idea to product?
Idea Product
34

35. How do get from idea to product?
What I expect:
Idea Product
35

36. How do get from idea to product?
Idea Product
What it’s like:
36

37. Two Design Processes
The waterfall model, and iterative design
37

38. The Waterfall Model
Product
Requirements
Design
Implement
Fix bugs
Ship it
• One button
• Touch screen
• Soft keyboard
Idea
38

39. The Waterfall Model: What’s good about it?
Product
Requirements
Design
Implement
Fix bugs
Ship it
• One button
• Touch screen
• Soft keyboard
Idea
39
It’s simple, linear, and the
steps are certain

40. The Waterfall Model: What could go wrong?
Product
Requirements
Design
Implement
Fix bugs
Ship it
• One button
• Touch screen
• Soft keyboard
Idea
40
What if a touch
screen can’t be
implemented?
What if this
device is so
slow it’s
unusable?
How can we keep
up with the
competition?
What if the
hardware
weighs 30 lbs?
When there are many unknowns,
Design is always iterative –
so you might as well plan for it.

41. Iterative Design
41
Idea Product

42. Iterative Design origins:
Spiral Model of software engineering (Barry Boehm, 1988)
Every iteration should experiment with
the next biggest risk.
How to achieve the
perfect gradient on
app icons?
Does touch work?
All new concepts are risks.
They must all be prototyped.
42

43. Iterative Design is good because it minimizes risk
43

44. Iterative Design: what’s hard about it?
44
Idea Product
The steps aren’t certain from the start.

45. To minimize risk on novel designs,
Use iteration on each risky aspect of the design
45
Idea Product
Touch screen Soft keyboard One button

46. In this video,
what are new concepts?
Write them down now, we will list them together after the video
46

47. What new concepts should we
prototype?
47

48. Initial Prototype:
What did they prototype and
how?
48

49. What new concepts did they prototype? And How?
Can the drone carry the stuff?
Can the drone detect hand position?
49

50. What was the biggest new risk they
discovered during prototyping?
DRIFT
50

51. How could they have avoided learning this
two years into the project?
51
By prototyping this risk on users in the environment

52. How do I solve problems?
52
C
By learning from prototyping and testing
on users in the environment

53. How do I learn design?
53

54. 54
Not like this Not like this More like this

55. Design is a skill, not knowledge.
We learn it through practice and feedback
55
Sports Languages
Cooking
Playing an instrument
Painting
Acting

56. Learn Design by Doing it
56
Lydia Chilton,
CS
Brian Smith,
CS
Steve Feiner,
CS
Gita Johar,
Business
Elizabeth Hillman,
Biomedical Eng
Harry West
MechE / IEOR
Adam Royalty
Design Center
Paul Blaer,
CS
Mark Hansen,
Journalism
Laura Kurgan,
Architecture
Chris Wiggins,
Applied Math
Katie Reuther
Biomedical Eng

57. Summary
57

58. 58“Design is when things look awesome.”
What is design?

59. 59
Looks
awesome
Meets a
basic need
Comfortable home
Global communication
(getting a job) Communicates:
Energy,
Fun,
action

60. Design is
Creating a product or service that
Meets a specific need of a specific person
By prototyping and testing
to adapt it to the people’s abilities and environment.
60

61. 61
How do I select a problem?
Identify a specific person with a specific need
Nadia, age 11 Ace this fractions test

62. Specific Need
Uncommon books
Harvard students
looking up major,
dorm, relationship
status
Web-based
No page reload
Never Delete
Generalized to
Clothes,
Food,
Amazon Fresh
Other sellers
Ivy League
US Colleges
Everybody
Chat
GDrive
If you start specific, you can usually generalize.

63. How do I solve problems?
63
C
By learning from prototyping and testing
on users in the environment

64. Developing an idea into a product involves risk.
Idea Product
64

65. Product
Requirements
Design
Implement
Fix bugs
Ship it
Idea
65
The Waterfall Model is simple and linear,
but …

66. Product
Requirements
Design
Implement
Fix bugs
Ship it
• One button
• Touch screen
• Soft keyboard
Idea
66
What if a touch
screen can’t be
implemented?
What if this
device is so
slow it’s
unusable?
How can we keep
up with the
competition?
What if the
hardware
weighs 30 lbs?
The Waterfall Model is simple and linear,
but it breaks when there are risks.

67. Iterative Design is less straightforward
67
Idea Product

68. 68
Idea Product
Touch screen Soft keyboard One button
Iterative Design mitigates risk by iteratively
prototyping and testing risking features

69. Sometimes you find “showstopping” problems.
It sucks, but at least you can fail fast and move on.
DRIFT
69

70. Learn Design by Practice and Feedback
70
Lydia Chilton,
CS
Brian Smith,
CS
Steve Feiner,
CS
Gita Johar,
Business
Elizabeth Hillman,
Biomedical Eng
Harry West
MechE / IEOR
Adam Royalty
Design Center
Paul Blaer,
CS
Chris Wiggins,
Applied Math
Mark Hansen,
Journalism
Laura Kurgan,
Architecture
Katie Reuther
Biomedical Eng