From the Couch: Redesigning ID

As with most things, ID is not perfect. Of course, the faculty and staff here are well aware of this. Every year, they host an Airing of Grievances where some unfortunate member of their ranks is conscripted to stand before a squad of disgruntled students. For a school focused on the practice of “innovation,” the phrase “that’s how it’s always been done” was, surprisingly, frequently raised in defense. The confrontational nature of this arrangement produced little more than hot tempers and insidious bathroom talk.

With recent upheavals in the staff and an explosion in enrollment, the need for a more productive means of addressing student concerns was needed. Rather than wrestle with the faculty, could we not work together to bring our design thinking and problem tackling skills to bear on the issues we face at school? Taking this new approach, the Couch and Hugh Musick, our new Associate Director, decided to host the first Design of Institute Charette. Rather than vainly registering complaints, this workshop brought students, faculty and staff together to work collaboratively to conceive viable solutions. The topics we focused on were Course Selection & Advising, Class Structure, MDM Concerns, the Future of Prototyping, and Career Services.

A first step towards bringing much-needed improvements to our school, last Saturday’s Charette was an invigorating success. As usual, we got off to a late start. After a song to embarrass Jeremy Alexis on his birthday, a brief collective brainstorming session yielded a seed packet of Post-Its to help each team start their discussions. Conversations were animated, and faculty participation was definitely appreciated by all of the students who participated. Two hours later, lunch was served. Each group presented a number of interesting solutions, a couple of which are briefly explained below. The outcomes of this session will be compiled into a document that will be freely shared, and the administration will begin implementing a number of them as the next step towards a redesigned Institute of Design.

Thanks to all the students, faculty and staff who participated. The workshop would not have gone as smoothly or generated as many creative initiatives without your input. It is our hope that this exercise has sparked the forward momentum our school needs.

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Course Selection & Advising

Problem

Faculty and students don’t have an easy way to get a shared understanding of the curriculum. The Faculty doesn’t have a good idea of students’ goals during the initial advising sessions or subsequent sessions. Students may not have a real understanding of what the curriculum is about at all when they first get here.

Solutions

A visual map of overall ID curriculum prototyped in Excel to begin with and then updated and put into seeID later in a flashier way. The way it might work is to click on different track and the program would build for you all of your required courses, a set of track-required courses and which electives would be available to you. The system would allow the student to see what options are available at any given time. Combine with a course builder tool which in essence would be the Advising Sheet 2.0. This would serve to create a visual overview of the ID curriculum.

Course descriptions submitted well in advance. Add information to course descriptions beyond the usual class size, class format, learning goals. Such information could be which type of student it is intended for. For example, a class could be in Communication, but may be beneficial to product students in a different way. It may be beneficial to show other classes a particular course may be related to, or other classes one might want to take concurrently. Integrate some kind of feedback and rating system into seeID. This would provide peer-to-peer information about the class, giving more insight into it.

Class Structure

Problem

The most pressing concern identified by students was enormous class sizes. A result of increasing enrollment, these large classes reduce the effectiveness of both teachers and students. Another glaring issue was the overload of topics on which to base work in each class. Taking six classes often requires researching six different topics in addition to the agony of selecting and focusing them.

Solutions

Methods proposed for grappling with class sizes include:

• Spreading core curriculum classes over both semesters
• Smaller breakout groups for deeper feedback
• Dividing a 3-hour class into two 90-minute classes to halve enrollment and increase efficient use of time

The team also suggested that pre-selected topics or themes shared among core classes each year would help remove this burden. For instance, this semester has a number of courses related to healthcare. If such a theme were carried out more formally across classes, students could more efficiently direct their secondary research efforts and spend more time focused on learning the methods for each class.

The Future of Prototyping

Problem

What kind of design school is ID. Answering this question will allow us to figure out prototyping’s role in the school. To what extent do we know that it is necessary to put things tighter/glue them/cut foam? Should we have three tracks at all? A survey should be conducted to assess the prototyping needs and expectations of students. What are the school’s goals for prototyping?

Solutions

1. ID offers formalized Product Design/Communication design programs like Art Center, RISD, etc. and Design Planning becomes part of a core course. If this solution would be acted upon we would need to add Communication Design prototyping classes, expand the shop and number of supervisors, and more space for a design studio.
2. ID becomes a Design Planning school with three sub versions offered: Design Planning, Communication Design Planning, Business and Strategy Planning. In this scenario no shop is needed. Instead the school will focus on rapid prototyping and software for computer modeling. This would require classes in learning the software. In such a case, the Foundation program would go away or off to another location. Also, outside product development companies or modeling companies could teach functions currently related to the shop.
3. All students are Design Planners, the new MBAs. One degree but you can say with concentration in Communication design, just like MBAs have one degree but with concentration in Marketing. It would be a two-year program with no Foundation at all. Incoming students would be expected to get their design training prior to coming here.

Other possible solutions to shop: different materials for prototyping: Legos, clay, etc., teaching modeling software. Do survey to find out what types of jobs people are getting that relate to the kinds of work done in the shop.

MDM Concerns

Problem

Compressing the ID curriculum into 9 months and assimilating into the ID culture causes difficulty in learning the the methods and sometimes team friction. Many MDM’s come to ID at great personal cost, leaving their career, friends and family and bringing with them a different set of expectations.

Solution

Imagine ID as a Compelling experience:
Before: More preparation—course podcasting, info on methods and materials, getting a greater sense of the culture.
Entry: Specific set-up pack with more logistical info, earlier advising period before registration.
Engagement: Use cohort model to create student groups of 10-12 students that would enhance the cross pollination of student experiences and provide support before, during and after school; might include recent alumni.
Exit: Extend cohort model into alumni association with local as well as international chapters. Create structured opportunities for student alumni gatherings, a job listing that avoids conflicts of interest, sharing case studies, and alumni giving.

Plan for implementation

To be a success, this would need support at all levels of the school. Some students expressed immediate interest in forming a trial cohort that would work on the process for forming and supporting cohorts and, hopefully, have a test underway by Fall ‘07. This idea refers to a similar model at many B-schools, the main difference and strength being the different student cycles created by the different program lengths.

Career Services

Problem

There are two key areas of concern related to careers that students identified: how to improve recuitID and how to align students with the right job. Students do not necessarily know where they would like to employ their ID skills in the real world, and greatly benefit from career guidance. Typically, this takes form in casual conversations with other students. A dedicated career center could be a hub in teaching them how to market themselves, raise awareness of job opportunities and tap into the unleveraged networks of alumni and current students, all of which are critical in empowering students to achieve their career goals.

recruitID is a biannual event that gives students the opportunities to engage with recruiters. This undertaking is shouldered by two or three extremely dedicated students. With limited information about the positions available, students feel like they are interviewing for a company rather than a specific job. On the companies' side, the structure of the resume book can be more confusing than helpful for recruiters trying to find the right students.

Solution

The first step in addressing these issues is to have one staff member dedicated to career services and another to corporate relations. The team envisioned that these two individuals would work closely together to leverage their efforts, strengthening both corporate and alumni networks as well as job opportunities for students.

Proposed methods to improve recruitID:

• Spread career events and opportunities throughout the year
• Split responsibility of recruitID between students and staff
• Make recruitID chair positions eligible for work-study money (can be a sustainable model for all student-chaired initiatives)
• Time recruitID with recruiting events at other schools, such as Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Business, and take advantage of when recruiters are in town

Proposed methods to help align students to the right jobs:

• Develop a toolkit that will help guide students in building their career path
• Teach students how to sell their own skills
• Create a career services function
• Leverage the alumni network
• Provide support and information for international students, such as curriculum practical training (CPT) and occupation practical training (OPT)

Lunch with Hugh Musick

by Swapnil Jadhav

ID got a formal introduction to the new Associate Director Hugh Musick, who is replacing Nora Kyger, on Wednesday, February 23. Some of us already had the chance to meet with him earlier last week for the ID Charette. The presentation gave us a quick look at his background in design, his interest in music production and his support for emerging artists.

Hugh has worked in design positions in a variety of roles--as designer, manager, facilitator, etc. His key strengths are his ability to conceptualize form from abstract ideas and his capability to get people to engage in dialogue with him. This strength of his is what we students will likely value most when we approach him for help.

ID Valentine's Day Party

At the Valentine's Day party last Friday, the final rounds of the limbo contest came down to Eric Niu and Irene Chong. Eric was absolutely confident he could beat the petite Irene, who is 8 inches shorter. So confident, in fact, that he made a bet with her: loser buys lunch. Obviously, Irene won. Eric treated her to lunch on Wednesday at Mambo Grill.

Thanks to Jun and socialID for another great Valentine's Day party!

A Recent History of Student Involvement

by Jordan Fischer

In this issue we kick off an exploration of the current student initiatives at the Institute of Design.

The IDSAB, AWF, insideID, recruitID, socialID and other entities that we devote time and hard work toward were merely dreams as recently as four years ago. In this short time much has changed, both at ID and in the world. How far back do you have to look to see the changes? As I've learned, not far at all.

When you participate in something that has been done before, something historical, you feel grounded. You feel a part of something bigger than yourself, that you are continuing some tradition or ritual. History is something that is official and feels written in stone. You look to the past for a clear example of what to do and how to proceed.

In reality, when you look back you realize that those who got new initiatives off the ground didn't have the luxury of looking to the past for an example of what to do. In fact, they were just kind of making it up as they went along, doing what felt right given the situation and the resources available.

The faculty of the Bauhaus, New Bauhaus and Institute of Design have functioned around the core principle of creative experimentation for nearly 70 years. They teach it to students and, I'm sure, practice it themselves in creating curricula. They were (and are) brilliant, visionary intellectuals, time and again sensing opportunities to contribute something new and of great value to the world, and training students to do the same. At the same time, I'm also sure they were (and still are) just kind of making it up as they go along, doing what feels right given the situation and the resources available.

I do not mean this to be taken critically. The opportunity to learn more about creative experimentation is why I came here. It has also inspired those who come to study at the Institute of Design to effect change. Those people are fundamentally who this series is about. ID students have a long history of changing things, including the ID experience itself.

Around the year 2000, something clicked. A number of factors, including—but not limited to—the abrupt increase in enrollment, moving locations, student frustrations with administrative policy and the changing nature of the ID education, contributed to rapid growth of student organizational efforts.

Nearly all of the initiatives started in that time are thriving today. While some of us continue to work on and change them, however subtly, most of us take their existence for granted. To know where you are going, it helps to know where you've been.  In light of next week's Spring recruiting event at ID, it seems a fitting place to start this retrospective on recent student initiatives with a look back at how recruitID came to be.

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The year was 2002. At the time, the school was hands-off in regards to student placement.  The administration did not (and largely still do not) feel it was their responsibility to help graduating ID students find jobs.

Some students felt it necessary to take matters in their own hands. Niti Bhan, head of graduate recruiting for ID at the time and now a partner in the Jugaad global cooperative venture, consulted with the students. Niti suggested that they could start a career fair. Foundation students Brad Nemer and Michael Winnick brainstormed on the idea with Niti, and after further discussions and formal faculty support from Chris Conley, ID's student-run recruiting event was born.  Niti suggested the name recruitID during a meal at Singha Thai Restaurant, a block east of ID. The suggestion was a joke, but the name stuck.

There are tons of little tasks involved in getting a graduate school recruiting event off the ground. As a project in Chris Conley's Product Foundation class, students (including Brad Nemer, Michael Winnick, Cobie Everdell and Laura Patterson) designed the event content and environment.

Even though most of the faculty was hands-off for this first event, some played key roles in ensuring its success. At the time, there were few businesses regularly hiring ID grads. Ninety percent of the companies invited were new to the school. Many of them were drawn from Professor Conley's professional contacts. MetaDesign Founder and Adjunct Faculty Bill Hill was also supportive, making personal phone calls to some of the invited companies urging them to attend.

The afternoon of the first day featured presentation tables allowing professionals and students to share a variety of work and discuss methods, project content, and the ID education. The event attracted 50 companies and involved around 150 interviews, surpassing organizers' initial goals of 20 companies and 75 interviews.

According to Brad Nemer, "the energy at the school that day was on fire." Students volunteered their time very much like we do today, preparing food and ensuring interviews went on with as little interruption as possible. Despite the tepid support up until hours before event, the Institute of Design's first student organized recruiting event took place.  It was successful beyond the organizers' wildest dreams.

Once upon a time at ID, there were four or five faculty and ten students. The learning environment was more tutorial. As the student population has increased, the ID experience has diverged from that tutorial setting. As with all growth, there are numerous disadvantages associated with this change, but one positive consequence is the increase in power that students wield by banding together behind initiatives like recruitID. Since the first event, recruitID has grown in size nearly every semester. Monday, February 26 marks the start of the Spring 2007 recruitID. Put your best foot forward.

Do you have a story to tell about the evolution of grass roots initiatives at the Institute of Design? Tell us about it. Stay tuned for the next installment in this series to learn about the ID Shoe and other first steps of the IDSAB.

Danger Sitting

by Chris Finlay

Professor Won-Joon Chung's foundation Introduction to Product Design II class has taken up the cardboard chair project in response to the call for entry in the “Chair Affair” design for American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS).

Rules:

1. Used corrugated cardboard is strongly encouraged—don't buy corrugated cardboard, recycle it!
2. No non-cardboard mechanical fasteners will be permitted.
3. Glue of any type is accepted.

The concept of seating has been continuously reinvented, manifesting itself in forms as varied as tree stumps and lazy boys. It is a form that can occupy a designer's work for a lifetime, or be a whimsical and novel exploration. Conducting a quick search for the “history of chairs” will return a huge variety from around the world. I had never really thought about what a Greek chair looks like. That broadened perspective on a seemingly ubiquitous piece of furniture must be part of the lesson here. The cardboard chair itself has a long history as a design challenge for students and professionals alike. For instance, one of the most famous concepts came from Frank O. Gehry with his impossible “Wiggle” chair.

For the past couple of weeks I have watched the wheels of construction turn in the foundation area. From sketches to floppy first tries, it has been fun for me as an observer, and, although frustrating at times, it seems like a blast for the foundation students.

The foundation students have worked to uncover the strongest forms and combination of engineering principles to create unique but sturdy chairs. Some look like space ships, others take more classic shapes like a giant roller skate...well, perhaps not, but that would make a fantastic chair, wouldn't it? At any rate, the forms have grown in strength and clarity. The foundies have begun to use repeated forms with intersecting elements to strengthen their creations. This technique also gives them a chance to develop a more refined silhouette.

I decided to do some deep questioning of the participants.

Have you gone cardboard chair crazy?

“Yes. I like it. It feels like it's the first time I have made something physical.” - Siriam

“I did enter a phase where everything I saw I tried to figure out how I could make a chair out of it.” - Judd

“I'm a planner.” - Ash

[JD holds up a cardboard banana holder.]

“Not any crazier than before.” - Anonymous

“No.” - Swapnil

“I think everyone has.” - Amy #1

Look forward to seeing the best of show in the next issue!

Favorite ID Courses

by Eric Wilmot

I’d like, instead, to discuss a resulting topic that cuts across many of the offerings at ID: ambiguity.  Specifically, how people and groups deal with ambiguity.

Strategic Planning Workshop is a fun and challenging class for this reason. The art of suspending judgment to allow research to inform our perspectives is difficult no matter what professional background you bring to the table. This is a practiced talent, a skill that requires repeated exercise to stay in shape.

As we approach halftime of this spring semester, students researching topics ranging from medical tourism and legacy planning to the future of newspaper media are waist deep in analytical frameworks for discovery. The most important aspect of analysis is to define what questions you want to ask, and let those questions inform the research methods you want to perform. Balance is critical in this phase, and expertise comes with practice.

Our tendency is to want to supply answers. We make discreet decisions every second, usually in response to some level of problem. I’m hungry, I need to open this door, I need to reserve an airline flight. Fortunately, we can usually supply very quick answers without much strain on our decision-making capabilities. But how do we react when we don’t have the answer? How do we make decisions? We do so much like our super survivor on the TV show Man vs. Wild: when lost, panic is almost never a valid solution, and guessing usually represents fool's pride. But, if you relax, climb the tree, and see what’s out there, the information available will show you the way.

Vijay’s structuring of this class is great in this regard--it promotes this exercise of dealing with ambiguity. After a few weeks of research, we’ve found our way to the river. There's a lot more to discover and research, but we’ve found a good path by letting the information stay loose for a while. This is the larger lesson that is invaluable when approaching projects inside and outside of ID.

New IDer: Laura Franek

MDes, Communication Design, Fall 2008

My name is Laura Franek, a Communications Design candidate for Fall 2008. I'm 26 and was born in Baltimore, raised in Chevy Chase, D.C., and went to Carnegie Mellon University School of Design for my undergraduate education in Pittsburgh to study communication design. I graduated with a BFA in 2003. I then moved back to DC to work for a short period of time before I moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where I worked as an in-house design consultant for Loyola College in Maryland for three years. Married: single. Children: no. Politics: I vote. Religion: I believe in getting 9 hours of sleep whenever possible.

Background: I had a wonderful liberal arts education growing up. In high school my creative outlets tended to be in mixed media and digital art. My biggest influence on who I am today is undeniably my father. Growing up, he would always bring home press sheets, his sketches and slides. He would leave them on the dining room table and I would come downstairs and find them there and pick up a press sheet and look at this foreign thing that smelled so good and looked so beautiful! He would also spend time drawing me or take me out on a photo shoot. I spent a few summers working at his office in D.C. I learned how to use Illustrator, Photoshop and make flip books, looked through all of his paper sample drawers, experimented on the Apple SE (at the time). I grew up knowing his production manager and people that worked for him very well. It was our home away from home. I remember one day when his production manager asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up; I thought about it and I just knew that I wanted to be a designer. It just felt right. I grew up in admiration of the artistic and business qualities of my father.

My mom is the head of a private school and has been in education all her life. She has really been a role model for me. I ended up deciding to go to Carnegie Mellon University because I felt certain I wanted to practice design but I also knew I had much more to offer. I enjoyed writing, research, playing soccer; I guess I never felt like I fit the stereotype of what I perceived a designer to be. I felt like I could go in all of these other directions. Design history was fascinating to me, as were people like Charles and Ray Eames, Frank Lloyd Wright, Paula Scher, Paul Rand. I really have one special author and you'll probably laugh when I tell you it's the children's book author Barbara Cooney. She wrote the book Miss Rumphius about a girl whose life is filled with exciting adventures, but as she grows older, none of it feels like enough to her. She keeps recalling some advice her grandfather gave her when she was a child. He told her that in order to live a good life, she had to "do something to make the world more beautiful." But, even as an old woman, she can't figure out what to do. Finally, realizing the joy she's always gotten from flowers, especially lupines, she decides to share that joy with others by scattering lupine seeds everywhere she goes. She completely transforms the rocky landscape around her home. In the end, she tells her story to her young niece, who wonders how she will make the world more beautiful. And so, the cycle continues. That is a very powerful message (albeit meant for children). Knowing how prone designers are to becoming burnt out and useless, it's really important to need to feel like you're doing something meaningful. I guess that goes for just about anything you do. But design can be an isolating thing when you sit in front of a computer screen and push pixels around all day long. Design is perhaps the most comprehensive way a person can transform his/her world for good. By seeing something with your naked eye, you have the ability as a designer to take that thing you see and make it better or, in the case of ID, try to see it again for the first time and innovate.

How did you end up at ID? What were your motivations for coming? Where were you working before?

Coming to ID was a straightforward decision. I was unsatisfied with not being able to, at the end of the day, say I felt like I did something that had an impact. It was hard not to feel like a pair of hands. I would squeeze as much as I could from each project, but, it in the end, I just felt like what I was creating was being thrown away. Prior to coming to ID, I had worked at several small- to medium-sized design firms in D.C. as well as my job at Loyola. Those experiences were rich; I learned so much about craft, the business of design, dealing with clients, the production process. But mostly I took those things I liked and the things I didn't and tried to make sense of them. I knew I enjoyed working in teams and the creative process. I liked seeing people actually use the things that I designed, but it wasn't very often I was a witness to the afterlife of my creations. In a sense it was like making things that disappeared. My motivation to come to ID was because I felt like I had bigger ideas and I wanted to make a difference; I also wanted to see the impact of a design. It's important to let people know about the history of our profession and to be part of creating a more established future. I don't want people to think we contribute to the fattening of America because we design ads for McDonald's.

What are your first impressions about ID?

My first impression of ID was really formed after the first week of classes. I literally felt like I was leaving the ground. My concrete thoughts about where I stood in relation to the design process became a kind of existential notion. I was where everyone else saw me back on the ground level. Here, I am where I can see the whole picture. I'm not just given a creative brief and asked to use the color purple. Nothing here is arbitrary; every part of the process is significant and immersive. I still think each floor should be color coded--all the white walls and floors are Bauhaus, but I sense a need for some color. I'm a colorist.

Chicago is a phenomenal city. It reminds me of D.C., Pittsburgh and New York City, but it's so much louder. The fire trucks here are at least 10 decibels above the legal limit. Even up here on the third floor, I noticed the friendliness of the people and the sophistication of this city immediately.

What do you think you can bring to the people here at ID?

I hope I can bring my genuine passion for the creative process. I'm pretty outgoing and I like to bring people together on teams. I strive for harmony and for seeing the bigger picture. My greatest challenge is that I'm now surrounded my so many talented, unique individuals, it's a kind of a utopia for me and I'm feeling a little euphoric.

Is there anything amazing from your culture or where you come from that you think people should not miss?

Coming from D.C. I can say there is plethora of cultural opportunity and the majority of it is free to the public. I grew up going to the Smithsonian, visiting the Corcoran Gallery, marching on the mall, spending nights out in Adams Morgan, going down to see the cherry blossoms and biking through Rock Creek Park. It's a transient place that can at times seem homogeneous compared to the vibrancy and diversity of Baltimore, but D.C. is fabulous. I would say that, if you visit, you should not miss places like the National Mall, the Holocaust Museum, the food in Adams Morgan or the Pennsylvania Avenue corridor. Oh, and don't forget the pandas at the National Zoo!

I also recently traveled to Portugal, which is modern and old world, exotic and fresh. Amazing food, amazing amazing amazing everything. Go.

Which designers or thinkers have impressed you the most lately or you are following now?

Lately I am reading more about architecture. Architecture has had such a profound influence in the laws of design. I hope I can learn to incorporate some of those ideologies into my own. One of my favorite thinkers is the architect Louis Kahn. He seems to have had an innately spiritual understanding about architecture and I admire how he thought about his creations from the standpoint of the people who would inhabit his creations. If there were ruins nearby, he would study those. He would find artifacts and collect them as reminders of what lasted and what did not. He questioned things like a scientist would--the soil, the amount of light present. He understood how to capture the essence of place by honoring the laws of things that do not change. By doing so, he created a very idealistic architecture style, one that seems to coexist as though it belonged there. That's such a powerful concept to me, and I think design follows much the same principles, especially user-centered design. We have to be good listeners, good observers; we have to be humble and when we do those very simple things, the result is something that belongs.

What are the websites you could not live without?

I will just list a few. I get my news from the bbc.uk, I read the besigner.com site from CMU, I get my fashion fix on net-a-porter.com. I usually try to follow the trends in open source technology from my friend's site citizenagency out in SF. For daily humor, I'm a strongbad fan and also love zefrank.com.

What kind of activities are you planning to do in your free time in case you have any while at ID?

I would hope to continue to interview different types of designers for The Design Channel site. A few years back, I started a company with my father to inform, educate and entertain people about the work of designers. I'm working on finishing a documentary I started a while back that hasn't gotten to b roll yet. We interviewed a designer in D.C. who has been practicing for 50 years without a computer. He has his studio in the basement of his house. Every square inch of wall space in his studio is covered with things that inspire him--it's the most incredible thing I have ever seen. I want to share that with people. I just want to get in people's heads; designer's heads are so enigmatic. I feel like if I can understand what sparks a person's creative energy, I could show how we all influence each other, we're all connected by this same thread to want to be inspired and to create from that inspiration. All of our ideas come from this source. I think that's fascinating.

I'd like to learn how to rock climb. Maybe in some warmer weather—it was so cold last week it hurt my feelings!

Past IDer: Kiyo Yamauchi

MDes, Product Design, Fall 1997

My name is Kiyotoshi “Kiyo” Yamauchi. I am a Human-Centered Product Design graduate from Dec 1997, one of those spring-semester starters. (Our graduating class consisted of four students.) I was born near Kobe, Japan. The year I started ID, my parents’ house was destroyed by the quake of Hanshin. I am glad that wasn’t indicative of my school life at ID.  I now live in Oak Park, IL, working for Innovation Center at McDonald’s Corporation’s. Married: No. Children: None. Politics: Liberal. Religion: Non-practicing Buddhist.

What do you do now (and any other current information about yourself)?

I am a Customer Experience Designer at McDonald’s Corporation’s Innovation Center. Can the hamburger business be sexy? I think so. Some of my projects are in the area of Service Design. It’s been new for me to work in this area, which requires integrating brand strategy principles and process design in order to create a compelling service experience. Before joining this group in 2005, I was in a training department at McDonald’s, designing training and communication solutions for our restaurant staff.

What was your background before coming to ID?

I finished my university studies in Osaka, Japan, and was preparing to come to the US to go to school - taking English exams, saving money, that sort of thing. My professional experience before coming to ID was limited to being an interpreter for a business development group of Sanyo Electronics. It was a tough job, but I learned a lot about incompatibilities between Japanese communication styles and Western communication styles.

With your background, were there difficulties in adapting to ID culture?

Yes and no. Certain parts of the ID culture were easy to get used to, and certain things weren't. For instance, I couldn't get used to crabby Demo students till I became one! I adapted easily to the culture of "working hard and partying hard." I went to bars every now and then with my classmates, which was a great stress reliever.

In which ways and dimensions do you think ID has changed your career?

Oh, so many ways! I learned that you can do anything you want in your life if you put your mind to it and work for it. ID made me realize that a designer can be an integral part of developing business solutions and not just the form giver that I originally wanted to become by going to a design school.

Can you imagine what would you be doing if you had not attended ID?

If I stayed in Japan, I would be working for a typical Japanese company, working in an office with the desk the size of tabloid paper, waiting for the clock to hit 6 pm. Joking aside, sooner or later I would have gone back to school. I love learning new things.

What are the skills learned at ID that you use the most in your current

Information design, visualization of complex data, and working in teams. And, of course, multi-tasking! Working on different classes during a single quarter or semester has helped me stay on top of things in professional life as well.

What was the most valuable class that you took while at ID?

Interface Design Workshop. I was just fascinated with new world of GUI design. I learned the very simple yet powerful art of creating an interface with effective navigation and orientation - telling the user where they are and where they can go.

Have you used what you learned from the interface design workshop in a McD project?

Yes. I had a chance to manage e-Learning module development and made sure my modules were easy for the restaurant staff to navigate through.

Which member of the faculty influenced you the most and why?

It's very difficult to name one, but if I had to choose one it would be Greg Prygrocki. I learned so much from him in terms of graphic and communication design. I still think of some Greg-isms when I design any communication design pieces. “Negative space.” “Axis.” “Legibility.” All of these are still very important and useful in my work.

What hard times did you have at ID, and what got you through them?

Communication and cultural differences were difficult. I was good at English, but not at a level that the graduate school demanded. Reading and writing so many books and reports was really tough. Also, culturally, I was challenged in the area of class participation. When attending university in Japan, you should not speak up or challenge your professor during the class. Here, I was encouraged to speak up because it’s considered positive, and I had to learn to do those things well. What got me though these tough moments were my classmates, and burritos from Bridgeport taquerias like Taqueria San Jose and Don Pancho’s.

If you could have changed one thing about ID while a student, what would it have been?

I wish I had more chances to meet with graduates that were in various professional fields after ID. When I was a student, we didn’t get many opportunities to interact with past students. I wish I had more professional/career consulting from them.

What's the best anecdote you have from the time you were at school (professor or student related)?

Hmmm, there are just too many. I still think of Sylvia, the receptionist at ID then. She was an amazing person I came to like even though it took a while to get to know her. The way she answered the phone with her distinctive tone, “Institute of De-zah-eeeen” is something you can’t forget.

How many nights did you sleep at school?

Countless. But it was fun. I was fortunate to have great classmates who were helpful, encouraging, and talented.

What is the last book that has impressed you the most?

The World is Flat. This book made me understand where the world is heading and how the world economy is just that - it’s “global.”

What other advice do you have for current and/or future ID students?

Learn from other students. I learned so much from my classmates. ID always has an interestingly diverse student body from all over the world. Try to take advantage of it. Spend some quality time (not only in those project meetings) with different students and you will have a rich student life that you won’t forget for the rest of your life. I had one and I am very thankful.

One last question: Why do the fries smell so good?

If I told you, I'd have to kill you or they'd put me in jail.

Strategic Dine Planning: Grits A Go-Go

by Chris Finlay

If only we could all spend as much time meal planning (and prototyping) as we do design planning, how much healthier we would eat! This week we try out a new column for ID students to share their recipes and planning tips with fellow classmates who want to cook more, but can’t seem to find the time.

One of my favorite last minute dinner tricks is the surprising use of grits. Grits are supremely dynamic material. They can be made to varying degrees of consistency. When cooled it stiffens and can be cut and pan seared, baked or even eaten cold. Think of it as a less flavorful and colorful polenta.

Q: What do grits taste like?
A: Whatever you put on them.

Inspiration

So, with that in mind, how can we expand the grit experience?

My latest and greatest was made in Miami for a bunch of octogenarians. It was a simple but fun. The meal consisted of garlic-studded roast chicken breast, green beans and strawberry parmesan grits with a little balsamic vinegar. Now, perhaps you think this sounds gross, but it is inspired by the ragingly popular early-90's dessert of strawberries and balsamic vinegar. Okay, so perhaps that is not a good argument, being as it was the 90's and all, but I assure you that it is a great flavor combination.

Infusion

The other way to flavor grits is to infuse the cooking liquid with a flavor. For example, you can quickly sauté garlic and onion in the pan before adding your cooking liquid. I say "liquid" because you can replace the water with, say, orange juice and discover that orange grits topped with blueberries is pretty killer with, say, a Cajun pork chop. Similarly, you can change the liquid when cooking spaghetti, rice, couscous, rice or beans. Actually, using substitutes for water in almost any dish can bring depth to your results. Water dilutes flavor, so why use water if you want rich results? Try stock, wine or juices where appropriate--and even where it isn't!

The trick to grits is to stir well in the beginning and make sure they are at a simmer. Remember to be careful as hot grits on skin is like napalm - stick and burn, baby, stick and burn! Good luck!

Step by Step

Follow recipe on box for quantity of grits desired. Be sure to measure grits before using the measuring cup to measure water. Add 4-5 ounces of strawberries per 4 servings (6-8 berries depending on size). Add 2-3 ounces of cheese for every 4 servings of grits.

Ingredients

• Instant grits
• Strawberries
• Grated or shredded parmesan cheese
• Balsamic vinegar

Tools

• Sauce pot
• Cutting board
• Knife
• Stirring device
• 2-3 bowls to hold pre-measured items
• Measuring cup or other measuring device

Process

1. Gather materials (or "mise en place" for all of you professionals).
2. Pre-measure ingredients. If you don't have measuring cups, relate the quantity to a container that has a volume applied to it, e.g. an old yogurt container. Close is good enough in this case. It's all about the ratio of grits to water.
3. Boil water.
4. Start preparing your strawberries. Chop off all the tops.
5. The water should be boiling now. Stir in grits at a slow, even pace so they don't clump.
6. Turn down heat to medium low—that means halfway back from medium or slightly lower. Stir every 10 minutes or so.
7. Chop the strawberries into 1/8-inch chunks (does not have to be exact, you nerds!), leaving one whole strawberry for garnish.
8. Take the single strawberry, slice it in half, then slice again into slivers. This will be your garnish.

9. When grits cooking time is 1-2 minutes from finishing, stir in the cheese.
10. When grits are tender and tasty, remove from heat.
11. Gently stir chopped berries into grits.

Bonus Serving Technique

12. Put a serving of grits on each plate, off-center.
13. Top each mound with a pork chop (yes, they did just magically appear). See how they are propped up to give dimension to the dish?

14. Garnish with reserved strawberries.
15. Pour a little balsamic vinegar around the base of the grits. See how it adds contrast to the dish?
16. Grind fresh pepper all over plate to add interest and yet another flavor dimension.

Have a fast and healthy recipe you want to share with your classmates? Email it to us.

Around Town: East

by Amy Palit

Now that the weather has warmed up, venturing a little further for food is more of a possibility. A group of of us went out for lunch and walked up Wells street to a Japanese restaurant, East, formerly known as Coroco, an unassuming hole in the wall amidst a variety of colorful restaurants like Hooters and Al's Italian Beef. The restaurant offers the usual gamut of sushi, noodles, and bento boxes. We came for one thing, namely the ramen soup. No, this isn't the instant ramen that you buy for $0.49. The real thing is much tastier--a big bowl of Japanese noodles, flavorful broth, vegetables and meat, and the restaurant is proud to be one of the few in Chicago that offers authentic ramen. After perusing the menu, we all settled on the miso ramen for $7.25. Our overly attentive waiter tried unsuccessfully to push a fusion sushi roll on us, an item not on the menu that, apparently, he often tries to sell with customers. One of the people in our group had previously visited and gotten the roll, which ended up not being anything exciting and requested that I "please mention that the waiter sucks and to never order his fusion roll."

A few minutes later, three large bowls of delicious noodles, chopped green onion, bean sprouts, and bamboo shoots arrived, topped with a succulent piece of sliced pork. As we ate noodles and broth, we noticed something wrong. Someone finally brought it up. "Doesn't this taste a little salty?" "Yeah, it is!" It's understood that traditional ramen is supposed to be salty, but this was excessive. The salt slowly became overwhelming as each spoonful of broth and bite of pork became saltier and saltier. The food was so tasty, but I couldn't finish it because of the saltiness. Still, I would visit Coroco again, next time asking the waiter for a less salty broth or trying one of the bento boxes.  Besides, $7 for a sit-down meal at a real restaurant provides a great change of pace from the usual student fare of local fast food. Just be aware of the waiter, and don't order that "special" fusion roll.

East
668 N. Wells St.
312-943-2220