La! Good ideas~I'm not sure that I ever have any of those:)
If I did have one, it would have come about 4-6 hours ago as my best working times are between 1 am - 4 am. As Steven Johnson points out, ideas emerge slowly over time and even though people love to talk about an "Aha!" or "Eureka!" moment, there are really mini "Ahas!" for a while until a strong idea solidifies. For me there is always lots of deliberation, lots of moving into wrong directions and testing out hypotheses until something clear and emergent begins to take shape. Sometimes I have to step back from the situation, do something mindless like watch an episode of a TV Show or simply just lie down on my bed and try to shut out distractions so I can focus on what I'm thinking about. If I fall asleep, I hope that I at least vaguely remember my thought process when I wake.
In a work environment obviously you can't really lie on your bed or watch TV, so previously working as a textile designer, those actions would translate into looking at blogs for inspiration, spending time in fabric stores and the like, or just playing around with fabrics and shapes on my work table (everyone in our studio had a work table where you could play with your designs and ideas). And generally a direction would emerge, perhaps not an "Aha!" direction but certainly a path would begin to show itself. Often in making or designing, you have to play around with several idea and processes before something successful emerges, similar to what Steven Johnson said about there being a sort of process and evolution (no pun intended in reference to Darwin) to your idea(s). I've never had a perfect idea suddenly spring forth from my head. It usually evolves over time, through process and experimentation, and is often informed by my education or areas/ideas that I already find interesting and inspiring. Coming up with a good idea feels like an organic process, almost like tending a garden. You begin with a small seed and you have to cultivate and add nutrients and water to that seed for it to emerge as something lovely and useful.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
CCA DR Blog Post #6
Q: Blog on an example of good data organization (a website where large amounts of information is easy to find and access - in this case "information" can be music, art, products, data, etc). What makes this organization work for you? Be sure you link to the website you cite as an example.
A: When I read this blog assignment, I immediately thought of Core77. Core77 self-describes as a "design magazine and resource" and they not only have articles related to design, a store, and a calendar of events, but they also have an online job board and you can place your portfolio on the site. There is also a list of design firms and schools. When I was applying to design schools, I used it as a resource to find schools and programs I maybe would have never heard of otherwise and I've definitely had an interview or two via the job listings. I just think it is a great way to handle the many facets of being a designer and the site encompasses a lot of different aspects; school, firms, looking for a job, and having a way for companies and studios to see your work. It's also really easy to navigate their site which is important. A website about design should, after all, be well designed.
A: When I read this blog assignment, I immediately thought of Core77. Core77 self-describes as a "design magazine and resource" and they not only have articles related to design, a store, and a calendar of events, but they also have an online job board and you can place your portfolio on the site. There is also a list of design firms and schools. When I was applying to design schools, I used it as a resource to find schools and programs I maybe would have never heard of otherwise and I've definitely had an interview or two via the job listings. I just think it is a great way to handle the many facets of being a designer and the site encompasses a lot of different aspects; school, firms, looking for a job, and having a way for companies and studios to see your work. It's also really easy to navigate their site which is important. A website about design should, after all, be well designed.
Monday, October 11, 2010
CCA DR Blog Post #5
Q: Blog on 1-2 new ideas you have for creating participatory tools or other novel approaches that might be useful in your research project.
Reply:
Our project for Fisher Price involves interviewing a tough crowd (or so we hear), the notorious 3-6 year olds. Having been informed by several seasoned interviewers that children under seven are not ideal to work with, Team Brute Force has been trying to brainstorm a tool that might not elicit the most ideal responses, but will at least make it fun to interact with the kids and better understand their behavioral patterns during this period of development. Only one member of our group is actually a parent, so we generally have very little insight into what it is like to raise a young child of pre-school age, unless Max puts his two cents in.
Our tool for interacting with young children might not be the most novel, but it involves us better understanding which toys the participating children like best. We intend to spend some time with them, hanging out in their "play area" (When I was growing up we had a "playroom" in our house and we were allowed to draw on the walls with markers, etc. It was great.) and ask them to show us their favorite toy and explain to us, to the best of their ability (we're not looking for a lot of rational thought here) why they like that toy best. Of course we are not sure of the end product or service we will design, but hearing about the favorite toy will hopefully lead to some revelations about what is needed/desired in this particular market. Additionally, just being allowed a glimpse into what kinds of toys these participating children own will hopefully enlighten us a little to what parents, grandparents, etc. are interested in purchasing for their children and grandchildren. It might also give us some possible insights into discrepancies between what parents and grandparents think their progeny should own and what the kids actually want to own.
P.S. It was mentioned last week that some students have been adding additional posts to their blog. I don't do this because I maintain another blog and it's hard enough maintaining one somewhat substantive blog as it is~oy! (Not that this blog isn't substantive...but you know what I mean, right?) But I wanted to post the link of my other blog here so you can feel free to peruse...a lot of the posts revolve around what I'm making/learning at school. I will also repost any of the posts from that blog that I think are worthwhile onto this one.
My other blog:
http://things-are-looking-up.tumblr.com/
So much blogging!
P.P.S. According to my blogger dashboard, my comments are enabled and I'm pretty sure they are working because a friend recently commented about an old post...but I have yet to receive any school~related comments on this blog:(
Reply:
Our project for Fisher Price involves interviewing a tough crowd (or so we hear), the notorious 3-6 year olds. Having been informed by several seasoned interviewers that children under seven are not ideal to work with, Team Brute Force has been trying to brainstorm a tool that might not elicit the most ideal responses, but will at least make it fun to interact with the kids and better understand their behavioral patterns during this period of development. Only one member of our group is actually a parent, so we generally have very little insight into what it is like to raise a young child of pre-school age, unless Max puts his two cents in.
Our tool for interacting with young children might not be the most novel, but it involves us better understanding which toys the participating children like best. We intend to spend some time with them, hanging out in their "play area" (When I was growing up we had a "playroom" in our house and we were allowed to draw on the walls with markers, etc. It was great.) and ask them to show us their favorite toy and explain to us, to the best of their ability (we're not looking for a lot of rational thought here) why they like that toy best. Of course we are not sure of the end product or service we will design, but hearing about the favorite toy will hopefully lead to some revelations about what is needed/desired in this particular market. Additionally, just being allowed a glimpse into what kinds of toys these participating children own will hopefully enlighten us a little to what parents, grandparents, etc. are interested in purchasing for their children and grandchildren. It might also give us some possible insights into discrepancies between what parents and grandparents think their progeny should own and what the kids actually want to own.
P.S. It was mentioned last week that some students have been adding additional posts to their blog. I don't do this because I maintain another blog and it's hard enough maintaining one somewhat substantive blog as it is~oy! (Not that this blog isn't substantive...but you know what I mean, right?) But I wanted to post the link of my other blog here so you can feel free to peruse...a lot of the posts revolve around what I'm making/learning at school. I will also repost any of the posts from that blog that I think are worthwhile onto this one.
My other blog:
http://things-are-looking-up.tumblr.com/
So much blogging!
P.P.S. According to my blogger dashboard, my comments are enabled and I'm pretty sure they are working because a friend recently commented about an old post...but I have yet to receive any school~related comments on this blog:(
Monday, October 4, 2010
CCA DR Blog Post #4
I saw 16 passes (although there were only 15) and I saw the gorilla (out of the corner of my eye).
In trying to identify which kind of bias might be illustrated by this experiment, I've come to the conclusion that maybe the general design of the video/experiment is the bias. It seems as though the designers of the experiment probably already had a general idea about the kind of results they wanted to achieve, particularly because the video was made by a visual cognition lab, and set up a test that was biased towards achieving those results. I'm not sure how much truth is in this statement, but I was recently told that the only studies that have been done on cell phones and the effects they have on the human body have been conducted by cell phone companies. Of course the conclusions of a study like that are going to lean in favor of cell phone companies so that they can continue to sell their product unimpeded, which leads me to believe that a test designed by a visual cognition lab might already have a bias designed into their experiment to help support their research. They probably already had a theory and then designed a test to support that theory.
In trying to identify which kind of bias might be illustrated by this experiment, I've come to the conclusion that maybe the general design of the video/experiment is the bias. It seems as though the designers of the experiment probably already had a general idea about the kind of results they wanted to achieve, particularly because the video was made by a visual cognition lab, and set up a test that was biased towards achieving those results. I'm not sure how much truth is in this statement, but I was recently told that the only studies that have been done on cell phones and the effects they have on the human body have been conducted by cell phone companies. Of course the conclusions of a study like that are going to lean in favor of cell phone companies so that they can continue to sell their product unimpeded, which leads me to believe that a test designed by a visual cognition lab might already have a bias designed into their experiment to help support their research. They probably already had a theory and then designed a test to support that theory.
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