What Karen has described in the expert designers she observed-- their humility and lack of egotism-- reminds me of a concept of "designing from first principles" presented in a paper by Nigel Cross and Anita Clayburn Cross. In this paper the authors describe expert designers who are able to keep all of their previous experiences in the back of their minds and instead approach the design problem by going back to the very basics. The impression I've gotten is that the designers must have some amount of humility to be able to be able to not re-apply designs that they know are good and have worked in the past. Also, it seems to take humility to be willing to start from the first principles-- to not think that you should be able to jump ahead because you have a proven record of success. The paper's authors suggest that this practice of designing from first principles enables the expert designers to engage in innovative design rather than routine design.
Perhaps one of the authors themselves is reading this conversation too and can either correct me if I've misinterpreted their paper or add to this discussion!
The paper: Cross N and Clayburn Cross A. 1998. "Expertise in Engineering Design" Research in Engineering Design 10: 141-149
Monica Cardella
Graduate Student
Industrial Engineering
Research Associate
Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching
University of Washington
Box 352180
Seattle, WA 98195-2180
USA
On Fri, 11 Jul 2003, Karen wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> this is my first post to the list after a lengthy hibernation on this list.
> The post
> by Glenn Johnson really sparked some thoughts in me with regards to design
> quality coming from different designers of various backgrounds and
> personality.
> Designers may not come from people with the typical design background. And
> certainly anyone with a creative mind and knowledge could be
> designers if they come out from a genuine interest in solving human
> problems.
>
> I would like to know how would people rank
> Asian design with the rest of the world
> in terms of Fashion, Interior and Product ?
> Do you think Asian Designs have come to a maturity stage
> where design identity is established ? For one I have some doubts in certain
> areas,
> but I just want to hear some feedback how foreigners would see us in Asia.
> Samsung, LG, Sony, JVC etc, are by far belonging to the top cohort when it
> comes
> to Industrial design. I am wondering how one would see others in countries
> like Taiwan,
> Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore ?
>
> Another curious point I would like to know is which
> countries would you respect design to be the best in Asia ? And why ?
>
> Last year, I participated in a forum on creativity in the arts, science and
> technology, which
> was held in Singapore. It made me think hard. If Creativity was something
> like what Trevor Baylis
> has done. (The British inventor of the clockwork radio
> set up a company and use that to employ the underprileged people as workers,
> and he designed
> something that was genuinely a need. A genuine problem solver and humanist)
> Trevor Baylis was in no way bearing any form of arrogance.
> Similarly compared was another speaker, Sim Wong Hoo, an outspoken but very
> fast thinking
> Singaporean CEO for Creative Technology who created the sound blaster.
> No way can one say that a genuinely successful designer, innovator or
> inventor
> is a proud person. At least at that forum, there was already 2 persons who
> are well known
> to have very kind hearts with no pretences at all. Quite conversely, these
> creative poeple
> were not egoistic at all despite the money and fame that they have.
> I have been looking closely at these 2 speakers when I asked them questions;
> and I am very proud to say these are the people whom we should be grooming.
> They may have a large pride in them in their work but they take pride in the
> work they do.
> With no airs of any sort to distinguish them from the common people, these
> people usually
> win hearts and respect of many people and also very good designs coming out
> from them.
>
> Besides, how could one designer be thinking clear if his/her mind is filled
> with nothing but
> ego, fame and a lot of 'hot air'..... ?
>
>
> Best wishes,
> Karen Fu
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, July 11, 2003 2:56 AM
> Subject: Re: Design Chasm
>
>
> .....
> > The design hero ranges of Target products to me lack a sensitivity to
> > scale, function and human interaction....They are using designers as a
> form
> > of co-branding because they feel that their own brand is not as strong as
> > it could be.
> >
> ....
>
> > Designers like Stark and Newson follow more of a renaissance model but
> > most products are designed by anonymous designers working internally at
> > companies like Motorola or Samsung. I think that the removal of fame and
> > ego from the equation results in a better design. Manufacturing companies
> > tend to spend more time and money and follow a more rigorous process
> > internally than they do when they use famous external renaissance type
> > designers.
> >
> > The total of a team of good specialists is better than the efforts of one
> > good generalist.
> >
> > Don't agree with the premise that inhouse designers are best. They are
> > often swamped with the knowledge of why things cannot be done.
> >
> > We have just finished working with Newson on the new seat for Qantas.
> > http://www.qantas.com.au/info/flying/travelClasses/businessSeat
> >
> > His attention to detail and perfection are astounding (he's a jeweller by
> > training), streets ahead of standard inhouse competency,
> >
> > (yep - people like me).
> >
> > (PS. p135 of this month's ID is what we do in-house)
> >
> >
> > Glenn Johnson
> >
> >
> > Industrial Design Manager
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Industrial Design Studio, B/E Aerospace Inc.
> >
> >
> > 1455 Fairchild Rd. Winston-Salem NC 27105-4588 USA
> >
> >
> > Tel. (1) 336 744 3143 Fax. (1) 336 744 3207
> >
> >
> > B/E Industrial Design Studio
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
|
