Design theory and Critical thinking
my learnings from
Design theory and Critical thinking Navarjun
Preface After graduating as a Computer Science & Engineering student, I worked for a couple years in technology industry. I took up different roles, including but not limited to back-end developer, front-end web developer, iOS developer and product manager, which introduced me to people with various expertise. I realized that I would love to learn more about design, which made me study some great design books on my own broadening my horizons about design. It didn’t take long for me to realize that it would be better to learn from masters and go to a design school for my graduation. Soon after, I started MFA in Information design and visualization, where I was introduced to Design Theory and Critical Thinking. This course taught by Hugh Dubberly, a practitioner and an academic in Design, changed the way I used to think about Design by adding into my previous little knowledge about design. This book is a representation of my understanding of the concepts discussed in the class as concept maps. I am really thankful to Hugh Dubberly and Skye Moret for teaching and helping to understand the concepts by answering my questions whenever I needed help. I also want to acknowledge Andrew Tang, Sever Li, Erica Gunn, Patrick J. O’Donnel and Jessie Richards for their invaluable feedback for this class’s project and helping me with the tools. ~Navarjun
Index - Nature of linguistic sign: Saussure - Theory of signs: Peirce - Mathematical theory of communication: Shannon - Design ethics: Buchanan - Boundary objects: Star and Griesemer - Theory of affordances: Gibson - Conceptual models: Johnson and Henderson - Synthesis of form: Alexander - Bridge model: Dubberly, Evenson and Robinson - SECI model of knowledge creation: Nonaka - Science of design: Simon - Dilemmas in theory of planning: Rittel - Design as reflection: Schön
Nature of linguistic sign
Immutable
by Ferdinand de Saussure
Grammarians
can be grasped only through
Sign
is
is
Language
combine to create
(Sound-image/Symbol)
is governed by
unite to form
Signifier
is spread and manipulated by
Signified
Principle of general semiology states
is
Mutable
Complex system
have
Product of time
Reflection
Relations among each other
Arbitrary (as different languages exist)
hence
studied
Comparative philology
Product of social force
hence
across
Diachronic
Associative
hence
at a particular
Time(s)
Syntagmatic
of types
Synchronic
Inherited hence
studied
Saussure contended that language must be considered as a social phenomenon, a structured system that can be viewed synchronically (as it exists at any particular time) and diachronically (as it changes in the course of time).When relating to the lingual sign what Saussure essentially does is to replace actual referential reality with the signified. What the signifier points to is not something which exists outside of language, but rather to a meaning which is contained within human consciousness. The division between signifier and signified, which together compose Saussure’s linguistic sign, is the basis for his subsequent proposition that everything gains it meaning out of being in structural oppositional relations with other components.
hence
Ferdinand de Saussure(26 November 1857 – 22 February 1913) was a Swiss linguist and semiotician whose ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments both in linguistics and semiology in the 20th century.
Psychological imprint of the sound
Continuity in time
coupled with
Change in time
Society
Theory of signs
Object
by Charles Sanders Peirce
A sign may be classified as an “icon,” an “index,” or a “symbol,” according to its relation with its dynamical object. An icon (such as a picture, image, model, or diagram) is a sign that demonstrates the qualities of its dynamical object. An index or “seme” (such as a clock, thermometer, fuel gauge, or medical symptom) is a sign that demonstrates the influence of its dynamical object. A symbol (such as a trophy, medal, receipt, diploma, monument, word, phrase, or sentence) is a sign thst is interpreted to be a reference to its dynamical object.
Sign Something which stands to somebody for something
is
Interpretant
Representamen
is
The image observer creates after observing the representamen
has types
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) was the founder of American pragmatism (after about 1905 called by Peirce “pragmaticism” in order to differentiate his views from those of William James, John Dewey, and others, which were being labelled “pragmatism”), a theorist of logic, language, communication, and the general theory of signs (which was often called by Peirce “semeiotic”), an extraordinarily prolific logician (mathematical and general), and a developer of an evolutionary, psycho-physically monistic metaphysical system. Practicing geodesy and chemistry in order to earn a living, he nevertheless considered scientific philosophy, and especially logic, to be his true calling, his real vocation. In the course of his polymathic researches, he wrote voluminously on an exceedingly wide range of topics, ranging from mathematics, mathematical logic, physics, geodesy, spectroscopy, and astronomy, on the one hand (that of mathematics and the physical sciences), to psychology, anthropology, history, and economics, on the other (that of the humanities and the social sciences).
Icon
(qualisign/rheme)
Index
(sinsign/dicisign)
Refers to Object by virtue of characteristics of it’s own
Refers to Object by virtue of being affected by object
Cannot act as sign without object
e.g. skid marks of car tyres on road, fingerprints
e.g. volume icon in mac status bar, thumbs-up icon on facebook
Symbol
(legisign/dicent/argument) Refers to Object by virtue of law It’s general and object it represents is of general nature It’s useless without interpretant who knows about it e.g. circuit diagrams, egyptian hieroglyphics
Mathematical theory of communication
Semantic problem
by Claude E. Shannon
Discrete (independent of time) Continous (dependent on time)
Optimum may create statistical characteristics
Mixed (hybrid of other two)
Relative Entropy determined by
Undesired uncertainity
Coding
to create
adds
Noise source
Delays
adds noise to
does
transmits encoded signal through
subtract from one
Signal as close as possible to
Redundancy
Transmitter
goes for encoding
can be
Entropy ratio to max entropy
Effectiveness problem goes to
Received message
decodes
Receiver
Technical problem
Freedom of sender
Destination
decide
Channel
noisy signal goes to
As designers, this paper gives insights about how important it is to be able to express ourselves(and understand others well). Sometimes people(including ourselves) will not be able to give words to thoughts(semantic problem); other times there would be noise in surroundings(technical problem); also, there could be problem in understanding the delivered message(probably due to lack of shared language) resulting in effectiveness problem.
Message
creates
has
In the paper, Shannon presents a view that laid the foundation for theory of communication. He explains about the different kind of noise that is introduced in different levels of transacting a message from one person to another. He uses a very mathematical analogy based on his work in signal transmission but those ideas are as true for general communication as well.
Accepted statistical rules of the language determined by
Claude Elwood Shannon (April 30, 1916 – February 24, 2001) was an American mathematician, electrical engineer, and cryptographer known as “the father of information theory”. Shannon is famous for having founded information theory with a landmark paper that he published in 1948. He is perhaps equally well known for founding both digital computer and digital circuit design theory in 1937, when, as a 21-year-old master’s degree student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he wrote his thesis demonstrating that electrical applications of Boolean algebra could construct any logical, numerical relationship. He worked in AT&T Bell Labs working on transmission of data signals through analogue communication channels.
Information source
Entropy
Design ethics by Richard Buchanan
Design Ethics
Integrity
Reliability
Professionalism
Compliance with laws
Technical practices Education Intellectual property rights
Sustainability
Sustainability
Invention and innovation Structural integrity (technological reasoning that ensures performance of product) Usability (affordances; signs & symbols used) Aesthetics (adapting to local values, desirability: social and cultural)
Natural foundation Good Appropriate Just
Concentional and arbitrary foundation says
Preservation of culture
Service to public good
Help other people accomplish their own purpose
says design should be
Safety
is
Competence
Synthesis of form & materials elements of form are
Nature of products
based on
arises from
Working with other people
Purpose of design
relates to
Product integrity concerns
is about
Designer
play a role in
Integrity of performance concerns
Buchanan makes us, designers, think that we need to give a thought about ethics of our work and how we do it. He asserts that anything we create using design process or the design process itself should not be rude to the users or others taking part in the design process. He defines a few guidelines that help us to realize what to be careful about.
Character and moral values of
Richard Buchanan, PhD, is a professor of design, management, and information systems. He received his AB and PhD from a prestigious interdisciplinary program at the University of Chicago: the Committee on the Analysis of Ideas and the Study of Methods (“I & M”). Before joining the Weatherhead faculty in 2008, he served as head of the school of design and then as director of doctoral studies in design at Carnegie Mellon University. While at Carnegie Mellon, he inaugurated interaction design programs at the master’s and doctoral level.
Design Thinking
Design is to fulfil desires and needs of humans
Boundary objects
by Susan Leigh Star and James R. Griesemer
meaning
Diversity and cooperation
explain
Boundary Objects
Scientific work
requires
Repositories
Science
are
Central tension
demands
Reliability
Ideal types
Domains
caused by
are
Differences in unit analysis
Abstracted from all domains Adaptable to local site
Coincident boundaries have
between
includes
Same boundaries but different internal content
arise from
Interessement
(translation of concerns)
Modular
Problem of hetrogenity
creates
creates
depends on
Communication
Non-scientist
Cooperation
Ordered pile of objects Indexes in standardized fashion
solve
requires
New knowledge
from/to
Abstract and Concrete
are simultanously
types
requiers
Researchers Amatuers Professionals Humans Animals Functionaries Visionaries and more
creates
This paper reveals how the same “thing” has different meaning to all of the stakeholders. Star and Griesemer give us an example of a museum that was funded by the university, run by a scientist who hired/paid other people to collect the data. So this museum acted as a boundary object among all these people, as the university wanted recognition, the scientist wanted to do research and the hired/paid people wanted money all because of/for museum.
conducted by
James R. Griesemer is Professor and former Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, Davis in Davis, California. He received his PhD in 1983 in the Conceptual Foundations of Science at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on the history and philosophy of biology, including models and practices in museum-based natural history, laboratory-based ecology, units of inheritance and selection in evolutionary biology, and visual representation in embryology and genetics.
Intersectional work (across social worlds)
are
Susan Leigh Star (1954–2010) was an American sociologist. She specialized in the study of information in modern society; information worlds; information infrastructure; classification and standardization; sociology of science; sociology of work and the history of science, medicine, technology, and communication/information systems. She commonly used the qualitative methods methodology and feminist theory approach.
Actors
Different means of aggregating data
Scientist
Standardized forms removes devised as method for
Multiple viewpoints
Local uncertainities Communication across multiple workgroups
Theory of affordances by J. J. Gibson
is
is a set of
perceive
Niche
Animal (observer)
offers
in
for
Stimulus for information
is
Affordance
is
can are
Affordance theory states that the world is perceived not only in terms of object shapes and spatial relationships but also in terms of object possibilities for action (affordances) — perception drives action. According to Gibson, perception of the environment inevitably leads to some course of action. Affordances, or clues in the environment that indicate possibilities for action, are perceived in a direct, immediate way with no sensory processing. Examples include: buttons for pushing, knobs for turning, handles for pulling, levers for sliding, etc.
Environment
is relative to
James Jerome Gibson was an American psychologist who received his Ph.D. from Princeton University’s Department of Psychology, and is considered one of the most important 20th century psychologists in the field of visual perception. Gibson challeng ed the idea that the nervous system actively constructs conscious visual perception, and instead promoted ecological psychology, in which the mind directly perceives environmental stimuli without additional cognitive construction or processing.
occupy
Combination of variables
Physical Properties
by giving
not
Abstract
Lie
Mis-information
Conceptual models by Jeff Johnson and Austin Henderson
Vocabulary
examples
have
Notice relationships between objects to
are based on
Understanding of users & tasks
helps
Relationships between concepts
may include
User profiles
should include
Users
Conceptual models
goes as input to
Conceptual design issues
contains
introduces
hides
Task analysis
Object/operation analysis
help
Designers and users
are
Open & solved design issues (for everyone including new comers to understand the problems: solved and unsolved)
is part of
Information Architecture
inlcudes
Tasks
Task sequence
is
Representation of\ sequence of tasks
Learning
Explained for why they are being removed
Users must learn unfamiliar new concept
Attributes
Complexity
Every concept interacts with others increasing complexity of the system
Operations
performed on
Concepts that are no longer needed Enumeration of all e.g. the ones that technology high-level tasks into has replaced component sub-tasks
meaning
is
have
Relationships
meaning
Task heirarchy
adds
High level goals users may have in mine
New concepts
should be
(use-cases)
are
are
Major tasks or goals
Objects between
Outdated concepts
(that application tends to support) types of mapping
Johnson and Henderson argue that conceptual models are integral to the design process in multiple ways.
High-level description
determines
Austin Henderson’s 45-year career in Human-Computer Interaction includes user interface research and architecture at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, Bolt Beranek and Newman, Xerox Research (both PARC and EuroPARC), Apple Computer, and Pitney Bowes, as well as strategic industrial design with Fitch and his own Rivendel Consulting & Design and Scalable Conversations. Henderson has built both commercial and research applications in many areas. These applications, and their development with users, have grounded his analytical work, which has included the nature of computation-based socio-technical systems, the interaction of people with the technology in those systems, and the practices and tools of their development and use, particularly the conversations that surround them.
Brief description of intended users of application
are
Jeff Johnson is Principal Consultant at UI Wizards, Inc., a product usability consultancy. He also is a principal at WiserUsability.com, a consultancy focused on elder usability and accessibility. After earning B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale and Stanford Universities, he worked as a UI designer and implementer, engineer manager, usability tester, and researcher at Cromemco, Xerox, US West, Hewlett-Packard Labs, and Sun Microsystems. He has taught at Stanford University, Mills College, and the University of Canterbury.
Mental models
Specialization Containment Whole/part Source/result Task/subtask Relative importance
that
Users manipulate
Synthesis of form by Christopher Alexander
required when
Generate wider enough range of possible alternative solutions symbolically
Design
required when
Express all criteria for solutions in terms of same symbolism
Success cannot be defined symbolically
calls for
Invention
needs
Process
possible kinds
(design process) context
mostly requires
C1
Multiple designers
form
F1
actual world
Humans react to misfits by changing them
Unselfconcious situation Completely tacit process
because
Alexander discusses the process by which a form is adapted to the context of human needs and demands that has called it into being. He shows that such an adaptive process will be successful only if it proceeds piecemeal instead of all at once. It is for this reason that forms from traditional unselfconscious cultures, molded not by designers but by the slow pattern of changes within tradition, are so beautifully organized and adapted. When the designer, in our own self-conscious culture, is called on to create a form that is adapted to its context he is unsuccessful, because the preconceived categories out of which he builds his picture of the problem do not correspond to the inherent components of the problem, and therefore lead only to the arbitrariness, willfulness, and lack of understanding which plague the design of modern buildings and modern cities.
Selection
can be solved by
can be solved by
Christopher Wolfgang Alexander is a widely architect and design theorist, and currently emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His theories about the nature of human-centered design have had notable impacts across many fields beyond architecture, including urban design, software, sociology and other fields. Alexander has also designed and personally built over 100 buildings, both as an architect and a general contractor.
Problems
context
form
F1
actual world
C2
F2
mental picture
C1
Based on Based on designers designers learning & ideas, invention diagrams & drawings Form is shaped by conceptual interaction between conceptual picture of context
Individual designer’s inventive capacity is limited
Vulnerable to language bias
context
form
F1
actual world
C2
F2
mental picture
C2
F2
formal picture
C1
Orderly complex of diagrams Mathematical picture (of mental picture)
Set theory of Mathematics Less vulnerable to language bias
Bridge model
by Hugh Dubberly, Shelley Evenson and Rick Robinson
Bridge model is a model describing how design is a cyclic process and creates new knowledge. Bridge model asserts that design is essentially studying ‘what is’(what already exists) and then speculating ‘what could be’ and then creating knowledge to implement ‘what could be’ to make it ‘what is’.
Understanding the problem in it’s current state
provides
provides
Interpret
Description of everyday in such a way as to see how it might be different, better or new
Model of “what is”
Model of “what could be”
“what is”
“what could be”
Concrete
Rick E. Robinson has been an applied researcher in consumer and material culture studies for more than 20 years. He trained as a developmental and social psychologist at the University of Chicago and as a post-doctoral fellow at the J. Paul Getty Research Institute.
Analysis
Prototyping
Abstract
Shelley Evenson was a Research Manager in Design and User Experience at Facebook and a Principal User Experience Designer and Manager for Microsoft. She was also an Associate Professor in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. She now works as Executive Director of Organizational Evolution at Fjord, part of Accenture.
Researching
Describe
Hugh Dubberly is a design planner and teacher. At Apple Computer in the late 80s and early 90s, Hugh managed cross-functional design teams and later managed creative services for the entire company. Currently, he teaches and runs his own design consultancy.
Existing - Implicit(Present)
Prefered - Explicit(Future)
helps
is
Bridge the gap between analysis and synthesis
Manifestation of the solution
Synthesis
SECI model by Ikujiro Nonaka
Ikujiro Nonaka is a Japanese organizational theorist and Professor Emeritus at the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy of the Hitotsubashi University, best known for his study of knowledge management. SECI model is a representation of how the knowledge is created. It gives us insights on how a design problem can be solved sometimes just by realising that a problem exists and making that problem explicit. Nonaka tells us that all knowledge is not explicit, it is tacit at first and when we make it explicit only then can we share it with other people making it part of the culture of an organization(making it tacit for everyone, that is making it obvious).
Explicit knowledge Converting tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge (so it can be shared)
is about
Finding a problem
is about
Externalization (articulating)
Combination (connecting)
Socialization (empathizing)
Internalisation (embodying)
Articulating tacit knowledge through dialogue and reflection
Sharing and creating tacit knowledge through direct experience
Implicit knowledge
is about
Synthesising knowledge from different sources into one context
is about
Actualizing created explicit knowledge by putting it to practice till it becomes knowledge of one’s own
Systemizing and applying explicit knowledge
Learning and acquiring new tacit knowledge in practice
Science of design by Herbert Simon
can be solved by
Satisficing
Optimisation methods
Adaptation
defined by
done when
of
Inner environment to
of
Outer environment defines
Constraints
in order to
includes
How things ought to be
Set of parameters
Formalise the problem
Finding best solution is impossible
Learning & finding a sequence of actions to reach a goal
Searching for appropriate procedures that assemble to solve a problem
uses
Utility function
out of
deals with
In this reading, I understood how the problems can be solved in different ways mathematically and by the abilities of computer. The essay science of design deals with the artificial intelligence of computers. It’s reference to problem solving is framed in way that explains how digital machines can be made intelligent. As a designer, it’s very insightful to understand this perspective as all the products these days depend on technology in one way or the other.
Finding a satisfactory solution
Logic of search is about
Design
Means-end analysis meaning
meaning
meaning
solves
Herbert Alexander Simon, a Nobel laureate, was an American political scientist, economist, sociologist, psychologist, and computer scientist whose research ranged across the fields of cognitive psychology, cognitive science, computer science, public administration, economics, management, philosophy of science, sociology, and political science, unified by studies of decision-making. With almost a thousand highly cited publications, he was one of the most influential social scientists of the twentieth century. For many years he held the post of Richard King Mellon Professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
Problems
Multiple alternative solutions
Iteration (trial and error)
Gathering information about the problem
Dilemmas in theory of planning by Horst J. Rittel
meaning
Simple
can be
Problems
can be
Wicked
when
Instrumental knowledge
Stakeholders
Innovation
concerned with
can’t agree on
lead to
Definition
can be handled by
have formal
Design
require
(what ought be)
Taming Solutions
use
can be
lead to
Many people
not
Science (what is) concerns with
Defining a problem inherently defines solution
to
Agree
requires
on
Improvement Tested Innovation
hence is
require
have
because
Rittel classifies problems into 2 types: Simple and Wicked. He defines that simple problems are those which have solutions within the knowledge domain we already possess. However, wicked problems are the ones that require innovation by creation of new knowledge. He argues that wicked problems are the ones that require design. The way we define the problem matters a lot; and in fact if we are able to define a problem and agree on the definition of the problem, we already have a solution. It’s the wicked problem like global warming, where we are unable to agree on one definition that makes it wicked.
Well-defined problems
have to
Horst Willhelm Jakob Rittel was a design theorist and university professor. He is best known for coining the term wicked problem, but his influence on design theory and practice was much wider.
Factual knowledge
comes from
Knowledge
requires
Goals/Actions
Process of argumentation
Design as reflection by Donald A. Schön
of/to
Design problem
can be solved by
Rational decision making
meaning
Social process
Dialogue among individuals
According to Schön, reflection in action is the “kind of artistry that good teachers in their everyday work often display,” whereas school knowledge refers to a “molecular” idea of knowledge, to “the view that what we know is a product,” and that “the more general and the more theoretical the knowledge, the higher it is.” From the school knowledge perspective, “it is the business of kids to get it, and of the teachers to see that they get it.”
Selection of alternatives
has components
Screening the alternatives generated in generation process
meaning
is a
add up to yield
Donald Alan Schön (September 19, 1930 – September 13, 1997) was a philosopher and professor in urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who developed the concept of reflective practice and contributed to the theory of organizational learning.
Design structure
can be done by
Systematic search
randomly generates
are not
Given
involves
Learning about problem components and their interconnections
Criteria assumed to be given with
Synthesized
involved here
are
must be
lead to discovery of
Design alternatives screened based on
Design alternatives
Policies
Facts
Intelligent exploration of problem space
Random Generation assumes
Normative Leap lead to
tells is
Design is a frame experiment and hence, reflective
built on
can be done by
considers
Generative metaphor
is
Genration of alternatives
Combination of elements
Elements of design given with the problem Design proposals are independent and increamental in impact (but actually they are interdependent)
Design theory and Critical thinking Navarjun
Preface After graduating as a Computer Science & Engineering student, I worked for a couple years in technology industry. I took up different roles, including but not limited to back-end developer, front-end web developer, iOS developer and product manager, which introduced me to people with various expertise. I realized that I would love to learn more about design, which made me study some great design books on my own broadening my horizons about design. It didn’t take long for me to realize that it would be better to learn from masters and go to a design school for my graduation. Soon after, I started MFA in Information design and visualization, where I was introduced to Design Theory and Critical Thinking. This course taught by Hugh Dubberly, a practitioner and an academic in Design, changed the way I used to think about Design by adding into my previous little knowledge about design. This book is a representation of my understanding of the concepts discussed in the class as concept maps. I am really thankful to Hugh Dubberly and Skye Moret for teaching and helping to understand the concepts by answering my questions whenever I needed help. I also want to acknowledge Andrew Tang, Sever Li, Erica Gunn, Patrick J. O’Donnel and Jessie Richards for their invaluable feedback for this class’s project and helping me with the tools. ~Navarjun
Index - Nature of linguistic sign: Saussure - Theory of signs: Peirce - Mathematical theory of communication: Shannon - Design ethics: Buchanan - Boundary objects: Star and Griesemer - Theory of affordances: Gibson - Conceptual models: Johnson and Henderson - Synthesis of form: Alexander - Bridge model: Dubberly, Evenson and Robinson - SECI model of knowledge creation: Nonaka - Science of design: Simon - Dilemmas in theory of planning: Rittel - Design as reflection: Schön
Nature of linguistic sign
Immutable
by Ferdinand de Saussure
Grammarians
can be grasped only through
Sign
is
is
Language
combine to create
(Sound-image/Symbol)
is governed by
unite to form
Signifier
is spread and manipulated by
Signified
Principle of general semiology states
is
Mutable
Complex system
have
Product of time
Reflection
Relations among each other
Arbitrary (as different languages exist)
hence
studied
Comparative philology
Product of social force
hence
across
Diachronic
Associative
hence
at a particular
Time(s)
Syntagmatic
of types
Synchronic
Inherited hence
studied
Saussure contended that language must be considered as a social phenomenon, a structured system that can be viewed synchronically (as it exists at any particular time) and diachronically (as it changes in the course of time).When relating to the lingual sign what Saussure essentially does is to replace actual referential reality with the signified. What the signifier points to is not something which exists outside of language, but rather to a meaning which is contained within human consciousness. The division between signifier and signified, which together compose Saussure’s linguistic sign, is the basis for his subsequent proposition that everything gains it meaning out of being in structural oppositional relations with other components.
hence
Ferdinand de Saussure(26 November 1857 – 22 February 1913) was a Swiss linguist and semiotician whose ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments both in linguistics and semiology in the 20th century.
Psychological imprint of the sound
Continuity in time
coupled with
Change in time
Society
Theory of signs
Object
by Charles Sanders Peirce
A sign may be classified as an “icon,” an “index,” or a “symbol,” according to its relation with its dynamical object. An icon (such as a picture, image, model, or diagram) is a sign that demonstrates the qualities of its dynamical object. An index or “seme” (such as a clock, thermometer, fuel gauge, or medical symptom) is a sign that demonstrates the influence of its dynamical object. A symbol (such as a trophy, medal, receipt, diploma, monument, word, phrase, or sentence) is a sign thst is interpreted to be a reference to its dynamical object.
Sign Something which stands to somebody for something
is
Interpretant
Representamen
is
The image observer creates after observing the representamen
has types
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) was the founder of American pragmatism (after about 1905 called by Peirce “pragmaticism” in order to differentiate his views from those of William James, John Dewey, and others, which were being labelled “pragmatism”), a theorist of logic, language, communication, and the general theory of signs (which was often called by Peirce “semeiotic”), an extraordinarily prolific logician (mathematical and general), and a developer of an evolutionary, psycho-physically monistic metaphysical system. Practicing geodesy and chemistry in order to earn a living, he nevertheless considered scientific philosophy, and especially logic, to be his true calling, his real vocation. In the course of his polymathic researches, he wrote voluminously on an exceedingly wide range of topics, ranging from mathematics, mathematical logic, physics, geodesy, spectroscopy, and astronomy, on the one hand (that of mathematics and the physical sciences), to psychology, anthropology, history, and economics, on the other (that of the humanities and the social sciences).
Icon
(qualisign/rheme)
Index
(sinsign/dicisign)
Refers to Object by virtue of characteristics of it’s own
Refers to Object by virtue of being affected by object
Cannot act as sign without object
e.g. skid marks of car tyres on road, fingerprints
e.g. volume icon in mac status bar, thumbs-up icon on facebook
Symbol
(legisign/dicent/argument) Refers to Object by virtue of law It’s general and object it represents is of general nature It’s useless without interpretant who knows about it e.g. circuit diagrams, egyptian hieroglyphics
Mathematical theory of communication
Semantic problem
by Claude E. Shannon
Discrete (independent of time) Continous (dependent on time)
Optimum may create statistical characteristics
Mixed (hybrid of other two)
Relative Entropy determined by
Undesired uncertainity
Coding
to create
adds
Noise source
Delays
adds noise to
does
transmits encoded signal through
subtract from one
Signal as close as possible to
Redundancy
Transmitter
goes for encoding
can be
Entropy ratio to max entropy
Effectiveness problem goes to
Received message
decodes
Receiver
Technical problem
Freedom of sender
Destination
decide
Channel
noisy signal goes to
As designers, this paper gives insights about how important it is to be able to express ourselves(and understand others well). Sometimes people(including ourselves) will not be able to give words to thoughts(semantic problem); other times there would be noise in surroundings(technical problem); also, there could be problem in understanding the delivered message(probably due to lack of shared language) resulting in effectiveness problem.
Message
creates
has
In the paper, Shannon presents a view that laid the foundation for theory of communication. He explains about the different kind of noise that is introduced in different levels of transacting a message from one person to another. He uses a very mathematical analogy based on his work in signal transmission but those ideas are as true for general communication as well.
Accepted statistical rules of the language determined by
Claude Elwood Shannon (April 30, 1916 – February 24, 2001) was an American mathematician, electrical engineer, and cryptographer known as “the father of information theory”. Shannon is famous for having founded information theory with a landmark paper that he published in 1948. He is perhaps equally well known for founding both digital computer and digital circuit design theory in 1937, when, as a 21-year-old master’s degree student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he wrote his thesis demonstrating that electrical applications of Boolean algebra could construct any logical, numerical relationship. He worked in AT&T Bell Labs working on transmission of data signals through analogue communication channels.
Information source
Entropy
Design ethics by Richard Buchanan
Design Ethics
Integrity
Reliability
Professionalism
Compliance with laws
Technical practices Education Intellectual property rights
Sustainability
Sustainability
Invention and innovation Structural integrity (technological reasoning that ensures performance of product) Usability (affordances; signs & symbols used) Aesthetics (adapting to local values, desirability: social and cultural)
Natural foundation Good Appropriate Just
Concentional and arbitrary foundation says
Preservation of culture
Service to public good
Help other people accomplish their own purpose
says design should be
Safety
is
Competence
Synthesis of form & materials elements of form are
Nature of products
based on
arises from
Working with other people
Purpose of design
relates to
Product integrity concerns
is about
Designer
play a role in
Integrity of performance concerns
Buchanan makes us, designers, think that we need to give a thought about ethics of our work and how we do it. He asserts that anything we create using design process or the design process itself should not be rude to the users or others taking part in the design process. He defines a few guidelines that help us to realize what to be careful about.
Character and moral values of
Richard Buchanan, PhD, is a professor of design, management, and information systems. He received his AB and PhD from a prestigious interdisciplinary program at the University of Chicago: the Committee on the Analysis of Ideas and the Study of Methods (“I & M”). Before joining the Weatherhead faculty in 2008, he served as head of the school of design and then as director of doctoral studies in design at Carnegie Mellon University. While at Carnegie Mellon, he inaugurated interaction design programs at the master’s and doctoral level.
Design Thinking
Design is to fulfil desires and needs of humans
Boundary objects
by Susan Leigh Star and James R. Griesemer
meaning
Diversity and cooperation
explain
Boundary Objects
Scientific work
requires
Repositories
Science
are
Central tension
demands
Reliability
Ideal types
Domains
caused by
are
Differences in unit analysis
Abstracted from all domains Adaptable to local site
Coincident boundaries have
between
includes
Same boundaries but different internal content
arise from
Interessement
(translation of concerns)
Modular
Problem of hetrogenity
creates
creates
depends on
Communication
Non-scientist
Cooperation
Ordered pile of objects Indexes in standardized fashion
solve
requires
New knowledge
from/to
Abstract and Concrete
are simultanously
types
requiers
Researchers Amatuers Professionals Humans Animals Functionaries Visionaries and more
creates
This paper reveals how the same “thing” has different meaning to all of the stakeholders. Star and Griesemer give us an example of a museum that was funded by the university, run by a scientist who hired/paid other people to collect the data. So this museum acted as a boundary object among all these people, as the university wanted recognition, the scientist wanted to do research and the hired/paid people wanted money all because of/for museum.
conducted by
James R. Griesemer is Professor and former Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, Davis in Davis, California. He received his PhD in 1983 in the Conceptual Foundations of Science at the University of Chicago. His research focuses on the history and philosophy of biology, including models and practices in museum-based natural history, laboratory-based ecology, units of inheritance and selection in evolutionary biology, and visual representation in embryology and genetics.
Intersectional work (across social worlds)
are
Susan Leigh Star (1954–2010) was an American sociologist. She specialized in the study of information in modern society; information worlds; information infrastructure; classification and standardization; sociology of science; sociology of work and the history of science, medicine, technology, and communication/information systems. She commonly used the qualitative methods methodology and feminist theory approach.
Actors
Different means of aggregating data
Scientist
Standardized forms removes devised as method for
Multiple viewpoints
Local uncertainities Communication across multiple workgroups
Theory of affordances by J. J. Gibson
is
is a set of
perceive
Niche
Animal (observer)
offers
in
for
Stimulus for information
is
Affordance
is
can are
Affordance theory states that the world is perceived not only in terms of object shapes and spatial relationships but also in terms of object possibilities for action (affordances) — perception drives action. According to Gibson, perception of the environment inevitably leads to some course of action. Affordances, or clues in the environment that indicate possibilities for action, are perceived in a direct, immediate way with no sensory processing. Examples include: buttons for pushing, knobs for turning, handles for pulling, levers for sliding, etc.
Environment
is relative to
James Jerome Gibson was an American psychologist who received his Ph.D. from Princeton University’s Department of Psychology, and is considered one of the most important 20th century psychologists in the field of visual perception. Gibson challeng ed the idea that the nervous system actively constructs conscious visual perception, and instead promoted ecological psychology, in which the mind directly perceives environmental stimuli without additional cognitive construction or processing.
occupy
Combination of variables
Physical Properties
by giving
not
Abstract
Lie
Mis-information
Conceptual models by Jeff Johnson and Austin Henderson
Vocabulary
examples
have
Notice relationships between objects to
are based on
Understanding of users & tasks
helps
Relationships between concepts
may include
User profiles
should include
Users
Conceptual models
goes as input to
Conceptual design issues
contains
introduces
hides
Task analysis
Object/operation analysis
help
Designers and users
are
Open & solved design issues (for everyone including new comers to understand the problems: solved and unsolved)
is part of
Information Architecture
inlcudes
Tasks
Task sequence
is
Representation of\ sequence of tasks
Learning
Explained for why they are being removed
Users must learn unfamiliar new concept
Attributes
Complexity
Every concept interacts with others increasing complexity of the system
Operations
performed on
Concepts that are no longer needed Enumeration of all e.g. the ones that technology high-level tasks into has replaced component sub-tasks
meaning
is
have
Relationships
meaning
Task heirarchy
adds
High level goals users may have in mine
New concepts
should be
(use-cases)
are
are
Major tasks or goals
Objects between
Outdated concepts
(that application tends to support) types of mapping
Johnson and Henderson argue that conceptual models are integral to the design process in multiple ways.
High-level description
determines
Austin Henderson’s 45-year career in Human-Computer Interaction includes user interface research and architecture at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, Bolt Beranek and Newman, Xerox Research (both PARC and EuroPARC), Apple Computer, and Pitney Bowes, as well as strategic industrial design with Fitch and his own Rivendel Consulting & Design and Scalable Conversations. Henderson has built both commercial and research applications in many areas. These applications, and their development with users, have grounded his analytical work, which has included the nature of computation-based socio-technical systems, the interaction of people with the technology in those systems, and the practices and tools of their development and use, particularly the conversations that surround them.
Brief description of intended users of application
are
Jeff Johnson is Principal Consultant at UI Wizards, Inc., a product usability consultancy. He also is a principal at WiserUsability.com, a consultancy focused on elder usability and accessibility. After earning B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale and Stanford Universities, he worked as a UI designer and implementer, engineer manager, usability tester, and researcher at Cromemco, Xerox, US West, Hewlett-Packard Labs, and Sun Microsystems. He has taught at Stanford University, Mills College, and the University of Canterbury.
Mental models
Specialization Containment Whole/part Source/result Task/subtask Relative importance
that
Users manipulate
Synthesis of form by Christopher Alexander
required when
Generate wider enough range of possible alternative solutions symbolically
Design
required when
Express all criteria for solutions in terms of same symbolism
Success cannot be defined symbolically
calls for
Invention
needs
Process
possible kinds
(design process) context
mostly requires
C1
Multiple designers
form
F1
actual world
Humans react to misfits by changing them
Unselfconcious situation Completely tacit process
because
Alexander discusses the process by which a form is adapted to the context of human needs and demands that has called it into being. He shows that such an adaptive process will be successful only if it proceeds piecemeal instead of all at once. It is for this reason that forms from traditional unselfconscious cultures, molded not by designers but by the slow pattern of changes within tradition, are so beautifully organized and adapted. When the designer, in our own self-conscious culture, is called on to create a form that is adapted to its context he is unsuccessful, because the preconceived categories out of which he builds his picture of the problem do not correspond to the inherent components of the problem, and therefore lead only to the arbitrariness, willfulness, and lack of understanding which plague the design of modern buildings and modern cities.
Selection
can be solved by
can be solved by
Christopher Wolfgang Alexander is a widely architect and design theorist, and currently emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley. His theories about the nature of human-centered design have had notable impacts across many fields beyond architecture, including urban design, software, sociology and other fields. Alexander has also designed and personally built over 100 buildings, both as an architect and a general contractor.
Problems
context
form
F1
actual world
C2
F2
mental picture
C1
Based on Based on designers designers learning & ideas, invention diagrams & drawings Form is shaped by conceptual interaction between conceptual picture of context
Individual designer’s inventive capacity is limited
Vulnerable to language bias
context
form
F1
actual world
C2
F2
mental picture
C2
F2
formal picture
C1
Orderly complex of diagrams Mathematical picture (of mental picture)
Set theory of Mathematics Less vulnerable to language bias
Bridge model
by Hugh Dubberly, Shelley Evenson and Rick Robinson
Bridge model is a model describing how design is a cyclic process and creates new knowledge. Bridge model asserts that design is essentially studying ‘what is’(what already exists) and then speculating ‘what could be’ and then creating knowledge to implement ‘what could be’ to make it ‘what is’.
Understanding the problem in it’s current state
provides
provides
Interpret
Description of everyday in such a way as to see how it might be different, better or new
Model of “what is”
Model of “what could be”
“what is”
“what could be”
Concrete
Rick E. Robinson has been an applied researcher in consumer and material culture studies for more than 20 years. He trained as a developmental and social psychologist at the University of Chicago and as a post-doctoral fellow at the J. Paul Getty Research Institute.
Analysis
Prototyping
Abstract
Shelley Evenson was a Research Manager in Design and User Experience at Facebook and a Principal User Experience Designer and Manager for Microsoft. She was also an Associate Professor in the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. She now works as Executive Director of Organizational Evolution at Fjord, part of Accenture.
Researching
Describe
Hugh Dubberly is a design planner and teacher. At Apple Computer in the late 80s and early 90s, Hugh managed cross-functional design teams and later managed creative services for the entire company. Currently, he teaches and runs his own design consultancy.
Existing - Implicit(Present)
Prefered - Explicit(Future)
helps
is
Bridge the gap between analysis and synthesis
Manifestation of the solution
Synthesis
SECI model by Ikujiro Nonaka
Ikujiro Nonaka is a Japanese organizational theorist and Professor Emeritus at the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy of the Hitotsubashi University, best known for his study of knowledge management. SECI model is a representation of how the knowledge is created. It gives us insights on how a design problem can be solved sometimes just by realising that a problem exists and making that problem explicit. Nonaka tells us that all knowledge is not explicit, it is tacit at first and when we make it explicit only then can we share it with other people making it part of the culture of an organization(making it tacit for everyone, that is making it obvious).
Explicit knowledge Converting tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge (so it can be shared)
is about
Finding a problem
is about
Externalization (articulating)
Combination (connecting)
Socialization (empathizing)
Internalisation (embodying)
Articulating tacit knowledge through dialogue and reflection
Sharing and creating tacit knowledge through direct experience
Implicit knowledge
is about
Synthesising knowledge from different sources into one context
is about
Actualizing created explicit knowledge by putting it to practice till it becomes knowledge of one’s own
Systemizing and applying explicit knowledge
Learning and acquiring new tacit knowledge in practice
Science of design by Herbert Simon
can be solved by
Satisficing
Optimisation methods
Adaptation
defined by
done when
of
Inner environment to
of
Outer environment defines
Constraints
in order to
includes
How things ought to be
Set of parameters
Formalise the problem
Finding best solution is impossible
Learning & finding a sequence of actions to reach a goal
Searching for appropriate procedures that assemble to solve a problem
uses
Utility function
out of
deals with
In this reading, I understood how the problems can be solved in different ways mathematically and by the abilities of computer. The essay science of design deals with the artificial intelligence of computers. It’s reference to problem solving is framed in way that explains how digital machines can be made intelligent. As a designer, it’s very insightful to understand this perspective as all the products these days depend on technology in one way or the other.
Finding a satisfactory solution
Logic of search is about
Design
Means-end analysis meaning
meaning
meaning
solves
Herbert Alexander Simon, a Nobel laureate, was an American political scientist, economist, sociologist, psychologist, and computer scientist whose research ranged across the fields of cognitive psychology, cognitive science, computer science, public administration, economics, management, philosophy of science, sociology, and political science, unified by studies of decision-making. With almost a thousand highly cited publications, he was one of the most influential social scientists of the twentieth century. For many years he held the post of Richard King Mellon Professor at Carnegie Mellon University.
Problems
Multiple alternative solutions
Iteration (trial and error)
Gathering information about the problem
Dilemmas in theory of planning by Horst J. Rittel
meaning
Simple
can be
Problems
can be
Wicked
when
Instrumental knowledge
Stakeholders
Innovation
concerned with
can’t agree on
lead to
Definition
can be handled by
have formal
Design
require
(what ought be)
Taming Solutions
use
can be
lead to
Many people
not
Science (what is) concerns with
Defining a problem inherently defines solution
to
Agree
requires
on
Improvement Tested Innovation
hence is
require
have
because
Rittel classifies problems into 2 types: Simple and Wicked. He defines that simple problems are those which have solutions within the knowledge domain we already possess. However, wicked problems are the ones that require innovation by creation of new knowledge. He argues that wicked problems are the ones that require design. The way we define the problem matters a lot; and in fact if we are able to define a problem and agree on the definition of the problem, we already have a solution. It’s the wicked problem like global warming, where we are unable to agree on one definition that makes it wicked.
Well-defined problems
have to
Horst Willhelm Jakob Rittel was a design theorist and university professor. He is best known for coining the term wicked problem, but his influence on design theory and practice was much wider.
Factual knowledge
comes from
Knowledge
requires
Goals/Actions
Process of argumentation
Design as reflection by Donald A. Schön
of/to
Design problem
can be solved by
Rational decision making
meaning
Social process
Dialogue among individuals
According to Schön, reflection in action is the “kind of artistry that good teachers in their everyday work often display,” whereas school knowledge refers to a “molecular” idea of knowledge, to “the view that what we know is a product,” and that “the more general and the more theoretical the knowledge, the higher it is.” From the school knowledge perspective, “it is the business of kids to get it, and of the teachers to see that they get it.”
Selection of alternatives
has components
Screening the alternatives generated in generation process
meaning
is a
add up to yield
Donald Alan Schön (September 19, 1930 – September 13, 1997) was a philosopher and professor in urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who developed the concept of reflective practice and contributed to the theory of organizational learning.
Design structure
can be done by
Systematic search
randomly generates
are not
Given
involves
Learning about problem components and their interconnections
Criteria assumed to be given with
Synthesized
involved here
are
must be
lead to discovery of
Design alternatives screened based on
Design alternatives
Policies
Facts
Intelligent exploration of problem space
Random Generation assumes
Normative Leap lead to
tells is
Design is a frame experiment and hence, reflective
built on
can be done by
considers
Generative metaphor
is
Genration of alternatives
Combination of elements
Elements of design given with the problem Design proposals are independent and increamental in impact (but actually they are interdependent)
