the first few weeks…

<< I first posted this on the ‘orange group blog’, but then decided it was meant to be in a separate blog site altogether..so here it is.. >>

When I started typing this, I didn’t have a title yet. So the Title you see is something I may have thought of towards the middle or the end of the following post.

It all started on someday in Aug last year, when I stumbled upon the field of HCI on the internet. As I kept reading about it, it felt like “thats what I want to do“. But I wasn’t sure. I was a little apprehensive at first about learning design. And to an extent skeptical. Simple because I felt that I didn’t have any background whatsoever in design and back then all I cared about in designs was either the symmetrical layouts or the intentionally abstract designs. Its now around 400 days since that happened. And now… I am sure. This is what I want to do.

August 21st 2007. Our ‘official’ journey began. The learning experience with Marty & co. When I look back at the previous six weeks and six projects, I realize that I’ve learnt so much!

The following image, is a snapshot of my design-brain on 10/04/2007. (Blurred intentionally)

Our first lesson, was doors. Yes doors. As weird as this may sound, that was probably the most important lecture to me so far. Reason? It opened my eyes to the world of design. It took me through the ‘doors’, into the design world. From the world of “users”, to the world of “designers” who design for the users.

Following are my insights/thoughts/pieces of knowledge, in chronological order.

- Personas are everything. Create your personas. Then allow them to create your design.

- Study the user’s mental model.

- The design problem statement, is probably the most important part in a design process, especially from a business perspective.

- Documentation is very very important. (This was after getting a miserable grade in the thermostat project)

- Reminders: Be user centric. You are designing for the users. Not for yourself.

- Personas should be Goal Oriented.

- Seven Themes to good design.

- Embrace your constraints.

- Solve the CORE.

- Personas are NOT everything!! They are just tools.

- Be imaginative. USE the medium to the full possible extent.

- Solve the CORE (again).

- PRInCiPleS are the key to the locked doors, which hide the ‘convinced’.

- Design IS the argument. (Though I prefer saying the Argument IS the Design)

- Finally, Maya Lin taught me one important thing. The master-key to good design, is to Identify the most deepest needs of a user. In order to identify that, one must first block himself/herself from design ideas.

For days now, I’ve been trying to integrate what I’ve learnt in Youn’s class and Marty’s class. The following image, is a hazy structure of the big picture in my head.

 

~ by Vignesh Ramesh on October 31, 2007.