Portland State University PDXScholar Art and Design Faculty Publications and Presentations Art and Design 5-18-2015 DT + Self-Awareness Meredith James Portland State University, mejames@pdx.edu Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Follow this and additional works at: http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/artdesign_fac Part of the Art and Design Commons Citation Details James, Meredith, "DT + Self-Awareness" (2015). Art and Design Faculty Publications and Presentations. 4. http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/artdesign_fac/4 This Presentation is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Art and Design Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, please contact pdxscholar@pdx.edu.
DT + Self-Awareness ucda education summit May 18, 2015 Presenter: Meredith James Assistant Professor Art + Design Portland State University mejames@pdx.edu ART 111: Design Thinking Case Study
Teaching + Learning Design Thinking A problem-solving activity that is entirely dependent upon the quality of the thinking + Self-Awareness Clinical Definition: Knowing oneself and how that self relates to the larger world; includes perception, bias, and other contexts
Starts with Identification (Where students are at; where I am at.)
Questions Who they are What they believe How their beliefs were shaped The role of ethics and bias in design How they solve or avoid problems in their own lives How I model these concepts Objectives
Bruce Lee still from bruce lee training video
Design Thinking I approach design thinking as Bruce Lee approaches Jeet Kune Do: concepts first, but contextualized to augment self-awareness.
Obscure Bruce Lee Quote Because of styles, people are separated. They are not united together because styles became law the original founder of the style started out with a hypothesis, but now it has become the gospel truth. Point #2 (uncertainty) (process) Point #1 (anti-formulaic) (context)
Unpacked In learning, Lee suggests starting with basic concepts, internalizing them, and one s own style (approach) will emerge organically. What he suggests is as true for learning marital arts as it is for learning anything. concepts + context + hypothesis-driven process
Core Concepts of DT Human-Centered Design (HCD); Empathy; Use of a Research-Driven Methodology HCD: People are at the center of the process and outcomes. This can be accomplished several ways, such as participatory design, ethnographic research, audience testing, etc. Empathy: Caring about others Methodology: Various processes (IDEO, Stanford, Double Diamond, etc.)
Modification: Context I disconnect the core concepts from commercial applications to focus more on the intrinsic value of design as a discipline. Cross
Trajectory Wicked Problems Self- Development Ethnography problems themselves Understanding the complexity of social problems internal Learning to apply a design thinking methodology externalized Ethnographic practice
Design Thinking Walking into a new term, I am unfamiliar with the problem-solving skills of the new student group. The first exercise of the term is to map a wicked problem. This offers insight into how each student sees problems to begin with, and their individual or shared cognitive blocks. Rittel + Webber Intrinsic Value
This Project is a Struggle (I expect it.)
Wicked Problem gmo map
Wicked Problem gmo map
Wicked Problem fracking map
Questions Who they are What they believe How their beliefs were shaped The role of ethics and bias in design How they solve or avoid problems in their own lives Objectives
Cognitive Blocks In mapping the problem, several cognitive blocks emerge: futility, fatalism, difficulty with the illdefined and perceptual biases Discussion Topics
Ferguson: An Example Just prior to the start of the fall term, the deaths of Eric Garner (New York) and Michael Brown (Ferguson) had occurred. As a consequence, two students chose racism as their wicked problem. In mapping, several conversations were sparked regarding inclusion, exclusion, perception, bias and ethics. Having socially-minded student protesters as well as students studying criminal justice is important to this discussion. As are a myriad of other voices.
Bruce Lee still from bruce lee training video
Second Obscure Bruce Lee Quote Style is a crystallization It s a process of continuing growth.
Trajectory Wicked Problems Self- Development Ethnography problems themselves Understanding the complexity of social problems internal Learning to apply a design thinking methodology externalized Ethnographic practice
Project 2 Process Research Synthesis Problem Statement Conceptualize Visualize
Messy + Non-Linear Also Messy Problem Statement Research Synthesis Conceptualize Visualize Solution Statement Initial Hypothesis Data Viz or Response
Questions Who they are What they believe How their beliefs were shaped The role of ethics and bias in design How they solve or avoid problems in their own lives Objectives
Research and Process documentation
Research and Process documentation
Research and Process (Notice how different these are) documentation
documentation Raw Data
Back to Bruce Lee Starting with a hypothesis is a difficult task, but any designer worth their salt will tell you that sitting with the unknown, the unpredictable is part of the essence of our discipline.
Outcomes I realized that the project was not only focusing on my inability to stick to a budget, but instead catered to an underlying pattern of excuses. This not-so-proud realization was a definite eye opener. My issue hadn t changed, I still needed to get to bed at a decent hour, but now I had some reason and direction. It was time to get to work.
Project 3 Having spent time on understanding the complexities and contingencies of problems as well as a formalized, base methodology to solve them with, students can now take what they ve learned and apply design thinking concepts to external problems. But from a more ethically grounded, self-aware perspective.
Trajectory Wicked Problems Self- Development Ethnography problems themselves Understanding the complexity of social problems internal Learning to apply a design thinking methodology externalized Ethnographic practice
Contextual Awareness Because of their understanding of context, students are now able to ask one of the most crucial questions of a design practice: Who or what needs to change, if anything.
pioneer square ethnography by m.c.
Summary Tools like design thinking and conceptual development are not to be taken as formulas for success, they are simply concepts heavily influenced by the contexts of problems and designers.
Adage Master the self first. Thank you.