David Kelley > Human Centred Design video reflection

In the video of David Kelley giving his talk on Human Centred Design at the TED conference 2002, he talks about how the way that designers are designing things now are changing, designers are starting to focus more on humans and human behavior, incorporating that thinking into their designs. David Kelley mentions that previously, designers would usually communicate their ideas to clients via 3D models or renderings, but now his firm and others alike are beginning to form internal video production groups within the firms that are primarily utilized to produce videos for demonstrating to clients how a new product works and how humans are intended interact with the product.
One of the videos that David Kelley presents is the video of Prada and their new store in New York which features many new devices that enhance the shopping experience that consumers have. The devices have features that fit a lot more accordingly with how consumers shop, thus a more human centred design has been accomplished, an example of this would be the liquid-crystal displays used on the doors of the change rooms which go from transparent to translucent at the push of a button on the floor using the foot, with this device the designers have realized that consumers very often shop accompanied by at least another person and when trying on clothes in particular, often consumers use the other person’s opinion to help in their decision of purchase, the device thus takes away the need to open and close the change room doors repeatedly and improving the convenience.
In the closing of the video, David Kelley sums up the rest the rest of his video, mentioning how great it is now that designers have taken on a more human centred design approach in their work, incorporating human behavior and personality into their products, this has allowed designers to be more trusted and integrated into the business strategy of companies.
From this video I have learnt that for whatever designs I may have, it is not only about how good the design or idea is but also how well I communicate my idea to others, thinking of the most efficient and effective method possible. Also, that having a more human centred state of mind when designing for humans improves the chances of the design being better conceived by consumers.

Don Norman Video > Emotional Design

In Don Norman’s video, ‘Emotional Design’, he talks about how designs can affect how consumers feel emotionally, a product with a visually pleasing design but minimal functionality could sometimes bring a consumer more satisfaction and pleasure than an ugly product that does the same job but with maximum functionality. An example of this that Don Norman talked about was the juicer by Philippe Starck; the design is visually pleasing and brings consumers satisfaction functioning more as an artwork rather than a juicer, Don Norman also mentioned that he doesn’t use his Philippe Starck juicer because the citric acid of the fruits will corrode the gold plating of the juicer. However, having said that, it is not necessarily true that designs that have great functionality are ugly, Don Norman shows us an example of this using the Global Cutting Knife made in Japan, he says that it is well balanced, beautiful and visually pleasing, the grip brings pleasure to the consumer when held, and also that the blade is so sharp that it is a delight to use.

Don Norman also talked about how our emotions and feelings affect the way our brain functions and how we perceive different things, for example, fear and anxiety he says causes our minds to focus and not get distracted in what we’re doing. Whilst happiness allows the mind to ‘think outside of the box’, being more susceptible to distractions and a broader range of ideas.

Another topic that Don Norman talks about is the three levels of processing that he believes consumers have when encountering designs. The first level is the visceral level, which is a sub-conscious thinking obtained more through personal intuition rather than from reasoning or observation. The second level is the behavioral level which is about feeling in control of what is happening and how easy something is to use. The third level is the reflective level, which Don Norman says metaphorically, is like the little voice in your head that has no control over any part of the body or any connection to the body’s senses, but in a way is able to manipulate what the body does, for example, if the body and senses are anxious to do something, the ‘little voice’ tells the mind that “it’s alright, it’s safe”.

I recommend this video to other designers because it gives us, as designers more ways of thinking and things to think about.

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