Vision in product design
From WikID
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This article is part of the Bachelor design guide; the original version can be found at page 55. |
Vision in product design is a design approach that has three starting points [2]:
- Design is about looking for possibilities, and possible futures, instead of solving present-day problems (this starting point can be found in the product planning of the product innovation models described by Buijs[3] and Roozenburg and Eekels[4]).
- Products are a means of accomplishing appropriate actions, interactions, and relationships. In interaction with people, products obtain their meaning. This is why ViP is interaction-centered.
- The appropriateness of an interaction is determined by the context for which it is to be designed. This context can be the world of today, tomorrow, or may lie years ahead. Future contexts demand new and different behaviours which makes ViP context-driven.
ViP doesn't have the methodological soundness one would like to attribute to the Product Design Process as described by Roozenburg and Eekels. ViP doesn't involve a formal problem statement, but more an expression of possible futures and contexts. ViP doesn't involve function structures and principle solutions. ViP starts from the notion that products can be described on three levels:
- Context level
- Interaction level
- Product level.
The general premise is that a product obtains its meaning from its interaction in a particular context. Furthermore, the ViP process assumes two general subsequent activities:
- Deconstructing the present context, interaction and product
- Desiging a new context, interaction and product.
The starting point for the ViP process is not a design problem, or a drive to fulfil someone’s need. The ViP process starts with the selection of a domain for which possibilities are sought for. Domain is a deliberate open concept, unconstrained in its type or formulation, provoking an open-minded deconstruction and designing.
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Phases in the ViP process
The first phase of ViP is the deconstruction phase. This way of thinking tries to get at the underlying factors that result in products asking yourself: why are products the way they are? To answer this question a designer needs to distance him-/ herself from the world of products and shift from thinking about the what to thinking about the why. The deconstruction phase helps to take a wider view of the world of products in three ways. First, to understand that there are three levels of description (product, interaction, context) to ViP and also the relationships between these levels. Second, to get rid of any pre-conceptions one might have about products in a certain domain. Third, in finding factors that are obsolete or no longer make sense, a designer can already begin to have a feeling of new opportunities for the design phase that follows. Once a designer has gone through the deconstruction phase a few times he/ she will be able to do it quickly, almost without thinking. In fact it is a way of thinking about things. The following description is taken from The Warm Bath [2], a booklet from the ViP course.
The deconstruction phase
The product level
Products have qualities and some of these are designed qualities - intended to be that way by the designers. Look back at product descriptions and try to decide which qualities are designed and which are not. This is a story about looking, then looking again to understand. The process of looking, reflecting, and then looking again is essential in the deconstruction phase of ViP. At first you might find it difficult, but with practice this way of seeing products becomes natural and you will be able to complete this phase very quickly.
The interaction level
Products do not exist independent of the world of people. So far the qualities of products have been described as if they were placed in a museum. It is really in the interaction between person and product that meaning is generated. This is more complicated than it might be at first sound. In the ViP approach the value of products lies in the quality of the interaction that products afford. The quality is thus found in a relationship between people and things, not in either the people or the things themselves. To think about the quality of a relationship imagine a relationship with someone close to you, a friend or a member of your family for example. Try and pin down the qualities of the relationship that you have with that person with a few words. The words that you use to describe this relationship do not apply to each person individually but to the relationship between them. The key point here is that the relationship is not a physical thing you can point at, it is not an object in the world. Certainly it would not exist without you and the other person but apart from that it seems somehow to be in the air between things.
The context level
The context level follows on naturally from the interaction level, moving further away from any particular product. The aim of deconstruction at the context level is to try and think about what factors in the original conditions that a product was created for provided a possible reason to produce that particular person-product interaction. Put in another way: the context level tries to get at the factors underpinning the qualities of a particular person-product interaction. In deconstructing at the context level you need to understand that products and hence interactions are created within well-defined contexts and that understanding this context can help in understanding why the product exists at all. In fact that is what we are looking for, the answer to the question: why does this product exist? And why does it exist in this way?
The construction phase
By the designing phases of ViP you will have a good idea of some of the context factors that are involved in the domain, some of which you might be able to use in the designing phase. We are now in the design phase of ViP. You should have an understanding about interaction qualities, and the factors that make up a context for interaction. In the design phase you will begin to be more creative by selecting factors that make up a context and using this to develop new interactions.
The context level
In designing your context you will usually start from a domain that you have been given. You will probably be used to responding to quite specific design problems. A domain is quite an open and abstract notion, and if it isn’t as open as you think it should be, you can open it up. A more open problem definition allows you to come up with a wider range of context factors. Building a context can take up to several weeks. Start with factors that you feel are relevant and can apply to the domain, and categorise them as principles, states, developments and trends. As you think of context factors, list them down and try to write a little bit about why they are important. When you have a list that feels sufficient it is time to start grouping and selecting the factors that will lead you forward into the interaction vision; you have to think about how they will combine- how they relate to each other, and what the overall experience will be like. Try and identify different types of context factors. At this stage you are looking for the threads that bring context factors together and how the clusters might be connected - do they support or conflict with each other? You should by this stage be able to make an overall story that describes the relationships between the clusters. The end of the context phase requires two things: the first is to select the factors and clusters that you think are most important in your domain. Try and bring them together in a coherent story. This is your context. The second is to write a short statement that sums up what you think about what you have found, together with where you think this should lead. This will set the abstract goal for the rest of your ViP process. The statement doesn’t have to explicitly refer to the domain, but it should set an interesting direction for the stages that follow. The statement is something that just begins to focus things without referring either to a specific interaction or product.
The interaction level
Having Iimited a context you are now in a position to think about the qualities of the interaction that will make sense in this context. In the deconstruction phase you looked closely at the qualities of interactions between existing products and people. It is now time to imagine the qualities of an interaction that fit your context, but without thinking about any particular product. As in the previous phase you will slowly build up a list of interaction qualities that relate to your vision statement. Some will lead you to other more refined or complex qualities, but keep a list of everything as you go. When you have exhausted all possibilities (or your time has run out), write down the five most important qualities of the interaction with a brief description of each. Then write down why these qualities are appropriate. Descriptions are not the only means to indicate qualities of interaction. You can also think of images or metaphors that capture the intended interaction.
The product level
We are now at the product level once again. You have designed a context by collecting together relevant factors in a particular domain. You have produced a vision statement drawing and responding to these context factors by saying what you, as a designer, would like to do. You have produced an interaction vision, listing the qualities of the interactions that reinforce and are appropriate to your vision. It is now time to look at how particular forms produce the qualities of your interaction vision. This is the stage of ViP that will be most familiar to you - maybe you feel like you are in a familiar place now? Your interaction vision lists the requirements that a product must fulfil. But beware, qualities of interaction can be achieved in many ways, and not necessarily using physical form. Take care to think of different ways with which to achieve the same qualities. Try not to think of what is expected of you.
References
- ↑ Hekkert P. and van Dijk M. (2001) Designing from context: Foundations and Applications of the ViP approach, In: P. Lloyd and H. Christiaans (Eds.) Designing in Context: Proceedings of Design Thinking Research Symposium 5, DUP Science, Delft.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lloyd P., Hekkert P. and van Dijk M. (2006) Vision in Product Design (VIP): The Warm Bath, Delft.
- ↑ Buijs J. (2003) Modelling Product Innovation Processes: from Linear Logic to Circular Chaos, Creativity and Innovation Management, vol. 12 (2), pp. 76 - 93.
- ↑ Roozenburg N. and Eekels J. (1998) Product Design: Fundamentals and Methods, Wiley, Chichester, 2nd ed.
