This classical model of the design process offered by Prof. Bruce Archer in 1964 influenced the design community deeply and for many decades the linear flow of decision making held sway on the minds of design theorists. However practising
designers went about their tasks of design systhesis in a rather intuitive manner leaving the final decisions to the managers and entrepreneurs. However a large number of engineers followed this model as a prescription. This left a large gap in the area of design synthesis without adequate explanation. Many questions of creativity and methods of complexity resolution were left unanswered.
It was only when the real complexities of design decision making were realised in the post environmental awareness era of the eighties did the design community take a serious look at alternate models of iterative processes that took the feedback loops seriously enough to invest in detailed user research and life-cycle audits of products and technologies as part of the process of design analysis and synthesis.
The Morphology
of Design
M P Ranjan . National Institute of Design . July 1997 Design Concepts & Concerns, PEP Third Semester
Bruce Archer, 1964
Solution Brief Analytical
Phase
Experience Observation
Measurement Inductive Reasoning
Evaluation Judgement Deductive Reasoning Decision
Description Translation Transmission
Creative Phase
Executive Phase
Training
Programming
Data Collection
Analysis
Synthesis
Development
Emerging Context
for Design Practice
© M P Ranjan . National Institute of Design . Aug 1995 - rev Aug 2000
Prepared for Faculty Seminar at the
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, August 1995
USER STUDIES (by Clients)
Entrepreneurial vision Trade & Service Expertise Marketing Savvy Investment & Risk Feasibility Studies, etc.
Design
USER STUDIES (by Designers)
Understanding Real Needs, Problems & Opportunities
Early Prototyping & Testing Modelling & Evaluation
Observations of Users Interactions with Users User Trips & Experiments Protocol Analysis, etc. The
Domain Knowledge, etc.
The Interface
Concern for Users Concern for Environment
Concern for Values, etc. Entrepreneur
Front Office & Field Tasks
Design Management and Design Processes are concurrent activities that help create new products and services in the corporate sector and in the social sectors. Design management is practised typically by managers, entrepreneurs while the back office tasks carried out by the core design teams are called design processes. Both groups are looking deeply into the needs and expectations of the users using different tools and skills to develop insights that help reduce risks of investments and increase the
possibility of the acceptance of the solutions by the user groups in question.
While the entrepreneurs define strategy and direction the design teams provide the tangible scenarios through a process of visualisation. The greater the flow of information between the two groups the better the resolution of the complex sets of variables that make up the decision framework leading to design synthesis and the selection of a particular design solution.
Concepts & Visualisation
M P Ranjan . National Institute of Design . Aug. 1997 Design Concepts & Concerns
Foundation Programme, 1997
A word can conjure a million images
Word Concepts
Image Concepts
An image is worth a thousand words they say ...
Forest
Garden
... Orchard
Tree
Old Trees
Tall Trees
Big Trees ...
Pine
Oak
Mango
Banyan
Palm ....
Image Refinement & Variety
The myths about the creative process needs to be dispelled through an understanding of the process of visualisation. Designers are trained to express metaphors in visual form and this is a central ability that helps offset the problem of incomplete or
inadequate information in a climate of extreme ambiguity in which design decisions and explorations must take place. If everything were known about the problem or
opportunity the task is no longer one of design. Design therefore deals with the unknown and gives shape to this unknown future and in this process creates a new vision of the future that can be adopted through a rigorous process of evaluation and testing.
Visualisation
in Design
M P Ranjan . National Institute of Design . Jan. 1997 Design Concepts & Concerns,
Foundation Programme, 1997
Qualities
Sensitivity Creativity Flexibility Responsibility Feasibility Accountability Desirability
Image Concept
Abilities
Action
Perception
Cognition
L R
Attitudes
Word Concept
Abstract & Intangible Concrete - Real & Tangible
Concepts
‘Tree’
Doodles Sketches Diagrams Image-Concepts Drawings Models PrototypesFormulae Hypotheses Theories Word-Ideas Evocative Descriptions Solutions and Alternate
Scenarios through Creative Visualisation Processes.
People
Designers think with Moving Images and Words : Creatively Designers build
Models and Specifications
Visualisation is a unique process that is used by designers to create tangible alternatives through cognitive and external modelling activities. Perception as represented by user studies and observation of user behaviour leads to the
development of critical insights that guide the concept explorations of the designer. The concept lies in a space that is iteratively explored and articulated by a series of
diagrams, models and prototypes till an appropriate solution is found. This is sometimes a meandering process that moves between abstract and the concrete expressions, and this movement from the general to the particular is the hallmark of design thinking.
St r at egic
Decisions
Tact ical
Decisions
Decision Time Line
Alternative A
Alternative B
Alternative C
Minimum Specifications
Maximum Possibilities
Design Decisions:
Possibilities & Specifications
M P Ranjan . National Institute of Design Design Concepts & Concerns, Foundation Pro
Data: Information: Knowledge: Wisdom: Vision
Cone of
Possibilit ies
Why? What? How Much? Better? Worse?...
Infinit e Cone of
Specificat ions
All new products and services are created and developed through a process of innovation where a goal is achieved through the pursuit of a strategic vision. In this process the search for solutions helps articulate desirable specifications in a
progressive manner till a specific concept is embodied in the form of a final solution or a set of alternatives. The relationship between the decisions taken at various stages and the process of embedding the desired specifications into a product as it is being created is illustrated by this model.
The decision time line moves from left to right. As the cone of possibilities narrows down to offer a particular embodiment of the new product and feature set the cone of
specifications gets expanded in an inverse relationship. The final product embodiment can have infinite levels of specification which makes the task of technology and design transfer a very elaborate task and could run into hundreds of thousands of pages of text and illustrations.
The New Industrial Design
Variety & Style Differentiation Choice / Fashion Form Practical Know How
Creates New Industries Creates New Markets Re-engineering strategies Mass Customisation strategies Eco-Friendly strategies Style and Fashion Market Segmentation..
Every design project addresses all levels in varying degrees...
Market Led Design
Patent Led Design Vision Led Design
Skill Led Design Sense Led Design
© M P Ranjan, National Institute of Design
