Learning Journal for BA(Hons) Design Practice
By Hani Batrisyia (Domain: Fashion)
DESIGN STUDIO 1A (COMBINE)
Week 1 - 7 aug 2023
Introduction to Design Thinking + Research
On the first week of class, we started out with a 10 minute exercise revolving around building a self-supporting tower using one sheet of paper with no tape or glue.
In the photo is my tower that I made bye ripping the A4 sheet of paper in half along the longer side, then stuck it atop one another by ripping notches where it connects to keep them together.
Unfortunately my tower did not last long, and collapsed within 5 minutes of me putting it together :(
How tall is your tower?
About 40cm.
How many towers did you build?
I could only afford to build one with what I was given (time, effort, how long it took to think of it..)
What strategies did you use?
Truth be told, there were no strategies. I just wanted to make exactly what the prompt was, which was to create a tall self-supporting tower with a singular sheet of A4 paper under 10 minutes. I immediately wracked my brain for solutions and I had the thought to just roll the paper along the longer side to keep it upright, until we were told that we had to be a little more creative than that and actually put in the brainwork to make a tall tower. And so my next best idea was to make the paper stack atop one another. To me, looks did not matter as the goal was to make as tall a tower as one sheet of paper can handle, so the aesthetics did not matter. Of course as mentioned, my dreams were crushed when my tower came crumbling down...
After the tower exercise, we were then introduced to our first lecture of the week, which was the typical process of design as shown:
Orientate -> Plan -> Build
Design Thinking Process (not step-by-step):
Empathize -> Define problem -> Ideate -> Prototype -> Test
Insights are the foundation of strategy
Design research is about deeply understanding context and generating empathy in order to create products, services, experiences, and systems that respond to human needs.
We were shown a case study in the form of a YouTube video titled:
Objectified: Smart Design OXO Good Grips Story
And what I got from watching the video is that the goal of design is to create something that may have already existed, but design them in a way that it upgrades the lives of other people, in the case of inventing gadgets.
First Assignment of the Week
Read and reflect on an article from LS:N Global
Find a case study within your domain where empathy was practised in the design process to meet human needs. Write 500 words about why you chose it and how it will impact your creative process.
Before starting on our 500 word report, we were introduced to LS:N Global (that's only accessible using NAFA's wifi connection, which sucks because I can't browse through it at home), which is a subscription-based insights platform that documents new consumer behaviour and key industry trends for business professionals to make informed decisions about the future. It is updated daily by a global team of researchers, analysts, forecasters, visualisers and correspondents. LS:N Global helps businesses to become future-proof by inspiring new product, service and brand innovations.
Report below
Title of article: INCLUSIVE FASHION MARKET
Image and link to the article: https://www.lsnglobal.com/fashion/article/29626/inclusive-fashion-market
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In any clothing store, ranging from luxury to affordable for the majority, you’ll find that all if not most apparel are made with skinny and able people in mind. Most designers do not take into account the people who fall outside of that category, thus leaving bigger sized and/or disabled persons with a very limited choice of clothing for everyday wear. Collections for those in the plus-sized and up range are often finite in range, and even more so for the disabled. Not many designers take into consideration consumers with a lack of mobility, whether in the upper or lower body and etcetera.
As mentioned in the article, accessibility and inclusivity towards all groups of people, such as the mentally and/or physically disabled, and those of the bigger sizes including those who are pregnant which are rarely seen in most clothing stores, should be at the forefront of the design process. Designers should be encouraged to think of and design for a wider range of audiences than just the slim and able bodied in order to serve a wider range of consumers, which is why I chose this article in particular. I plan to start up my own clothing brand, which includes designs made for people from all walks of life, in aesthetics chosen from free will and crafted with sustainability in mind.
Personally, I feel that designing for inclusivity is essential to progress and prosper as a brand as it will reach a wider range of audiences and grab the attention of those who feel neglected when faced with a lack of options when it comes to apparel. By taking into account the disabled and/or plus sized, my creative process will include a diverse spread of target audiences. My moodboards would include images related to the mentioned group of people, short interviews would be conducted to better understand their struggles, visiting stores that do sell clothing for the less inclusive and figuring out how they could be improved for ease of access, and more.
That is to say, the slim and abled are not to be disregarded. Current clothing for the slim fit would include designs that the disabled would have no trouble putting on and off, and alter. While the main focus is to improve the lives of the disabled and plus-sized in the name of inclusivity, it is also important to remember those of a smaller fit so as to create a clothing brand that encompasses a massive range of options for any person without sacrificing style and mobility.
In conclusion, this article has assisted me in understanding the importance of inclusivity with integrated solutions for all body types and the effect of having access to a broader selection of clothing options, which is to encourage individuals to make impactful choices. Consumers will always be looking for services that cater to their specific needs, so it is crucial to include solutions for majority of the population so as to ensure that their needs are met to the best of the designers’ abilities.
Week 2 - 14 Aug 2023
Look, Listen, Learn - EMPATHY
Everything Starts with an OBSERVATION
Observations are what we tangibly see on the surface – it's what's right there in front of us.
Research methods:
1. In-depth Interviews
2. Case Studies
3. Focus Groups
4. Ethnographic Research
5. Process of Observation (AEIOU)
In-depth Interviews
What are "in-depth interviews"?
It is a qualitative research technique that involves conducting intensive individual interviews with a small number of respondents to explore their perspectives on a particular idea, program, or situation. For example, we might ask participants, staff, and others associated with a program about their experiences and expectations related to it, the thoughts they have concerning how it operates, processes, and outcomes, and about any changes they view in themselves as a result of their involvement in the program.
What are they appropriate for?
In-depth interviews are useful when you want detailed information about a person’s thoughts and behaviours or want to explore new issues extensively. Interviews as a whole are often used to provide context to other data, offering a more complete picture of what happened in any sort of program and why.
In-depth interviews should be used in place of focus groups if the potential participants may not be included or comfortable talking openly in a group, or when you want to distinguish individual opinions about the program. They are often used to refine questions for future surveys of a particular group.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of in-depth interviews?
Advantage: In-depth interviews is that they provide much more detailed information than what is available through other data collection methods, such as surveys. They also may provide a more relaxed atmosphere when collecting information as people may feel more comfortable having a conversation with you about what they're asked as opposed to filling out a survey.
Disadvantage:
1. Can be time-intensive
Interviews can be a time-intensive evaluation activity because of the time it takes to conduct interviews, transcribe them, and analyze the results. In planning your data collection effort, care must be taken to include time for transcription and analysis of this detailed data.
2. Not generalizable
When in-depth interviews are conducted, generalizations about the results are usually not able to be made because small samples are chosen and random sampling methods are not used.
What are the processes of conducting in-depth interviews?
1. Plan
2. Develop interview protocol
3. Train Data Collectors
4. Collect Data
5. Analyze Data
6. Disseminate Findings
An observation – on its own – doesn't point to where you can go creatively. It only identifies what exists now.
Case Studies
What are case studies?
A case study is an in-depth study of one person, group, or event. In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes of behavior. Case studies can be used in various fields, including psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work.
What is their purpose?
The purpose of a case study is to learn as much as possible about an individual or group so that the information can be generalized to many others. Unfortunately, case studies tend to be highly subjective, and it is sometimes difficult to generalize results to a larger population.
Advantages and disadvantages of case studies:
Pros:
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Allows researchers to collect a great deal of information
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Give researchers the chance to collect information on rare or unusual cases
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Permits researchers to develop hypotheses that can be explored in experimental research
Cons:
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Cannot necessarily be generalized to the larger population
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Cannot demonstrate cause and effect
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May not be scientifically rigorous
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Can lead to bias
Focus Groups
What are focus groups?
A focus group is a research technique used to collect data through group interaction. The group comprises a small number of carefully selected people who discuss a given topic. Focus groups are used to identify and explore how people think and behave, and they throw light on why, what and how questions.
Screenshot from an interview I've done for my Diploma in Illustration Design with Animation FYP back in 2022.
What is their purpose?
Focus groups are often used in marketing, library science, social science, and user research disciplines. They can provide more nuanced and natural feedback than individual interviews and are easier to organize than experiments or large-scale surveys.
What are their advantages and disadvantages?
Advantages:
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They are fairly straightforward to organize and results have strong face validity.
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They are usually inexpensive, even if you compensate participant.
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A focus group is much less time-consuming than a survey or experiment, and you get immediate results.
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Focus group results are often more comprehensible and intuitive than raw data.
Disadvantages:
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It can be difficult to assemble a truly representative sample. Focus groups are generally not considered externally valid due to their small sample sizes.
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Due to the small sample size, you cannot ensure the anonymity of respondents, which may influence their desire to speak freely.
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Depth of analysis can be a concern, as it can be challenging to get honest opinions on controversial topics.
Ethnographic Research
What is ethnographic research?
It is a qualitative method where researchers observe and/or interact with a study’s participants in their real-life environment. Ethnography was popularised by anthropology (the study of the origin and development of human societies and cultures. Culture is the learned behavior of people, including their languages, belief systems, social structures, institutions, and material goods), but is used across a wide range of social sciences.
What is their purpose?
Ethnography is used to support a designer’s deeper understanding of the design problem – including the relevant domain, audience(s), processes, goals and context(s) of use. The aim of an ethnographic study within a usability project is to get ‘under the skin’ of a design problem (and all its associated issues). It is hoped that by achieving this, a designer will be able to truly understand the problem and therefore design a far better solution.
What are their advantages and disadvantages?
Advantages:
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Can help identify and analyse unexpected issues.
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Ethnographic research has the ability to deliver a detailed and faithful representation of users’ behaviours and attitudes. Because of its subjective nature, an ethnographic study (with a skilled researcher) can be very useful in uncovering and analysing relevant user attitudes and emotions.
Disadvantages:
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Subjects may not act naturally during a short study.
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They take a longer amount of time to conduct. Because of its richer output, an ethnographic study will tend to take longer to generate and analyse its data than many other methods.
Process of Observation (AEIOU)
What is AEIOU Observation Framework?
It helps you to interpret observations that have been gathered using and ethnographic practice. The two primary functions of this process are to code data and develop solutions to address objectives and issues you may have.
AEIOU Observation Framework:
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Activities (what’s going on) (actions that people develop related to the analysed situation)
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Environment (what’s going on around u) (identify the environments)
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Interactions (interacting with others) (observe the in depth behaviours and actions)
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Objects (observe) (elements related with the situation context and physical things)
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Users (who do u see and can describe) (perceptions users have related with the situation and interaction)
OBSERVATION LEADS TO INSIGHTS
The 5 Why's
What is it?
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A problem solving method that explores the underlying cause and effect of particular problems
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A discussion of the unexpected event or challenge that follows one train of thought to its logical conclusion by asking “why?” five times to get to the root of what happened
An observation – on its own – doesn't point to where you can go creatively. It only identifies what exists now.
Insight is an understanding of the motivation behind one's actions, thoughts, or behaviour.
Week 2 Assignment - 50 Things About _________
We were assigned an assignment where we'd have to get to know one of our classmates that isn't from our chosen domain. Honestly, I was pretty stoked because that meant that I would get to know more people, which is one of my goals when I decided to return to NAFA.
Partner's Name: Charmaine Tan
Her Domain: 3D
50 Questions:
1. where do u live: clementi
2. do u have a part time job and what is it: cafe @ gloria jeans
3. favourite colour: blue
4. favourite games: genshin, valorant
5. where you came from before nafa and what you studied: sp and vfx and motion graphics
6. do u have pets: no
7. do u have siblings: younger sister
8. when is ur bday: 8 may 2003
9. what is ur pet peeve: dislikes crowded areas cause she feels stuck esp in mrt
10. what is ur biggest fear: unsure
11. what are your hobbies: gaming and reading sci fi
12. if you could live anywhere where would it be: london or korea (real places) narnia or hogwarts
13. what would you change about yourself if you could: personality, to be less cynical
14. what ticks you off: when people insist they are right
15. what is ur proudest achievement: getting into uni
16. what did you think about the last movie you saw: mission impossible, it was okay typical spy movie
17. if you had a super power what would it be: teleportation just to save time
18. if you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life what would it be: breakfast pancakes
19. would you rather go back in time or travel to the future: go back in time, bc afraid of messing up future
20. how would your friends describe you: good thing is loyalty, bad thing is pessimistic
21. what is the best gift you’ve received: monitor
22. how would you describe your style: very casual
23. what is your most embarrassing moment: presenting in class and fumbling
24. what was the last tv show you were obsessed with: one piece and stopped around 800 episodes
25. are you a clean or messy person: messy
26. how long does it take you to get ready in the morning: half an hour
27. what is your earliest childhood memory: 4 years old and having bowl of steamed egg and ate without mom noticing
28. what’s the craziest thing you’ve done for love: starting playing mobile legends
29. what was your favourite subject in sec school: literature
30. are you an introvert or extrovert: introvert
31. what is the last song you heard: all too well by taytay
32. who is your celebrity crush: zhongli
33. what was your first job: cinema cashier
34. if you had to describe yourself as an animal what would it be: a cat because she likes to sit and watch people
35. what is the one thing you’ll never do again: working at the cinema bc long work hours and no compensation
36. who do you think knows you best: sec school friends
37. what type of music are you into: pop in general and instrumentals
38. what was the best vacation you ever took and why: to taiwan bc it was winter
39. what do you look for in a lifelong partner: someone understanding and open minded
40. do you believe in horoscopes and astrology: no
41. what life lessons have you had to learn the hard way: thru poly she becomes more independent
42. what is your relationship deal breaker: if they have a traditional mindset or disloyal
43. are you straightforward or rather beat around the bush: straightforward but if they are hard to get thru then the latter
44. what is your love language: gift giving and quality time
45. is there anything holding you back from living your dream life: money
46. do you have any special skills: not rly
47. what is ur opinion on modern art: easily accessible to people who wants to pick up art and society is more accepting
48. what is on ur bucket list: going to korea (seoul and countryside), passing year one
49. what is your favourite smell: peppermint
50. what do you do when you are alone: turn up youtube videos louder as background noise
Assignment Reflection
At first glance, I had a feeling that Charmaine was introverted (and I was right). WHICH IS NOT a bad thing but an observation just when meeting someone new. We asked each other a few questions during Micca’s lesson just to loosen up the nerves, and we ended up with 8-10 less questions to ask the next time we meet. We ended up meeting again to get to know more about one another on Wednesday (16 Aug) during our learning journey to the National Design Centre, which we then took some time sitting inside the GIFFEST exhibit talking and audio recording one another.
During our conversation, I realised that Charimaine and I have a lot in common, such as how I thought she was shy when we first met but we just needed a reason to have a conversation to be less awkward around one another. Other universal interests include playing Genshin Impact, having the same favourite colour, having similar pet peeves, and having the same love languages. More often than not, we would end up derailing from the 50 questions to talk about something else entirely, either complaining about the past or bonding in the fact that both of our domains contain six students.
The whole conversation took no more than an hour and we snapped a quick selfie to commemorate our completion.
I like meeting new people as I stopped having many opportunities to, so this exercise was a fun excuse to talk to my peers and I hope that we’d have similar activities to mingle with the other domains (not saying I’m sick of mine ya).
Week 3
Look, Listen, Learn part 2 - Discovering User Needs and Building Empathy
What is a persona?
Personas are fictional characters, which you create based upon your research in order to represent the different user types that might use your service, product, site, or brand in a similar way. Creating personas helps the designer to understand users’ needs, experiences, behaviors and goals.
What are personas used for?
They are made build empathy with target users and focus on their world. You should always create personas from observations about real users, personas should never be invented out of your assumptions about your users. In order to map your users’ needs to your design’s functionality, you must first clearly define both the needs and the users. Use personas to conduct interviews to gain insights, an understanding of the motivation behind their actions and behaviour.
How to create an effective persona?
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Collect extensive data on target users.
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Determine the qualities of and differences between users.
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Develop a hypothesis from the research, determining the qualities of and differences between users.
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Ensure stakeholders agree on the hypothesis about the users.
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Determine a number of personas – more than one per project, but focus especially on one.
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Name and describe each persona in 1-2 pages, including:
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A picture.
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User’s values, interests, education, lifestyle, needs, attitudes, desires, limitations, goals and behavior patterns.
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Extra details about the persona (e.g., interests) – anything to make him/her more real and relevant and help build empathy. A written story is better than bullet points.
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Describe several situations/scenarios prompting the persona to use your product – put him/her in contexts with problems to overcome.
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Include everyone involved in the project so they’ll accept the persona or advise revisions.
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Send them the persona to use in their work.
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Ensure everyone develops scenarios – these should expose the persona optimally to potential use cases.
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Make continuous adjustments – revisit the persona; add new features; add required new personas; discard outdated personas.
How to use personas in design projects?
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Stays in context – What specific points about his/her situation can you map to how he/she can use your product now?
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Reflects a target user’s real behavior patterns, attitudes, skillset, motivations and goals within the product’s domain.
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Has an end-goal – What does the user want to achieve? What features would help him/her do that best?
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Faces realistic, relevant scenarios—written from the persona’s perspective—to envision how users would find they’d use the product to attain a particular goal.
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Occupies a clear setting – a day-in-the-life approach that shows what he/she encounters in what environment.
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Has visible pain points – What’s the hardest/most frustrating aspect of his/her situation/context?
Persona Template:
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Name
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Persona Description Jobs-to-be-done
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Use Cases
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Pains
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Gains
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Stories
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Photos
Use AI generated profile pic websites to generate a persona
Empathy Map
Empathy is the ability to relate to the emotions of others. It's a key workplace skill.
If you can empathize with other people they'll likely respond in kind, making it easier to cooperate, collaborate and work as a team.
Potential customers, peripheral stakeholders, remote workers – sometimes it's difficult to put yourself in the shoes of people you rarely come into contact with.
Empathy Mapping is a way to get closer to what these people really think and feel about your product, service or situation.
What is an empathy map?
Developed by Dave Gray, co-founder of strategy consultants XPlane. It's a powerful visualization tool designed to help teams use Emotional Intelligence to gain insight into a target group.
The tool provides a series of prompts to identify a target group's thoughts, feelings, motivations, desires, and needs. This forces the investigating team to focus on the target group's requirements, rather than its own.
A product development team, for instance, could use an Empathy Map to consider how people might respond to a new device or a pain point. A team manager might use one to assess their team's reaction to a new workflow.
Empathy Maps are highly visual, so it's easy to share them and pinpoint any gaps in knowledge or contradictions in research.
Armed with this information, teams can deliver more effective solutions or develop products that are more in tune with customer expectations.
Assume a Beginner's Mindset
Developing an understanding of the meaning of empathy.
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Empathy is connecting with people so we know we’re not alone when we’re in struggle.
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Empathy is a way to connect to the emotion another person is experiencing; it doesn’t require that we have experienced the same situation they are going through.
Remember:
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People often confuse sympathy with empathy. Sympathy is I feel bad FOR you. Empathy is I feel WITH you. Sympathy can make us feel more alone. Empathy helps us feel connected.
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Empathy is a practice that grows over time—we often use the example of shooting free throws in basketball. You have to miss a lot of shots before you start consistently making them. Empathy is not something that should be measured or evaluated, only taught, encouraged, and modeled.
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Rarely does an empathetic response start with "At least..."
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Empathy fuels connection between you and the user.
Having empathy is to:
1. Put yourself in the perspectives of others
2. Stay out of judgement
3. Recognise the various emotions in people
Week 4 - 28 Aug 2023
Analysis and synthesis are equally important in design thinking. Each of them play an essential role in the process of creating options, making choices and guiding you in defining your design challenge in a problem statement.
Understand Information - Defining the Problem Statement
What is analysis?
- Analysis involves researching and breaking down complex concepts and problems into smaller, easier-to-understand constituents. It is to analyse, research, and gain empathy for the person you are designing for in the Empathise stage.
What is synthesis?
- It involves creatively putting your analysis and research pieces together in order to form whole ideas. You synthesise in the Define phase: You organise, interpret, discover connections and patterns and make sense of the data that you have gathered.
The goal in the Define phase is to create a problem statement, also known as a Point Of View. Your Point Of View will be your transit into crystallising inspirational How Might We questions, which will lead you into the Ideation sessions, which follows as the next and third phase of Design Thinking process.
Week 5
Find the Right Focus - The Meta
Model of Solution Design