Design methods are tools that allow us to design our thinking. The inventors of design methods study how the human mind works in creative processes and with this understanding, they develop tools and methods, which may help people have more control over their thoughts at various stages of the design process. The idea is that by being aware of the thinking itself, we can consider not only what we think but also how we think, we could achieve higher efficiency and get better results than by just performing the basic task of thinking which all human beings do unconsciously.
This scale shows the activity of thinking, at the two ends we have the extremes. How a normal/ untrained person thinks is likely to be in the middle, with Design methods one could shift the circle and explore other possible ways of thinking.
Example: Uses of design methods
Ideation: We often don’t know where our ideas and inspirations come from but there seem to be environments and actions that trigger them. By simulating these situations consciously, we might be able to lure these wilful creatures out of their caves and have more stable supply of ideas.
Managing (multidisciplinary) teamwork:
for a single fighter, it’s not necessary to articulate her thoughts and actions. But designers nowadays are dealing with very complex problems, which require multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills to solve, cooperation is thus inevitable. It’s obvious that there will be conflicts because different types of people have different priorities and interests, this is not a bad thing at all. Provided they all work from one framework, using the same terminologies and methodologies, they could avoid misunderstanding and therefore cooperate more smoothly.
Building clear structure:
We can use design methods to construct our process systematically. This is especially helpful for providing an overview, when we deal with large amounts of data that interact with each other. We can place milestones, this help us easily relocate ourselves, for example after a distraction or a break, therefore we won’t go through the same thinking path again and again.
We can use design methods to construct our process systematically. This is especially helpful for providing an overview, when we deal with large amounts of data that interact with each other. We can place milestones, this help us easily relocate ourselves, for example after a distraction or a break, therefore we won’t go through the same thinking path again and again.
Breaking through:
Some design methods require us to do things which are unfamiliar or against our instinct, some even seem irrational and unconvincing. But if we want to go beyond the limit of our cognitive imagination and discover the blind spots, these methods might be exactly what we need.
Some design methods require us to do things which are unfamiliar or against our instinct, some even seem irrational and unconvincing. But if we want to go beyond the limit of our cognitive imagination and discover the blind spots, these methods might be exactly what we need.
Conclusion
One virtue of “design thinking” is to explore as much as possible and after any decision you should iterate it and be ready to repeat or start over at any-time and any stage, for this purpose there are lots of methods available, allowing us to consider things more thoroughly and reduce the chance of missing important ones. But we should keep it in mind, that these methods are tools not essentials and therefore do not guarantee success. it would be like putting the cart before the horse, if we insist on using methods when it may only make things more complicated.
Reference
http://designprocess.de
http://deisgnmethods.de
The design thinking playbook, 2007 Vahlen