Two Common Blunders with regards to 'Identified Problems'

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TWO MOST COMMON BLUNDERS OF (THE SO CALLED) IDENTIFIED PROBLEM

1) The most frequent blunder when a student identifies a 'problem' situation and then follows through it without finding out if that was worth pursuing. Why so?

For most of the time, if the student were to do some research, he/she will likely find out that there are already existing product(s) or solution(s) in the market for that 'identified problem'. 

When a (right) product (the solution) is not there on-location to resolve the scenario it does not mean GO MAKE. It should prompt you to do some research for any existing solution.

These students, instead of finding out the probable existence of a solution to alleviate the problem, he/she ends up making something that is not really needed to be made. A product that is not authentic in solving a problem. Most of such attempts to make a product rarely value-adds anything.

Take a look at the following examples and learn how you can go about it:

• Books are messy? Ask Why. GO GET the right shelve!
• Shoes are messy? Ask why. GO GET a shoe rack! Cheap ones, designer ones, expensive ones. Anything. One that is of the RIGHT SIZE. RIGHT MATERIAL, etc.
• Cannot find your pencils? GO GET a good storage system, or get your memory upgraded! LEARN to be NEATER.

The following sketch shows a typical common identified problem as design opportunity. If it is simplistically tackled , the project is busted:

Before you go say go make an 'innovative' (or whatever) bookshelf, have you thought about 

1) Why there is overcrowding in the first place? More about the Five Whys later. 

2) Is the shelve the right size for the additional books that you just bought? If not why.

3) Is the problem with you who is messy by nature and therefore the mess? 

The solutions for the respective questions we just generated could be

1) Minimize overcrowding by getting a new shelve for other genres of books. No space for a new shelf, then perhaps you should consider not getting anymore. Donate your books and keep those you really need! etc.

2) Maybe it is time to upsize your shelve. IKEA has lots of them.

3) Buckle up your own attitude and learn to be neater when you store those books.

The problem is not the lack of space, not the lack of bookshelves, not the lack of bigger book shelves, not the issue of too many books, the problem is the USER. Solve the heart and mind problem and you solve the physical problem.

That being said, if it culminates to a Design Challenge to design or redesign or to revolutionalise the 'functionality' and 'use-experience' of a traditional bookshelf, taking in consideration to work towards 'novelty' or 'cleverness' of a new idea , it is another matter altogether. And very legitimate for a potentially good project.

A Deeper Analysis of the Bookshelf Example:

DESIGN SITUATION

A design situation for the graphic example may look something like the following:

"I have many books. And the books are very messy. I cannot find my books and sometimes my books get lost. The book shelf is too small for all my books.

DESIGN BRIEF

It will also typically end up with the following Design Brief:

"Design and make a bookself to store all my books".

Let's Analyse the 'Problem'

The is nothing really wrong to write the the situation or the brief like so. What is really wrong lies in the fact that this finding is the attitude of being too 'simplistic' - one that does not engage a thorough thinking-through process to determine if the proposed design situation is really a need area that requires another product to solve.

What Next? A Solution to Move On...

Use questions to help you look at the same problem in new perspectives:

I will ask "Is the book shelf designed to store more books than it is designed for?" If not, then if you choose to pile your books and overload the bookself with books, of course it will be overcrowded and untidy (assuming if you had not bothered to tidy them up)!!!

Use the '5 Whys'...

The '5 Whys' should lead you to where the root problem may be... and more often than not, you may end up discovering that the real problem lies on the individual who is just too lazy to tidy things up and therefore ended up with mess and untidiness. If that is the case will designing and making another book storage solve the problem?

An example of asking the 'Five Whys'

Very very long ago I had a student who came to me and wanted to design and make an egg tray. Very cute proposal isn't it?

I asked what the egg tray is for... and he told me that the egg tray will be used to store eggs in the fridge. How brilliant of me....

If you are his teacher, what would you do?

Do you go ahead and design an egg tray??

So, I started probing further by beginning with a first why, I asked,

Teacher: "Why do you need to design and make an egg tray for the fridge?

Student: "There is no space to put eggs in the fridge".

Teacher: "Why there is no space in the fridge to put eggs?"

Student: "My sister filled up the egg tray with her sweets".

Teacher: (*With amazement*) "Why did your sister fill up the egg tray with her sweets???"

Student: (*pause*) "Because there is not space in the fridge to put her sweets".

Teacher: (*WIth more amazement*) "Why isn't there space in the fridge to put her sweets???"

Student: "The fridge is full of stuffs. Crowded with food and fruits and everything else".

Teacher: (*Curious*) "Why are there so many food and fruits and everything else?"

Student: "My mum buys many food items that had been in the fridge for a very long time..."

I do not need to continue much further to conclude that if I allowed the student to design and make a WONDERFUL and INNOVATIVE egg holder, it would not help solve the problem, not even a bit.

Finally I'll bring back one of the point I mentioned above: 'That being said, if it culminates to a Design Challenge to design or redesign or to revolutionalise the 'functionality' and 'use-experience' of a traditional bookshelf, taking in consideration to work towards 'novelty' or 'cleverness' of a new idea , it is another matter altogether. And very legitimate for a potentially good project.'.

2) Not Considering "Why didn't the GREAT company, the REAL Designers think of that (my problem)?"

If you think you just found a great problem to solve or a great solution to a problem (when you do idea generation), always stop and take the step to understand why they are not made and/or selling in the market from the perspective of business or product design business in the first place.

Could it be that the designers / companies overlook this problem or did not find the solution that you found? Or there might be reasons why they did not (want to) go ahead with the solution - for some economical or practical reasons. Products that generate profit for the company is all that matters in business. Many things can be made, but many would end up too costly from research, to prototyping to manufacturing that yield little returns. In some cases negative returns. Think about these things. Your teacher may be able to help you with this second concept.

Get this step done, and you'll most likely be working on a real good deal.

Conclusion

Are you convinced that it is important to identify a GOOD and GENUINE design opportunity to work on? It requires some effort. But that will save you from spending the next few months designing something that is meaningless and does not improve the situation.

Research Outline & Research Techniques

"It's time to do research"

But everybody seems to be looking at each other, some looked blankly on the blank paper, some simply totally blanked - all wondering what to do.

It is very common for students to be in a situation where they want to do research but do not know how and where to begin? 

Some randomly looked for stuffs to 'stuff' them in the journal. Some simply followed their teacher's suggestions to find 5 pictures of these and 10 examples of that. Then 5 advantages for this, and 3 disadvantages for that, etc. Then when those works are done, you look at them, and one wonders what they are for. And neither can the students explain when you asked them.

Is this very familiar?

Very funny actually.

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Firstly, you will need to be very clear on where you are in the design process. 

Because when you are at different stages of the design process that will requires very different type of research methods and strategies and there are not one size fits all approach.

Secondly, you need to know what information you are looking for. 

Ask what specifically are you looking for? 

Ask what do you want / need to know?

Thirdly, you must know your objectives for looking for those information.

For example, knowing what you want to achieve with those information. 

Knowing what you need / want to understand. 

Working out what information you do not have (yet).

Working out what you do not know (yet) but will be important to know or have to. 

Knowing what you will be doing with all those information? 

Knowing how will you be using those information to achieve your objectives?

Finally, having worked all of the above out, you should be clear what you need now. 

Next you'll need to have a few strategies to get those information you need. 

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I just realized I have written on just about every strategy a student can use as research methods / strategies for any part of the design journal. They can be found in the links below.

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Having worked out the objectives, you can use any of the research methods below to fulfill your research needs. Every method yields slightly different results. 

You must understand how each research method works and their respective objectives before attempting any of them for your research. I believe in each of the methods stated below, you should find at least a brief introduction to their functionalities. You may be even find examples of how they are used. IMPORTANT: Do your research with understanding.

• PI.E.S. (Physical / Intellectual / Emotional / Social NEEDS)
• 5W1H (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How)
• Asking the Five Why's
• Activity Mapping (Pre-activity, Activity, Post-Activity, Assessment)
• Observation, Shadowing, Narration, Interviewing + 5 Whys, Survey

Eventually ALL reseach will lead you to an identified Design Opportunity. And ALL subsequent researches will lead you to various solutions you are looking for and solving the issues you have identified.

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More Tips: 

Primary research will give you the best results in a research. e.g. Empathy research enables the designer to live in the shoes of the target user. To really live out the user's life for a considerable time to experience what it is like to be him / her. Only then will the designer most closely understand the NEEDS of the users. Other examples are observing / experimenting the product and experiencing it first hand. Anything that is done that gives the designer first-hand data and experience is primary research.

Secondary research on the other hand should only be done if primary research methods are not possible, or as a supplementary to primary researches. For example, in supporting the claims and evidences from primary researches. Examples of secondary researches are information obtained from internet researches, third party observations, records of surveys, extracting information from articles and journals recording facts and evidences.
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Using Activity Mapping to Identify Design Opportunities

Activity Mapping to Identify Design Opportunities

Part A: Activity Mapping

Note: You cannot do this exercise in a random manner. It will lead you to no where. You must have in mind your target audience (targer user or target group) to begin and end effectively.

An example: Activity mapping on 'Eating Satay'

1) Pre-Activity - Describes what is done before the activity

e.g. bring money. order the satay. satay is here. reach out for the juiciest stick.

2) Activity - Explains what is involved in the activity

e.g. dip satay into gravy. take a first bite. push the remaining to the front. dip satay into gravy again. take last bite.

3) Post Activity - Includes what is involved after the activity

e.g. put down the satay stick on the table. or continue 'poking' a sliced cucumber or onion.

4) Assessment - Involves how one knows if the activity has been successful

  

e.g. I have problem moving the last bit of the satay from the back to the front. If I don't move it, cannot get it dipped in the gravy. the satay gravy bowl might be a little shallow. But when I do move it . I used my mouth to slide it to the front, my lips becomes full of gravy. Sometimes the gravy touches my cheeks! It seems to be the case everywhere I go and happens to almost everyone I observed.

Part B: Identify Products in Each Process of the Activity Mapping

In Activity Mapping, you made a list of activities involved in each process. Next you will

(a) identify products involved in each process

(b) identify / investigate if there are any problems with these products

(c) suggest any improvements or any possibility of inventing / innovating a new product

(d) note what could make life easier for people

(e) perhaps list all the things that could go wrong when using a product

By now you would have already identified quite a number of design opportunities. Imagine if you do activity mapping for another one or two more activities...

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Activity Mapping is adapted and modified from:

http://educate.intel.com/en/DesignDiscovery/Curriculum/DesignProcess/Session2/Session2B/

or

http://download.intel.com/education/common/en/resources/DD/DD_Session2_SG.pdf

This post was first published on 16 January 2012

Part 2/2: Theme: Definition + Exploration & Study - How to use 5W1H

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An example

Definition for "AMUSEMENT"

"A State | An Experience | A Provision... for

Funny | Laughter | Enjoyment | Entertainment | Diversion of Attention"

And you go...

'I finished my definition of the theme, what do I do next?'

Sounds familiar?

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The beginning of a project starting with a theme can be very daunting. You may either have too much information coming in all at once or you may think of nothing at all or you may be clueless on what next. You may find difficulty recording information systematically and effectively despite making attempts to do so.

The following tip can help you transit effortlessly into the exploratory stage. 

Suggested Method:

"Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?" (5W1H)

Craft and ask relevant questions with '5W1H'. Some examples on how you can apply 5W1H to define and explore the 'theme' broadly are shown below. 

Note: 

For the examples that follows you can replace '...' with your given theme, e.g. 'Entertainment'.

WHAT?         

Digs out definitions and provides understanding, clarity, functionalities, processes of the theme.

• What is the meaning / definition of this word / phrase? e.g. 'entertainment'.
• What is related to...?
• What does ... do?
• What does ... look / feel like?
• What is the process of ...?
• What problems do people face with ...?
• What could be the problems faced when showing ...?
• What could be the frustration with ... be?
• What else is related to ...?
• (Research outline question #1/3) What do I know about ...?
• (Research outline question #2/3) What I do not know ...?
• (Research outline question #3/3) What do I need for find out about ...?
• Converting to a design challenge question by asking "What if...?"

WHERE?         

Locates the sphere of influence. The locations, the place, the space, the environment.

• Where might we find ...?
• Where does ... take place?
• Where else might ... take place?

WHEN?         

Specifies the time. Past, Present and Future.

• When does ... start / stop?
• When does /does ... not happen?
• When else does ... / does not happen?
• When will the activity be considered ... and when it is not?
• Is there a good / bad time for ...?

WHO?         

Focuses on Target Users / Target Groups / leading to design NEEDS.

• Who is / are involved in ...?
• Who are the people involved in ...?
• Who can / cannot be involved in ...?
• Who are the receiving end of ...?
• Who else are involved in ...?
• Leads to Design Needs analysis using P.I.E.S.

HOW?         

Questions on functionality, processes, methods, techniques.

• How does one know if he/she is being shown ...?
• How is ... done?
• How is ... achieved?
• How is ... so?
• How else can one show / be shown ...?

WHY?

Getting to the hard facts and evidence and the root cause. Seeking fine clarify.

• Why is there a need for ...?
• Why can't ... be ...?
• "5 Whys" technique: challenge assumptions and finding out root causes.
• Converting to a design challenge question by asking "Why not...?".

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Tips:

To present your exploration and study of the theme, use images, on-location photographs and researched data as supplements. I won't be surprised in doing so, you might already identified some design opportunities.

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Conclusion

The ability to free the mind to explore is very important. Do not be too concerned that you may not do it right. Ask yourself this basic question: "Does what I am about to do contribute to the understanding of the theme?" Be creative in your presentation of information.

Research - Various Forms of Research

The above mind-map shows you RESEARCH in different forms which you can use.

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The most common and useful in my opinion would be

1) 'Observation'

Nothing beats experiencing the situation first hand and witnessing them.

2) 'Shadowing'

'Shadowing' is somewhat similar to 'observation'. The difference is in 'shadowing', the person doing the work (or using the product) is aware of your presence while you watch, observe and record the acts or processes.

3) 'Narration'

'Narration' is an extension of 'shadowing'. This time the 'shadower' gets the user to 'narrate' (say) out loud what he is thinking while using the product. 

That includes the procedures of using the product, thoughts and wishes (e.g. saying out loud the *thinking*. 'I wished the knob could be larger with more texture cause its making turning difficult') while using the product. etc.

4) 'Experimentation'

Once again nothing beats doing things on your own. Instead on relying on third party experiences, personally getting a piece of frustrations (bugs) while actually performing the acts can be very valuable research.

5) 'Asking the five Whys'

'Asking the five Whys' is an excellent tool to get to the root of a problem. There are too many occasions that students 'think' they found a 'problem' that needs a 'solution'. Unfortunately most of what they 'thought' is a 'problem' were actually not the real problems. 

When you use the five 'Whys' you get to the root of the problem and the problem that you first thought was a problem no longer is the problem. Using the five 'Whys' on your initial identified 'problem' might lead you to other areas of needs that requires a totally different product solution.

6) 'Survey'

'Survey' is a research tool many would be familiar. It is also one of the least useful tool in my opinion unless questions are carefully crafted and the data collected is genuine and truly reflects the objectives of the survey. 

Getting real people with the relevant product experience for survey feedbacks, people who would take time to provide authentic opinions to your questions is very important but that rarely happens. If you think you want to 'doctor' the survey to reflect what you want it to reflect... forget it.

I've briefly described six different research methods. These research methods will be used extensively throughout your design journey. As each research method is unique in it's purpose, strength and limitations, it depends on the skill of the researcher to optimize each research method and to select the most appropriate research method to best serve his research need.

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Finally, the most important thing about design journaling:

RECORDING!

I call that engaging in a 'dialogue' with your journal. You got to record your design process, your research methodology and your thoughts on paper. Note: Recording could be in the form of on-location photographs and images, developmental sketches and annotations.

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Research - P.I.E.S. (To Identify Products and Design Opportunities)

Physical . Intellectual . Emotional . Social 

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NEEDS

P . I . E . S . is a convenient tool for surveying and covering four basic area of NEEDS.

P    Physical NEEDs
I      Intellectual NEEDs
E    Emotional NEEDs
S    Social NEEDs

Each of the acronyms (P, I, E and S) can be used individually, combining two or more selectively or as a whole depending on your desired research outcomes.

But in any case, focus on one acronym at a time when you use them.

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How to use P . I . E . S . in your research to identify NEEDs? Simple. You ask questions.

You ask questions related to each of the acronyms aiming at finding out what each of the NEEDs may be.

First of all, you cannot do this exercise in a random manner. It will lead you to no where. You must have in mind your target audience (targer user or target group) to begin and end effectively.

Secondly, this target audience must be doing something in an identified location.

Thirdly, you can begin crafting questions related to each of the acronyms in  P . I . E . S .

For example:

Target Audience: Elderly Folks (Male / Female / Mix)
Location:               Satay Club Singapore / Void deck
Activity:                  Looking for place to sit / Ordering / Eating Satay / etc. 

Background:
A group of elderly folks about the age of 65 plans to meet up on a Saturday evening for 'Satay' to chit chat and talk about the good old times. Now the group has arrived in Satay Club, and they are about to look for an empty table to start ordering the mouth watering Satays and enjoy each others company.

P    Physical NEEDs

Question: What are the Physical NEEDs? The following are examples of some Physical challenges: Getting around and navigating through the crowds. Getting around and navigating through the crowds with people and chairs juttting out all over the place. Place may be dimly lit means harder for elderlies to naviagate. Finding an empty table quickly enough with faster and more agile youngsters. Eating in a hot and humid condition and feeling sweaty and uncomfortable.

I      Intellectual NEEDs

Question: What are the Intellectual NEEDs? The following are examples of some Intellectual challenges: Finding directions and navigation to the location / the nearest toilet / etc. Font size in ordering menu. Languages printed in ordering menu. Language spoken by the vendors. etc.

I      Emotional NEEDs

Question: What are the Emotional NEEDs? The following are examples of some Emotional challenges: Low service standards may affects ones mood. Foceful touting from vendors can cause emotional stress. etc.
I      SOCIAL NEEDs

Question: What are the Social NEEDs? The following are examples of some Social challenges: Does the arrangement / configuration of the tables and seats encourage good interaction? Is the environment condusive for a group gathering. If surroundings are too noisy, the elderlys cannot listen to each other effectively and they may have to resort to shouting. Which may in turn disturb the other customers. etc. 

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Apart from using P . I . E . S . for exploring and identifying need areas, the approach can also be extended to identify products related to those needs. After which should prompt you for further and more in-depth research.

Design Opportunities can then be derived from them. The Activity Mapping technique can also be used concurrently here but it will be explained in another post.

The following are suggestions on how the P . I . E . S . technique is used to identify Design Opportunities:

1) have in mind who your target audience (or target user / target group) is,2) Go through P.I.E.S. to identify the various NEED areas within the activity context.
2) identify the product(s) that they interacting with under each NEED areas,
3) assess the user : product interaction within the given environment.
4) identify problems, improvement areas or invention opportunities.

Throughout the whole process, you need to be clear about the objectives (what the user want to achieve or experience) before, during and after the use of the product.

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A quick recap:

The reason for  P . I . E . S .'s existence is for understanding NEEDS. But you do not stop at just knowing NEEDS. So what do you do next after you identify the NEEDS? 

NEEDS identified from P . I . E . S . are in turn used to explore the various

other NEEDS and/or LIMITATIONS of the related products.

Here is how. Identify:

1) the product(s) involved, and

2) study the performance of the product  (e.g. how did the product perform to its expectations), or

3) could it be the user's problem in using the product. (e.g. product mis-handling)

4) etc...

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