Speaker

Jason Severs

 



ABSTRACT:

Alternatives:
Inspiration for the Collaborative Design Team

In The Design of Everyday Things, Donald Norman describes creation as the work of a select group of advertisers, designers, engineers, and manufacturers who are "aggressively unleashing a Pandora's box of products and experiences into the world". Their isolationist approach can leave the needs of many unaddressed. Designers easily fall into the trap of believing that their individual relationships to the world are representative of a larger population of consumers and end-users. So, can we rely on users to help revolutionize a design solution? How do we overcome the "creature of habit" discomfort with the new and open it up to encouraging provocations of what users have become accustomed to? Does research have to be relegated to the beginning of the design process or can it inform throughout?

This lecture will focus on a form of Design Research that propels concepts to the next level: Concept Testing. Concept Testing is a collaborative methodology in which the designer, client, and end-user together explore design ideas not just at the front end of the project, but throughout the entire design process. By facilitating end-user participation around a family of concepts born from earlier qualitative research and design activities, Concept Testing encourages searching for improved alternatives rather than justifying a predetermined conclusion. Designers and clients are pushed beyond their cloistered assumptions of user needs as the users themselves take part in an iterative process that results in designing the world with, not for them.

Looking to the future of Design Research, it's not only important that designers are inspired by the insights and collaborative engagements of relevant user cultures, but also that participants understand their contributions and get inspired and empowered to continually participate. If users understand how our design contributions shape the world, no matter how insignificant they may appear, everyone will see the consequences of thoughtful design on a larger scale.

WORKSHOP:

Alternatives:
Concept Testing at Work

Through facilitated discussions and variations in data capture, our method of Concept Testing avoids the cognitive homogeny so typical of focus groups. It's an immersive experience that encourages participants to contribute to the design process, individually and in groups. The resulting hybridized design concepts, as a result of user action, better address the needs of those users. Concept Testing is most effective when conducted with outliers and early adopters. Looking at our design concepts and the cultures for which they are created (and here we mean cultures of use, rather than those divided by ethnic or geopolitical lines), we begin to understand the broader implications of design.

As a practical extension of Jason Sever’s lecture “Alternatives: Inspiration for the Collaborative Design Team,” participants of this workshop will engage in a round of Concept Testing. In the first part of the session, the participants will divide into groups and participate in the design research process through the lens of the users. They will be asked to evaluate and build on provided design concepts. In the next round, participants will wear the hat of design analysts, exploring the materials created in the testing session and learning to use these visual data captures for synthesis and insight generation.

Participants will come out of this workshop with not only new tools to enrich the creative process, but also with a new found appreciation of utilizing user input to fuel design thinking.

BIO:


Jason, a Senior Design Analyst, has been working at frog design for two and a half years. Since joining frog he has worked on several projects for GE, leading research and IA for the NBC Universal intranet, as well as research for GE brand strategy. He has also conducted Design Research activities for digital, product, and strategy projects with American Express, Cox Communications, ETS, and Vonage.

Just prior to joining frog he collaborated with Bruce Mau as a member of the Institute without Boundaries on the project Massive Change: The Future of Global Design. And previously, he was a research fellow at Columbia University’s Center for New Media Teaching and Learning working to understand the impact of new media in the classroom.

Jason is also an adjunct professor and frequent lecturer at New York University. He also produces and exhibits works in painting, video, and interactive media. In 2002, Jason earned an M.A. in Instructional Design and Technology from Columbia University. In 1995 he earned a B.F.A. in painting from the Memphis College of Art.

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