Theres a lot around prototyping at the moment, and I have recently helped to set up and run a live service prototype in Cornwall as part of Dott Cornwall for thinkpublic.
We have been discussing the subject a lot and it has really made me focus down on what I think is important when prototyping, and when encouraging others to see the value of prototyping in their organisation.
My current thoughts are summarised below;
1. Its all about playing with and learning about your ideas
Prototyping is a way of understanding your ideas through
Have an idea
Creating a way of testing that idea with people
Learning from that test
Having other ideas.
2. Cheap and rough
Prototyping should be a relatively inexpensive process. This means you can do a lot of it. Its not a labour of love.
3. Quick
Once you know what you want to learn, build ways to get feedback as quickly as you can. Put stuff out there for rapid evaluation.
4. Understandable
Doesn’t need to be a “thing” but it needs to be tangible and understandable.
People must understand what your doing, so they can respond to it.
All prototypes must do something that allows you to come to a sense of what you learnt.
5. Be open minded
Know what you want to test, but be prepared to have your assumptions challenged.
6. Failure is beautiful
Embrace failures, that is where you will learn your most important lessons. Knowing what doesn’t work will help you shape what could work. Then test that!
7. Keep going
Don’t give up.
Prototyping is a way of thinking about and testing ideas.
The materials are immaterial.
Idea. Test. Learn. Repeat.
Monday 16 August 2010
Long time, no posts.
So... its been a while. Been a really hectic few months. Finished university. Started working at thinkpublic (www.thinkpublic.com) as a designer which is really great. Been there nearly 3 1/2 months now and its great. Anyway thats why theres been a lack of posts.
Ill try and get better but ill be contributing to the thinkpublic blog as much as I can too so I will try and repost here.
Cheers
Joe
Ill try and get better but ill be contributing to the thinkpublic blog as much as I can too so I will try and repost here.
Cheers
Joe
Tuesday 27 April 2010
Amplitude
Amplitude from rAndom International on Vimeo.
Spent a weekend helping with the build. Looks absolutely amazing and great video.
Thursday 8 April 2010
Monday 5 April 2010
Saturday 27 March 2010
Robin Hood Tax
Video from Robin Hood tax site, an idea/ campaign to introduce a tax on inter banking transactions that then funds good causes globally. Great Idea and one to support. I do wonder how likely it would be to happen what with Global governments having such vested interests within the banking sector, and the nature of global finance meaning all banks worldwide would nee to reach agreement, which when they will be "losing" money they may not be so keen to do!!! Another good example though of people power and communication media creating movements for social change.
http://robinhoodtax.org.uk/
http://robinhoodtax.org.uk/
Enterprise Bootcamp, Soho, London.
I went to an enterprise and entrepreneurship bootcamp over Thursday and Friday this week and found it a really interesting and rewarding experience. Had a series of speakers and workshops over the two days including Adrian Shaughnessy. I learnt alot of important factual information regarding IP etc, and also the themes that ran through the days were about personal communication and being adaptable in a world where business models will need to change dramatically.
The sessions culminated in a series of workshop sessions with Susie Galbraith of bluedoor about creating and communicating a brand or message.
They also ran a personal 15 word pitch competition where we were given three minutes to develop a 15 word personal pitch......and I won it, a lovely bottle of wine which I actually gave away anyways.
However I found it really useful learning these tools and techniques to really filter what you are trying to say down to a few words. Although this was aimed at starting your own business all of the techniques could be applied more widely into personal projects and your personal professional identity.
The sessions culminated in a series of workshop sessions with Susie Galbraith of bluedoor about creating and communicating a brand or message.
They also ran a personal 15 word pitch competition where we were given three minutes to develop a 15 word personal pitch......and I won it, a lovely bottle of wine which I actually gave away anyways.
However I found it really useful learning these tools and techniques to really filter what you are trying to say down to a few words. Although this was aimed at starting your own business all of the techniques could be applied more widely into personal projects and your personal professional identity.
Wednesday 24 March 2010
Sunday 21 March 2010
Random/ You fade to light
You Fade To Light, rAndom International for Philips Lumiblade from rAndom International on Vimeo.
Old news I guess but I was shown some photos of them making this video and its absolutely beautiful. Also awsome score in background max richter on the nature of daylight from the blue notebooks album. Epic.
Pixel Protest..?
Pixel Protest..? from joseph smith on Vimeo.
Concept Animation for Virtual protest project im working on. Protesters can protest remotely on a virtual platform, each protester is represented by a pixel on their desired message- the more people protesting the clearer the message (image).
Saturday 20 March 2010
Friday 19 March 2010
Thursday 18 March 2010
Stock market Trends as mountain ranges
http://infosthetics.com/archives/2010/03/high_altitude_the_stock_market_trends_as_realistic_mountain_ranges.html
I really like this visualisation although it doesnt have any real meaning. Its definitely a nice metaphor.
Also check out STOC. Stock market visualisation based on the solar system- its awsome and free to download at Uniformchaos.org
Youtube below;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J47OJ7scP-Q
I really like this visualisation although it doesnt have any real meaning. Its definitely a nice metaphor.
Also check out STOC. Stock market visualisation based on the solar system- its awsome and free to download at Uniformchaos.org
Youtube below;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J47OJ7scP-Q
Sunday 14 March 2010
Service Design Supplement in The Guardian
Really insightful supplement in the Guardian on Service Design. Anyone who's interested in Service design should get down to the bunch of grapes on the last Friday of each month for some drinks and a chat on all this service design. Sign up at servicedesign.org.
I found Nick Marsh article on Silent Designers especially interesting.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/service-design
http://www.servicedesign.org/
I found Nick Marsh article on Silent Designers especially interesting.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/service-design
http://www.servicedesign.org/
Filtering media Techniques/
For my final university project I have decided to run two projects that grew organically from research I undertook. The first was explained in a previous post about Virtual Protest in a Physical world, the second is on filtering Media sensationalism and spin to reduce the amount of fear and alert generated.
The idea was based on conversations I had with various journalists, as well as reading a lot of books and articles. The techniques the media use to sensationalise stories are made up of a few standard techniques and phrases.
Although I ha vent settled on any ideas just yet, my initial response for the work in progress show we held is below. Its called the good morning group. It was a way if visualising the areas I'm thinking about and my research outcomes to start a discussion and debate about what it could be and what needs to be addressed.
The idea was based on conversations I had with various journalists, as well as reading a lot of books and articles. The techniques the media use to sensationalise stories are made up of a few standard techniques and phrases.
My thinking was surely with the internet allowing access to a huge number of news sources, could a system be set up that gathers the ten most googled stories of the day. Could it then gather these stories from a number of news sources and then scan them and provide you only with the most objective news stories? What would be the effect of this? Would we even enjoy it if it wasn't sensationalised?
With the internet now enabling anyone who is a consumer of the internet to also be a producer of information, and allowing us to access huge amounts of information at the touch of a button. Is it not now more important to understand how to judge a source rather than learn dates of battles, or the periodic table? Should their be assessments on googling?
Is it about filtering media techniques, teaching people about these techniques, or just drawing attention to them....? I'm not sure but its going to be fun to explore them all.
Some Pics of me making the mock ups...
London By Night.
Working on a self initiated project creating lights based on the London Skyline. I was inspired by the way London looks when it is lit up at night and decided to do a short project on this idea. It is a working progress but the images below show where I am at the moment. I have so far made mock ups of initial designs for the Gherkin, and the London eye. They hold tea lights. 
The aim of the project is also to have the materials and manufacture done within London so they become a true product of London- however a number of iterations need to be made first. I am going to have current ideas manufactured using water cutting, but the final pieces need to be chemically etched to give the details that are not cut through. They will also only be two sided, this is because the lighting effects are better, and also I can fit more on a single sheet of metal making them cheaper to produce.Had very positive feedback from everyone I have shown it to, and also from two companies (who cannot be named) who might be looking to produce them in small batches. Its been cool to work on a simple object and focus on aesthetic and manufacturing problems and solution's.
PiggyBank Process images
Some backdated Snaps from the PiggyBank Project- showing a bit of design research and process. PIggyBank was a finalist at Audi Design Foundations Sustain Our Nation Competition.
Saturday 6 March 2010
Audi Design Sustain Our Nation Finalist
Haven't blogged on here for ages, and its probably because of the amount of projects being worked on at the moment.
One exciting thing was I got to the finals of Audi Design Foundation competition "Sustain our Nation" for my Project PiggyBank. It is a financial visualisation service aiming to make peoples personal finances more understandable and tangible, and also trying to link local business to local consumers.
The aim of the competition is sustainability and social enterprise.
It was really exciting to go and present to the judges and a really enjoyable day/ project to work on.
One exciting thing was I got to the finals of Audi Design Foundation competition "Sustain our Nation" for my Project PiggyBank. It is a financial visualisation service aiming to make peoples personal finances more understandable and tangible, and also trying to link local business to local consumers.
The aim of the competition is sustainability and social enterprise.
It was really exciting to go and present to the judges and a really enjoyable day/ project to work on.
Friday 5 March 2010
Brock Craft talk at Metropolitan Works, London
Last night I attended a talk by Brock Craft, one of the partners at Tinker. It.
He talked about the development of the digital world and how they are trying to bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds.
This is particularly of interest to me at present as I am working on a project at the moment that is attempting to bring elements occurring in virtual platforms such as Second Life and World of Warcraft into the physical world.
After I had a number of questions (Unfortunately I wasn't picked to ask!)
How do Tinker. It see their role? It strikes me that at present they are creating really interesting and engaging ideas that are almost exploring applications for new technologies. The applications they are producing are fun and interesting and suggest possible uses for the technology- but how will this develop? Their are limitless uses for the technology their using but how does he see his role developing?
Designers have always been interested in exploring new technologies and throughout history they are often the people that experiment and test how things could be used- but I am unsure whether this is how Brock See's his role.
He also talked a lot about systems problems, such as those at Toyota and in medical institutions where lethal doses have been administered accidentally- and discussed these as interactions design problems. I like Brock cannot understand, especially how the later example can occur. How are designers being involved in creating these . No system should be designed where these things can occur, and prototyping and user testing as well as designing the equipment and process with the staff (Co- design) would reduce the risks massively. These are interaction design problems.
Anyway I digress, but it was a great talk in a great venue. Thanks Brock.
He talked about the development of the digital world and how they are trying to bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds.
This is particularly of interest to me at present as I am working on a project at the moment that is attempting to bring elements occurring in virtual platforms such as Second Life and World of Warcraft into the physical world.
After I had a number of questions (Unfortunately I wasn't picked to ask!)
How do Tinker. It see their role? It strikes me that at present they are creating really interesting and engaging ideas that are almost exploring applications for new technologies. The applications they are producing are fun and interesting and suggest possible uses for the technology- but how will this develop? Their are limitless uses for the technology their using but how does he see his role developing?
Designers have always been interested in exploring new technologies and throughout history they are often the people that experiment and test how things could be used- but I am unsure whether this is how Brock See's his role.
He also talked a lot about systems problems, such as those at Toyota and in medical institutions where lethal doses have been administered accidentally- and discussed these as interactions design problems. I like Brock cannot understand, especially how the later example can occur. How are designers being involved in creating these . No system should be designed where these things can occur, and prototyping and user testing as well as designing the equipment and process with the staff (Co- design) would reduce the risks massively. These are interaction design problems.
Anyway I digress, but it was a great talk in a great venue. Thanks Brock.
Communication of thinking.
Over the last year I have been working on projects that are quite removed from traditional "product" design, and that are crossing disciplines such as interaction design and service design. As I am not designing objects per se I have been exploring new techniques in order to develop new ideas, explaining new ideas,
I have found that producing scenarios and objects that summarise the thinking and conclusions from my research has been very useful.
More to ask questions, and create a dialogue between me and whoever I am talking to about the project. What I also have learnt is that it really helps to clarify my thoughts.
My more recent projects have been tackling with large, expansive and often fairly abstract topics and themes and by putting my thoughts and topics into scenarios and objects really helps to explain and focus my thoughts.
One example was for a project I am working on at the moment that is dealing with fairly abstract subjects including fear, control and protest. The wealth of research I collected, both user research and desk theoretical research, needed to be clarified and organised in order to explain to my tutors and other guests at our show. I divided y research into a number of categories and then generated ideas around these categories. I then created a range of objects and scenarios around each of these ideas. It made it so much easier for people attending to understand the process I was going through, and also my potential directions and allowed them to contribute thoughts and ideas- and we could exchange dialogue.
I feel this is really invaluable, especially when dealing with complex design problems.
I have found that producing scenarios and objects that summarise the thinking and conclusions from my research has been very useful.
More to ask questions, and create a dialogue between me and whoever I am talking to about the project. What I also have learnt is that it really helps to clarify my thoughts.
My more recent projects have been tackling with large, expansive and often fairly abstract topics and themes and by putting my thoughts and topics into scenarios and objects really helps to explain and focus my thoughts.
One example was for a project I am working on at the moment that is dealing with fairly abstract subjects including fear, control and protest. The wealth of research I collected, both user research and desk theoretical research, needed to be clarified and organised in order to explain to my tutors and other guests at our show. I divided y research into a number of categories and then generated ideas around these categories. I then created a range of objects and scenarios around each of these ideas. It made it so much easier for people attending to understand the process I was going through, and also my potential directions and allowed them to contribute thoughts and ideas- and we could exchange dialogue.
I feel this is really invaluable, especially when dealing with complex design problems.
Saturday 27 February 2010
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