On Jan 27, 2009, at 9:16 AM, Terence Love wrote:
> Its easily possible to 'creatively' generate designs without yet
> being aware
> of the structures within which those designs lie. Is this a benefit of
> 'magic' creativity, or a lack of understanding and awareness by the
> designer
> of the structure of the solution space?
Hi Terry, Thoughts?
Creativity is not "magic" but it is seldom achieved through entirely
rational means. A vision of what might be possible and appropriate to
a situation of use is inherently synthetic. Designers are not likely
to understand the scope of any solution space although they are aware
of a solution when they reach one. The "structure of a solution space"
seems to be a construct of purely rational thought that is no longer
very useful.
Design thinking is both intuitive and rational with different emphasis
for different applications. Where functional risks are high as in many
engineering design projects, human factors and other research can
suggest rules (rational emphasis) by which risk of operational failure
in a design can be reduced. The structure of the solution space is
constrained in such cases, often at the expense of users. A cockpit
in a fighter plane comes to mind - real estate there is limited and
the design is focused on controlling events. A designer who is
empathetic with potential users (intuitive emphasis) will seek to
interpret "structural" constraints in ways that induce understanding,
ease of use and even delight. In objects like the iphone a host of
functional constraints are met inside even as they are manifested
externally through visual and tactile structures that promote
understanding, ease of use and delight. I imagine that the designers
at Apple let intuition lead them to their structural rules, testing
them on one another all the way. A guiding vision which Steve Jobs
evolved through personal preferences and experience doubtless helped.
While conscious thought is sequential unconscious cognition involves
parallel processing. The interaction of the two to create a new
situated vision is not yet understood.
Chuck
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