Digesting Design Thinking

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Education system started as a plan to pull more skilled workforces from the farm to the industry, in order to ensure and increase a level of productivity. It is since being blindly followed with minimal changes. Furthermore, the reformers who come up with a vision are heavily criticised and scarcely supported.

If one goes to the pioneers of today’s education system, they have nothing more to say than the acceptance of visionaries trying, as also the acceptance of them having no success whatsoever. When asked what their plans for reform are, the pioneers take a step back, and state that nothing substantial can be done. We are facing a stagnant dis-growth in society’s duty of bringing up a solid individual; and we are convinced that it is still the right way to go forward.

Fig. 1

Bill Sharpe has created a model (fig. 1) wherein there are the three horizons of innovation. The first horizon – H1 – is the dominant system at present. It represents ‘business as usual’. As the world changes, so aspects of business as usual begin to feel out of place or no longer fit for purpose. In the end ‘business as usual’ is superseded by new ways of doing things. Innovation has started already in light of the apparent shortcomings of the first horizon system. This forms a second horizon – H2. At some point the innovations become more effective than the original system. This is a point of disruption. Clayton Christensen called it the ‘innovator’s dilemma’: should you protect your mature business that is on the wane or invest in the innovation that looks as if it might replace it?

Unfortunately presently, if we place the innovations in education in the chart, it falls in the H1 phase where a downfall is foreseen. The context of worldly requirements has changed, and education has missed out on its periodic responsibilities. Even if trials are being carried out which would fall in the H2 phase, they have a lack of direction. Every new and alternative method is an acceptable method for the unaware. Who is to blame though? There are as many schools of thoughts as are the number of opinionated issues. Where Finland says it is unnecessary to teach according to specific subjects, India is aiming towards conducting mandatory entrance tests; where Japanese education aims towards providing knowledge related to their cultures by mode of practice, USA is simplifying the current scenario with the help of multiple choice questions.

It seems to me that errors are acceptable in this situation; since errors are possible only post trials. It is definitely a slow process; however, the steadiness is of utmost importance. There is also the issue of measurement. The change in the behaviour patterns can only be accurately made through comparisons.

Education or knowledge provision is a necessity and not a luxury. Everything around is providing learning. It is time to shift the value of education from sitting and learning, to exploring and understanding. Learning should come from within. Learning comes when the purposes of learning are chalked out via carefully designed opportunities. Learning is everyday.

 References: The Book of Life (www.thebookoflife.com)

Bill Sharpe - Economies of Life

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The Power of We. Reflection on Contextual User Research

INTRODUCTION:

We, the people, love to think of ourselves as all encompassing. We even start believing it; unless there comes a moment that contradicts it.

When I confront of a family member with less aspiring capabilities, I get angry or start giving a lecture about laziness or time management. And when someone else, like someone differently capable and not from my circle of influence has such issues, I take pity and feel sad about their situation. Why the difference, you ask? Well simply because I just do not believe that high aspirations or achievements are even possible by the later given their ‘background’ and ‘helpless situation’.

We are born biased; it is the tool that helps us take critical decisions. However, this tool becomes a double blade sword if handled incorrectly during contextual user research. The fine line between their problem and our problem has to be carefully constructed and cemented in our minds.

Can we imagine the utopia of not only saying, but also inherently believing that we can never design for a community; we could design with them and using their intellects and that too only after they allow us to. Let us thus try NOT to consider any rural, urban, high class, low class, alien as THEM but as a part of us, and our community, and our future.

A few dialogues from the movie The Gods Must Be Crazy l (1980):

“

There was a peculiar sound, and Xi saw a most amazing animal approaching.

Its legs went around instead of up and down. And there was a weird-looking god on its back. He wore blue skin on his head and red on his body. And hair grew on his face.

-What the hell happened? Where have you been?

The funny thing was that they couldn't speak. They made sounds like monkeys.

”

 “

They're Tswanas. They always shake their heads (sideways) when they mean to say yes.

”

 The Gods Must Be Crazy ll (1990):

“

He showed her the tracks where he met the two heavy men.

-This is where they turned back. This one was angry because the tired one grabbed the stick. And then he had to run. It was very funny.

She couldn't understand. She was also quite illiterate. She couldn't read the signs and tracks at all.

”

We, as predominantly human species, live with a notion that our way is the right way. It becomes difficult to accept that there can be more than one or even two modi operandi. The society that we come from, the groups that we happily or forcibly follow, the career paths that we travel and most importantly, the beliefs that we choose - these all factors give us the power to be ourselves, make us who we are. If one element around us changes, we would either alter or shrug away; but there is an adjustment for sure.

So when our team of Srishti ‘elites’ went into a rural setting to study ‘their’ livelihoods and ‘problems’, we were worried that we will not be able to adjust. However, once immersed in the ‘different’ setting, our primitive juices forced us to embrace the not-so-obvious environment.

But here’s the catch – why do we enter the rural with a pre-notion of ‘it is going to be so different’? A designer has the duty to try and find interventions in specific contexts and then try to solve it with the help of the crux of that context included in the design of the solution. Yes, the rural sure is very different from what we might be used to. Although so is every other place where we go to conduct research.

I was undisputed about a scenario where we would all go with open minds and strong hearts into the designated context of study. Emphasis on the word study – if emotions get stronger and we keep asking about or listening about issues, dark clouds will start building over the insights that reside within both parties. It is of utmost importance for designers to look at the situations in a practical and a problem-solving way. Yes, it is human centred designing and emotion is the biggest tool of humans, but tools work only when used right. Going into an aanganwadi and contemplating about the amount of hard work put by the children for a piece of roti daily and deeply thinking about the income of the families and comparing it with the amount we spend on a packet of chips in a day, is not only time wasting but also distasteful if one wants to call ownself a contextual designer. In that context, and those conditions, the parameters are much different and the processes of handling them are different too. It is just a fact of life; to just accept the differences. We cannot expect to change or be changed. All we can really do is understand the situation at hand and match it with the tools in the bag. There is no need of feeling accountable for the way things are.

It is in our nature to feel sad when we encounter the lives of people ‘less fortunate’ than us, and it is our instinct to jump in and help. But take a step back; is charity really what we seek after? It helps much better when we understand and try to relate with the stories – empathise – and thus think of innovative ways to solve the issues, practically. Not simply offer help that results from emotional breakdowns. The fundamental thought of social innovation is to work with the community and not for it.

After stating that our presence here is to learn from the adolescents rather than teach them, are we, as designers, really accepting the fact that they are superior to us in one way or the other? Especially after we make extra efforts to lock up our belongings and play hide from our equals, are we still practicing the art of unbiased and open minded thinking for user research and contextual design? Even if we accept it after spending some time in the context, we should predominantly dive in head first with the concept of contextual skill based understanding.

‘Swati (name changed) is such a helpless little girl from a village, it is a wonder that she could come up with a dress design that the city tailors cannot comprehend.’ These kinds of statements exhibit the thinking where the capable adolescents are considered as non-cognizant of the areas that are supposed to be obvious for the ‘many’. The ‘many’ here in effect symbolise the few who are surrounding the periphery of our little circle, which we believe to be the majority.

During the thanksgiving ceremony at the Aastha Centre, there was a unanimous phraseology that, ‘We came in here thinking that we would help / change the ways of these adolescents; however, it is us who stand here changed for a lifetime’. There was not a need to come in thinking that we could change someone’s life. Designers have to be humble creatures. The passion is what speaks for all. The passion is common for all. The passion united us and made us exchange immeasurably tasty food for thoughts. Nevertheless, the hope is that the passion stands at the entry, not at the exit.

Going into a different than usual context is a knotty affair. However, the salient requirement is to go with the mindset of equals; to allow the thought that emotions are only but tools; to give the society a dream that there is no ‘us’ and ‘them’, it is WE all along.

MENTION WORTHY:

1.    Aastha Centre, Bedla, Udaipur – for the lovely accommodations and scrumptious food.

2.    Jatan Sansthan – for arranging beautiful human resources.

3.    Naveen Bagalkot – for the seeds of aspiration to thinking independently.

4.    Lakshmi Murthy – for making me believe that just a little bit of honest effort will make a difference in somebody’s universe.

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Ashes and Snow - a critique

Feather to Fire Fire to Blood Blood to Bone Bone to Marrow Marrow to Ashes Ashes to Snow

Disclaimer: The picturesque views in the cinema and the fact that they keep the spectator in awe and on the edge of the seat have been talked about more than once by maestros of the field. This provides reason to bring out the underlying emotions of the cinema, which sit under the unquestionably beautiful jargon.

 When the Earth was formed, there was not a species which was single in its inhabitation. Mountains need their valleys for the rivers to flow. Big fish need the small fish for supper. Atoms need the electrons for their basic formation. Everyone needs everything. For an amount of increase, there has always been an equal amount of decrease.

‘Balance’ is the basic assumption in the cinema Ashes and Snow by Gregory Colbert. The simple notion of the cosmos is to give as much as is taken. Balance is a concept that is un-debatable by any vocation. In science – the laws of thermodynamics clearly explain the importance of balance. In psychology – the balance theory talks about attitude change. In culture – karma explains the vicious cycle of cause and effect. In philosophy – yin yang give the idea of completeness. Yin yang would probably describe the cinema Ashes and Snow in an overarching method.

The cinema takes a lot of enlightened pauses to explain the forms in which humans are connected with its surroundings. The ‘humans’ here are a mixture of race, colour and age. The ‘surroundings’ are interconnected. There is a presence of geographical surroundings, specifically water and sand. Alongside, the natural-but-overlooked surroundings of the fauna are hard to miss. Overlooked is the presence of this fauna; both in the shots in the cinema and in our way of looking the world. Overlooked, as a word which suggests the blindly evident line of sight. There are connections being made via a crisp dialogue, which is spoken in a deep voice. Connections are made when the girl dances aggressively like the emotions of the hyena cackle. The music that flows through the whole cinema, moderately unnoticed, but alarmingly soothing creates a mystic connection. The elephants produce a form, intermingling with the innocence of the young adults, making sense with the water they are inhabiting – together – in unison.

Even though Ashes and Snow might seem about worldwide conservation of wildlife and resources at some level of its viewing and understanding, it is rather mostly about worldwide conservation and consciousness of self; whether the self is human, whether it is animal, or whether it is non-living. The cinema is about accepting the existential and learning to find a way and build a form around it. The origin is nothing but the future.

The wind will have its stories to tell and in process make sand castles to die upon. The water will have a form in a lake or an ocean, and sustain its long haul with its evolving friends. The sand castles will break into wind to re-tell its stories. The amphibians, aquatics, terrestrials will consume the water and await another long haul. The origin is nothing but the future. The balance is un-debatable.

 Feather to Fire

Fire to Blood

Blood to Bone

Bone to Marrow

Marrow to Ashes

Ashes to Snow

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being mobile

The youth is a species in itself. They are these explorative creatures who are willing to try almost everything that comes their way. If one tries to find a specific value that youth emerges from, it will fall face first; simply because there is no ‘one value’ that drives the culture of youth. Even out of the many similar values, there are many contradictory values that keep popping out.

For the sake of this essay, consider the active lifestyle of youth – where they want to socialise, they want to achieve great heights in career, in social life, in personal life, in emotional life too, they want to see places and go places at the same time, places that exist within, places that are unexplored, places that are beautiful to see and experience, and also places to travel, they want to travel within, know their worth, be more knowledgeable about self, and also about their surroundings, maybe the surroundings of their surroundings, they want to go to the moon, they want to go to the neighbourhood lake.

However, on the other hand, we see them with all these gadgets in hand and with every day but high-tech technology, which makes them staying in one place so much easier. Why go to a friend’s place to meet when you can convey an instant message through a mobile application? Why go to the movie theatre brawling through the static traffic, when you can download a movie and watch it in the cozy corner of the home? Feeling angry with a friend is conveyed so easily by un-following on a social network site. Communication, entertainment, emotions, and many such every day rudimentary happenings have all become so lifeless, if I may say.

The Internet came into being when the idea of productivity through technology started picking up pace. Both the Internet and the Productivity boom were based on the basic principle of making a man’s life easier. ‘Easier’ here would mean less physical strain, less time consumption and more quality of work, and also a very systematic style of work. While one cannot deny the mammoth opportunities these two have given rise to, they have also given foundations to questionable outcomes. It is not fair to the negative connotations when talked about in a disheartening way. The negatives are the only drivers that make the positives taste so much juicier. Only in a traffic jam would a flowery conversation emerge with the cab driver. A hard day of physical labour makes the bed so much softer. Being extra systematic declines us with the sweet pleasures of life. The sweet pleasures of the everyday and the familiar are much sought after rather than the luxuries of the unknown. There is a fun element associated with learning from own mistakes; humans are tuned in that way. The sweetness of the destination only depends on the nourishment of the journey. Journeys are all about new explorations and mobility is just a tool to achieve the same.

This tool has recently (or feels like since forever) shifted to a ‘sedentary lifestyle’. A sedentary lifestyle is the collaborative and undeniably undesirable outcome of a range of reasons. Productivity has produced a surplus of time, opportunities, and amenities. Instead of going to the library, one can now ‘Google it up’. This saved a lot of your time, but what was achieved in that extra time? Have our ideas, as a society, improved because we have more time to think about our work? Humans are thinkers. If productivity is hampering thinking, it is producing more undesired than useful outcomes. Our goal is not to make technology our master; that is not what evolution has taught us. If we make technology so fit that its survival will sustain beyond its maker’s, then that is not a future that humans see for themselves. We cannot deny the other causes of this ‘sedentary demon’. Since media culture is prevalent and almost a big chunk of it exists on technological mediums, youth is oblivious to the thinking that ‘It is not necessary for me to go out for a walk when I have my dose of entertainment / information on my lap’. The only criteria missing from this statement was interaction – but that has been more than taken care of by our worthy designers of today. There is a feeling of comfort in chatting for hours on social media, while that of discomfort when talking within a group face to face. We wanted comfort now so we designed systems which would lead us there and in the process, help us to gain more time in life. Even if productivity did create that surplus everything, it was the youth’s responsibility to make meaning out of it.

Time is another valuable notion in youth life. For pre-adolescents, it seems that there is a lot of time to achieve so live life slowly. For adults, life can end any moment so enjoy every little pleasure. But for youth, what needs to be achieved is now, in the present; the issue here is when combined with the contradiction of laziness, this achievement gets 10 times less plausible. The Indian culture practices the art of ‘karam’ and ‘dharam’. Is it possible that doing that for so many centuries has now left the youth with the notion that ‘We want the calm life now, we have worked and slaved ourselves through centuries and now is our time to rest’? Is there any justification for this statement? But well, there is no justification, other than a similar one, then for our caste reservation system. That is how India is working today. It wants to eat through their ancestors’ leftovers.

Is there an India where not being the slaves of their pasts or others’ past, EVERYBODY’S RESPONSIBILITY? Can we make a shift and say that BEING MOBILE IS WHAT’S NATURAL TO HUMANS? We got our independence from the foreign country’s rule some 70 years ago, and it took us 150 years to achieve it. When will the midnight speech towards being mobile happen? How do we, as today’s youth generation and today’s explorers, START AN IDEA TODAY to show that we have the power to BRING TOGETHER THE CONTRADICTORY?

Or could we also keep doing what we do best, use technology to its fittest, and see ourselves winning over it rather than the other way round? Just keep playing Pokemon Go, but take it to the next level and apply the similar motivations to everyday sedentary tasks.

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Abstraction in Cinema

An understanding of ‘Abstraction in Cinema’ based on the viewing of -

Father and Daughter -Michael Dudok de Wit

Mother and Son - Alexander Sokurov

A Turin Horse -Bela Tarr

The parent-child love is a comprehensively subtle emotion which needs no language to express. Many have tried and succeeded in this superlative task through their medium of choice. For example, consider Valmiki who based a whole epic of Ramayana on the premise of Shravan Kumar (a son) who was killed trying to get water for his ageing parents. Valmiki used writing as a medium to express his definition of a parent-child relationship. Jamini Roy does it with paintings. Her style is so minimalistic, but it still encompasses the bond that a mother has with her child. Probably since this relationship is so abstract, it is best to leave the major part to the grasping power of the actors in play. There are songs to express Yashoda’s concern towards Krishna and Krishna’s love towards Yashoda maiyya. All these examples speak of the interactions between and within a parent and their child. None of them have shown in a direct manner whether one entity loves or hates the other. It is the actions (in the case of Shravan Kumar), the colour palette (Jamini Roy), and the teasing (Krishna), which lures it out from all of us to find out what kind of bond is existent there. The feelings are non-superficial on the medium; the spectator has to really look for the hidden meanings in them which the creator intended. However, the best part of this relationship is that the deciphering completely lies in the mood of the spectator. There is a purpose with which the artist uses his or her mediums in a particular format, there is a set of principles used too, but the outcome that an individual witnesses, is far from the artists’ control. For example, in the movie ‘A Turin Horse’, there is not a single tell where the father shows affection towards the daughter. However, there was a constant hint of forced dependency between the two; even though the father was able of dressing himself, he let the daughter do it, just so they get some interaction in their mundane and hard life.

The medium of abstract cinema provides an interesting perspective on the parent-child love since here too, the feelings extracted from a shot or series of shots are left completely to the relational psychologies of the viewer. For me, a green scenery and hills are the connotations of hope and life. However, in the cinema ‘Mutter und Sohn’, even after so much hope in the heart of the son, the mother eventually passes away. There are quite a few suggestions where towards the end, there is a loss of longing, a sense that all that had to be achieved is achieved and it is now the moment to let go; to let go, not only of expectations, but also let go of the pain that the two of them shared for a long time. This pain was very artistically captured via the two moods in the cinema – the beautiful green scenery, versus the minimalistic and dull environment in the house. The physical pain of the mother and the emotional pain of the son was a good bonding catalyst for both of them. A similar notion is created in the cinema ‘Father and Daughter’ where the daughter yearns for a reunion of bonding even after death. In both the cinemas, lighting plays a major role in steering the emotions of the spectator in a particular direction. The happy emotions are well lit, whereas less lighting or dark lighting, or focused lighting give a notion that something sad is coming up. Same feelings are derived from the background score which uses the highs and lows of a note to produce cheerfulness and melancholy. This can be easily understood from the difference in background scores of the three movies – ‘Father and Daughter’ plays completely along a perfectly chosen background score, keeping the emotions active – ‘Mutter und Sohn’ displays background score in carefully selected areas, to enhance the emotion at that particular shot – ‘A Turin Horse’ has a somewhat constant flow of background score too, but the presence of it is mostly to elaborate the situation or the plot of the cinema.

In abstraction, the story line is very basic; the most fundamental of human values is tried to be portrayed. Due to this characteristic, much focus is given on the details of the parent-child relationship. The details are allowed to be enhanced to greater levels, such that they grasp the attention of the spectator and make them think of the relevance of the tiniest of things which are more than often overlooked otherwise. For example, in ‘The Turin Horse’, the window of the home is showcased repeatedly. The notion of this recurrent occurrence is probably related to the monotony of the family’s life; or also, in a modern thinkers’ way, to the hopes of a narrow possibility of entertainment (a television set). But only because of the simplicity of the fundamental emotion is this not-so-obvious fact given a place and a pause in the pursuit of encompassing such a delicate relationship.

However, I feel that at the end of it all, abstraction is all about the perception of the spectator. If one has a bad history with this relationship, the outcome of the cinema (or any other medium) will be sad; meaning that, however happy the mood is set by the artist, the spectator will be much prone to pinpoint the shots which carry the negative connotations. A similar thing will happen with another spectator, who might choose to see only the positives from the light, the background score, and the characters. An artist tries to depict his or her version of the parent-child relationship, and through the medium of cinema is trying to use motion – in picture, in sound, in light, in emotions – to the best of his or her control and understanding. As a spectator, I believe, abstraction may not be the best entertainment or the best visual, but it brings out the emotions that we humans are afraid to address.

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SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

1. A process that began by helping businesses optimize their products for the end-user experience, design thinking has more recently been adopted by NGOs and social enterprises as an effective way to address broad social issues. For example, Idiom, a design firm based in Bengaluru, developed through design thinking, a simple business model that not only ensured safe and affordable drinking water but also held the potential for financial returns, a requisite characteristic of any social enterprise that hopes to be sustainable and scale, according to Mathew. Spring Health would invest in the infrastructure to set up tanks at the kiosks of local entrepreneurs, with the entrepreneurs committing about one-fifth of the cost to ensure they have skin in the game. Customers would purchase the water from the kiosks directly, and revenues would be divided between the entrepreneur and Spring Health.

Is Spring Health an Innovation? That would depend on how one perceives it. Supplying water to the masses cannot be called an innovation, but at the same time, the way in which it was done was pretty innovative.

I was lucky enough to attend a talk about Spring Health. This session taught me how the design tools are used in practice in the real world. How they can give design solutions which help entrepreneurs develop their businesses. I got an interesting insight about how a brand resides in the customer’s mind. The perception of every individual customer towards the brand will be different. The strength of the brand then translates into the connect it can make with the masses. Even when all the tool have been used and systems have been set, the brand might miss ‘soul’. This soul is nothing but the intangible connect with the brand which later translates into a tangible service.

http://social.yourstory.com/2013/01/spring-health-how-design-thinking-brought-clean-water-to-rural-india/

2. A few one-liners/concepts that stand out for me: • Sanskritization • MNC's go to the Kumbha Mela • Bring Back The Simple Things In Life • Design According to the Need • Beliefs Feed Systems • The Concept of 'Food Miles' • And most important of all, 'India is a Very Funny Place!' IA talk with Srishti faculty, Lakshmi Murthy, was an eye-opener session in many ways; not only how I live my life taking things for granted, but also I need to evolve my design thinking. The world is a complicated place where each individual holds the right to say that his/her way is the correct way. Very little can be done to change this thinking, but whatever can be done should, at least, be tried. While fitting the design solution according to the context is important, equally important is changing it according to the target audience. What seems obvious to us is not necessarily understood by all. User research, user area research, user sensibilities, user understandings of the product, should all be kept in mind while designing solutions. To use and reuse and to use from the easily available raw materials is what spells out a good design for me. There is seldom a need to bring in developed and machined products when the same efficiency can be gained through the locally available goods- in turn, reducing the carbon footprint. Also, an interesting insight was about how visual communication has been instilled in the daily life of people since ages. For example, the different colors of a turban indicate hierarchy. It would be amusing to try and leverage these for future use.

What Lakshmi Murthy tried to do was use design thinking in a Non-Governmental Organization which tried to raise awareness in the rural parts of Rajasthan. She used visual communication in ways that were human-centered and culturally fit. For example, a pamphlet about menopause cannot be kept in the open where the kids or male members could put their hands on. The solution? A triangular fold which would easily fit in bras and was thus safe and accessible.

3. Talk with Arvind Venkatadri

Building libraries in rural areas by applying hub and spoke method was Arvind’s area of field. He worked with Akshara Foundation after he left a high paying job at a leading MNC.

The most important thing I learned was that whoever you are, wherever you might come from, whatever your field, you are still incomplete unless and until you are willing to work thoroughly in all fields. Whether connected to your line of experience or not. What counts is the motivaton and the dedication to carry out a certain task. While carrying out such tasks, the thing that helps most is to observe from ground zero and take up all possible problems and solve them as your own. Also, a system is a very complicated task and has various directions to work in. The balance of all the interplaying factors is a critical task to perform. The whole system needs to be properly designed and prototyped before it can actually be initiated. Of course, trials and errors are part and parcel of any new systems, but the point is how to improve them to facilitate the system's goal.

https://klp.org.in/

BUSINESS INNOVATION

1. Now take the example of Furlenco. Furlenco saw the gap in the furniture industry and used design thinking to fill that gap. All the proceedings of the profit are enjoyed by the owner who was able to raise a whopping Rs 38 Crore in series.

While focusing on profits, Furlenco also caters to in-house designers by giving them opportunities of work. Unlike Social innovation, this venture will be called a Business innovation with a social good.

2. By now it is clear that be it any system, small, big, in a village, guarded by an army etc. what matters is the proper mangement and design that makes it a success. Grouping and dividing into subsystems and then assigning the proper workforce to the microsystems is the crux of a successful system. The fact that product testing could last on demonstration for a whole year made me realize the depth of how difficult it is to achieve completion in the real world. Finally, the fact that an architect needs to study Bio waste which are two completely different fields, gave me the boost I needed to leap into whatever comes my way. Whichever field I belong to, I am now willing to take up all the dimensions that can be offered. This shows a window into Multidisciplinary Approach towards design, where not only business, design and technology are studied, but also the various branches within them.

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UNskilled? Workers

The word 'unskilled' is not my favorite because I believe no person comes without a skill on this Earth. However, a worker falls under the category of ‘unskilled’ when he has a low skill level or a limited economic value of the work he performs (www.investopedia.com).

It is quite an irony that when the talk of an unskilled worker came up, the engineers considered themselves in the same category. Whereas the truth is, the unskilled workers by definition, dream to become an engineer. Whichever worker it may be, the real problem in India is job opportunities. Every worker, whether skilled or unskilled, will feel happy if they get a well-paid job with reasonable working hours. It has been noticed that in India, people are welcomed from all different countries to come and work for the nation. Internal migration is also quiet prominent. But the obvious disadvantage surfaces much sooner than later. Places get crowded, slums come up, hygiene deteriorates, wages drop significantly et al. Even though the workforce is required, the chaos it creates is undesirable. What can be done in such situations? The start-up trend seems to not be of use to the unskilled workforce since the revenue generation is less and odd jobs can be done by self. This makes the unskilled workers helpless and creating new job opportunities for them seems like a big task. Maybe if the unskilled workers were given certification for their skills and thus better jobs, the standard of living would increase. Development planning for small villages can be done and jobs like common area cleaners, construction workers, fruit packing etc. can be provided.

Could design thinking solve their problems? Maybe at least minimize them? Hope being a designer would help achieve this dream...

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Art Thinking - Part 1 of 3

HOW TO LOOK AT TRANSPORT THROUGH THE LENS OF AN ALIEN...AND WHY?

A trip was planned via train to Nandi Hills for the purposes of gaining insights. A detailed report of the same--

                                    MY FIRST “TRAIN” RIDE

Being a ‘spoilt child’ and always been traveling by a car or a plane, made this journey in a train my very first one. It automatically gave me the perspective of an alien. Only difference being, I was familiar with the everyday practices of my own people or fellow aliens if I may call them. My journey through a train was both tiring and fulfilling; it was funny how it met some unexpected expectations, and some expected but unpleasant ones.

Cab Ride from Home to Yelahanka Railway Station Surprisingly enough, the cab driver located the home address without a single call. It was later revealed though that he lived just besides the given location. Nevertheless, good start towards a seemingly long day. But then the expected happened; the driver had forgotten to ‘start the ride’ on his smartphone. Things work out funny. The balance is always restored between seemingly good and bad news.

Ticket counter at Yelahanka Railway Station No queue of people at this point came as a shocker, what was heard from various experiences was not the scene today. One can buy a ticket from this station to the next, but not one to come back from there. Funny? Well, it was a divide and rule policy where half the population were agreed for a return ticket whereas the other chunk was let go with half a journey planned.

Yelahanka Railway Station Platform The funniest weather condition one could imagine. It had rained heavily the day before, but today, the sky is surprisingly clear, the sun shining bright in the open, while the coldest of winds blowing in the shadows. If you want an optimum temperature for your body, stand half-n-half. A new way of approaching a human need, which fundamentally rose from the lack of shelter/covering on the platform. Also, usually when I observe beggars, they follow a pattern of not accepting food as alms. But on the contrary, there was one here who was more than happy to eat the packet of chips and not clinch about getting food instead of cash. It is nice to see that when someone is feeling sad, known/unknown individuals always manage to come to the rescue in one way or the other. Whoever said humanity is lost, look around more closely.

Train Ride from Yelahanka to Devanahalli A clean train! When one is a true Indian at heart, he/she cannot withstand any clean surfaces; let alone a crowded vehicle carrying people of sorts as well as animals of most sorts. Interesting fact here was that the samosas which flew from the stalls at Rs 20 a piece just outside the station, transformed to “10 ka 2” inside the train.

Devanahalli Station The Devanahalli station made my interaction with the ‘cutest’ station master, who was strict, but in a funny way. How the transit is managed according to Indian Standard Time is a fact known to all and need not be mentioned. It’s a boon though. If the train wouldn’t have been late, we would never explore the scenic fort, and walk through monkey land. Journeys are all about new explorations. The transport is just a tool to achieve the same. Unforeseen stops, unknown turfs, tall tales and pre-wedding photo shoots are the things that should not be overlooked or underrated during a train ride is my note-to-self.

Train Ride from Devanahalli to Nandi Hill I could not find a reason as to why the same tracks and the same destinations would have a different type/model of the same kind (passenger) of train. Isn’t it cost incurring? But the observation worth mentioning was the view. The seemingly unending wineries, changing to bottle gourd, changing to bitter gourd finally creating a mesh of different combinations, making it hard to identify the individuality of the climbers. Later came in the vast spans of Nilgiri trees which were mesmerizing. It was pretty obvious by now that this was a route or a mode less traveled. What was its purpose then? Maybe it helped these farmers for their daily commute, maybe it is their only solace in a seemingly un-tarred agricultural land.

Nandi Hill Station The station kept on passing all the romantic vibes, as though the set of a Shahrukh Khan starrer. The change in the type of ticket was an indication of untouched development. Or maybe, this ecosystem was the most developed…what with its sustainable tickets, and its clean surroundings and its fresh and clean to breathe air. All that matters is the perception.

Well the official visit ended here, but it would be unfair if the remaining adventures won’t be described. The lesser walked path, the things people need to do to earn money…it is amazing how and where one can find an intervention, spot a need and make money out of it (the needy lady with the sick husband who, for a few rupees, was willing to lead the way from the station towards the village for us). Interestingly enough, I was called upon by a gentleman in this hill station, talking in my native language, asking whether I belonged to Maharashtra! Your roots are not only defined by what language you speak or which groups you join, there is a telepathic system which brings the long lost souls together. The Bhoga Nandeeshwara Temple, after which Nandi Hills has been named, proved how good things seldom go noticed. This marvel located right in the heart of the hill station is unknown to the masses. The vivid architecture, the various influences from various dynasties and different artists/sculptors, give the temple a charisma that cannot be explained through words. Sitting there near the pond, lost in your deeper than the pond thoughts, is the real purpose of a journey. The train ride back served the highlight of the journey, interaction wise. Talking to strangers, on a train, is not considered ‘unsafe’; rather, it is the need of the moment. It is something that can be counted under train politics. ‘where are you headed to?’ ‘what is the purpose of your visit?’ ‘are you a native of Bangalore?’ are all harmless and obvious questions. It starts getting interesting only after the person turns out to be a missionary trying to provide you with life’s answers. It gets even more interesting when he tries to do the same for a saffron lad sadhu sitting right in front. The conversations are striking. But it is like one of those movies, where the audience never knows who won. The most interesting interactive sessions between two God-send people, well, the ‘people’ might be the same but the God’s were definitely different, but no one would ever know the end of it…and that’s the beauty of a train ride; not everything is for a purpose.

Any journey always comes with part sorrows and part joys. The balance between them is all that has to be achieved and accounted for.

[whatdesignis]

Products, Services & Systems

SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES ACQUIRED After this learning unit, I have now a better idea of how PSS are interrelated and how each plays a major role for the other. I see the system as an umbrella governing products and services under it. The design tool that I practiced was service blueprint. Service blueprint is an operational planning tool used for service innovation.

Working with other talented minds on the same projects teaches a lot of values such as teamwork, resolving conflicts, and working overtime to complete projects. While working on various different assignments, I decided to push myself and do a little more than expected. That is when I finally got to know the basic functions of Photoshop.  This tool will certainly come in handy for me in the future.

I was once told by someone, ‘If u cannot use Photoshop or Illustrator, you are not worthy of calling yourself a designer!’

Looking at all the events around me with a different perspective is the most important thing I have achieved. Questioning ‘what-if’ to everything helps see everything with a new perspective. This also includes being able to ask questions in class, which I hesitated to do before.

[whatdesignis]

Design Approaches

REFLECTIONS FROM MASTER CLASSES These are the master classes that we attended as first-year master students: • Story of stuff: Cradle to Cradle vs Cradle to Grave – Increasing Consumerism • Titan: Tanishq Design Systems • Furlenco: Entrepreneurship • Means of communication: Systems prevailing in every ecosystem including wildlife, microorganisms, plants, etc. • Communication about rural difficulties: Hygiene awareness • Military: Architecture of research facility – Bio-Waste • Library: Libraries for government schools – System for Books • Open Systems – Let everything be! From the above mentioned 10 different master classes, I managed to imbibe 20 different approaches of design thinking and problem-solving. There was pulling off of my brain & ideas from every side every day. If one talked about sustainability and environment, another talked about research and development. The beauty of this is that I now get the opportunity to choose my very own method of working, or even create a new one, and take it forward to another level. What matters is being passionate about the choice that I have made. ‘Pick one and go forward with it’ was the synonymous reflection from all the classes.

[whatdesignis]

Open System

The 'open system' put forward by Deepta Sateesh, is something that I actually feel every day, but never thought about in this manner. Every day I say to myself that why am I looking for problems to solve when it is possible for me to get by. Is the ideal state the only good state?

Open System is about asking the question “HOW” rather than “WHY”. It is about letting things be and studying the causes rather than trying to change a situation to make it ‘better‘.

I am not exactly sure of what open systems are as of today, but one thing I know for sure is that I will go ahead to read more about this way of thinking and then try to come up with better insights.

[whatdesignis]

Consumerism

An eye-opener. Consumerism is exponentially gaining more and more importance. As a designer, is it my duty to really add to it? Or just leave it as it is? Or maybe, try and make changes, little steps, so that the same can be controlled. The biggest reflection it gave me on a personal note which I now plan to implement and preach is to get a coffee mug to avoid the use of the disposable cups in the canteen every day. Start small, achieve big.

The video link below is pretty self-explanatory about what impact consumerism has on the world, but from an American point of view. In India, consumerism is diverted to more of lust than limited to needs. People were having more kids but still  living in houses far smaller than we’re willing to settle for today  Now we want a room for every child, plus a living room, family room, media room, and kids’ playroom. And if we have to share a television, we are very uncomfortable with the idea.

Our consumption patterns are so much a part of our lives that to change them would require a massive cultural overhaul. In consumer society of today, people replace their goods with newer ones, use them and throw them away. The question of repair does not arise. People have money to purchase goods in plenty. In case, they do not do so, it leads to recession and massive unemployment.  The success of a consumer society has measured by the rate of   production, purchase and consumption. The society is considered to be progressing if all above elements are present there.

Something to really self-reflect upon...

Reference -

http://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-stuff/

[whatdesignis]

Corporate Designing

VISIT AT TITAN OFFICE (Yamalur) The feel of a corporate atmosphere was enthralling but at the same time, there was a visible freedom of navigation and work. The presentations by Titan’s design head gave insight into the intricacies of a design scenario where the designer is responsible, accountable, consulted with and informed about the whole spectrum of concept till it is used by the end user. Not only design and materials but also budgets and marketing have to be catered to.

The enterprise is best designed when looked upon as a system. to do this, a designer should adopt systems thinking which sees the enterprise of being a system comprising of multiple systems. A systems designer will be responsible for developng the conceptual schema and then external schemas according to varying users.

To understand the problem situation and scope the design problem, the design team needs to obtain information through data collection. The important tool after the data is collected is convergent thinking. It is unusual for a single person to design an enterprise instead it usually involves many people from different disciplines during all phases of the design project. The designer specifies workers for each activity who in turn place constraints on what the activity involves based on the skills required.

Looking at the internal working environment of an enterprise as big as Titan, gave a confidence of becoming a Designer.

Reference

Ronald E. Giachetti - Design of Enterprise Systems: Theory, Architecture and Methods

[whatdesignis]

Day 1 in a Design College

My first day at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology was an adventure in itself. The cab is going left, right, round, basically in all directions to finally reach upon the big white campus of N5. Then the navigation starts towards the big black gate i.e. my hostel. The very first day outside the comfort of home city sets things moving. Srishti depicts colour. It depicts openness. Openness of form, of shape, of attire, of speech, of most of all attributes that make up a human being or even a system. The aura here adheres to a making or a creating space. The stark difference of environments on the first two floors of the building compared to last two floors in the N5 campus is quite noticeable. There seems to be a flow of ideas coming in from each corner; none of these ideas are right or wrong; all they compromise of is a mere thought. Cleanliness is a trait which is mostly taken for granted by many. The cumulative thought of keeping surroundings clean is based on every individual’s own mindset. Right from the security towards the students and alumni, there is an order seen. This order helps to manage the whole system. The grievances and the commendations are programmed to be categorically reported. The various campuses are interlinked in various ways of functioning, dependencies and sociocultural means. These form a grid of possibilities and restrictions as well. The private details of the staff are tried to be kept private and a sense of friendliness prevails within all strata of the system. Students absorb as much knowledge as the surroundings provide them with, and then some more. Extra-curricular activities, basic skill lessons, self-initiated projects are all a critical part of the Srishti system.

After a few weeks of being in Srishti, values such as basic design approaches, forecasting techniques, user research, interaction design principles, typography basics, and some softwares have been inculcated in the masses. The assignments through which all these are taught are on a daily/weekly basis, and group/individual basis. These assignments are a practical mode as apart from a theoretical mode of learning approach. For any system to prevail and function smoothly, a great amount of communication is required. Srishti too provides this facility by means of an important entity- the canteen. The other modes of communication include the walls and the infamous entity, which we know as, ‘the blackboard’. The Blackboard is not ye old board, rather it is an online portal for submissions and deadlines. The canteen serves cooked fermented food dishes along with off the counter-ready to eat food items. The aura of the canteen seems welcoming. It gets regarded as the pivotal point of the system since the need of hunger, or most importantly, quick and easily accessible food, unites one and all alike.

Looking forward to a good time here...

[whatdesignis]

Why Branding?

The competition in the consumer market today is such that any enterprise will work only after they find a position in the market. The recognition of a brand has become much greater than the value of the product itself. It is all about how and when and where the product is being advertised. Advertising and marketing are the key concepts in a product life cycle that should start implementing right from the ideation part of the product/service. While designing the advertorial brief, market research is an important part which gives an insight into the requirements of the market. The psychology of the market is something that a brand needs to target. Saying the right things to the right person at the right time gets the bread home or more correctly, gets our bread in their fridge. Advertising and branding, though they are different concepts, go quite hand in hand. One cannot work without the other. If a good brand already has been established, it has to continue their good will through service of course, but also through clever advertising. An important point in advertising is the medium i.e. print media, visual media etc. Choosing the proper media is an art in itself. Before we go much into the advertising and branding step, we need to position the product/service in order for it to score high and emerge a success. Positioning is basically finding the gap in the existing market, where your product will get its true value. For example, if there are 10 brands providing similar features, I need to look out for a market where these features do not exist or are in lesser quantity. This gives the product a freedom to be the king in its kingdom, even if it’s a small kingdom. The following are some inputs from an excerpt of the book ‘Positioning’ by Al Ries and Jack Trout:

In our over communicated society, very little communication actually takes place. Rather, a company must create a "position" in the prospect's mind. A position that takes into consideration not only a company's own strengths and weaknesses, but those of its competitors as well. To be a leader, you have to be one first to get into the mind of the prospect. And then follow the strategies for staying there. What works for a leader doesn't necessarily work for a follower. The leader must find a "creneau" or hole in the mind not occupied by someone else. Repositioning the Competition- If there are no "creneaus" left, you have to create one by repositioning the competition. Tylenol, for example, re-positioned aspirin. The most important marketing decision you can make is what to name the product. The name alone has enormous power in an overcommunicated society. Today, communication itself is the problem. We have become the world's first overcommunicated society. Each year, we send more and receive less. Cosmetic changes are done for the purpose of securing a worthwhile position in the prospect's mind. The good old advertising days are gone forever and so are the words. Today you find comparatives, not superlatives. To be successful today, you must touch base with reality. And the reality that really counts is what's already in the prospect's mind. To be creative, to create something that doesn't already exist in the mind, is becoming more and more difficult, if not impossible. The basic approach of positioning is not to create something new and different. But to manipulate what's already up there in the mind. To retie the connections that already exist. Today's marketplace is no longer responsive to the strategies that worked in the past. There are just too many products, too many companies, and too much marketing noise. In our overcommunicated society, to talk about the impact of your advertising is to seriously overstate the potential effectiveness of your message. It's an egocentric view that bears no relationship to the realities of the marketplace. In the communication jungle out there, the only hope to score big is to be selective, to concentrate on narrow targets, to practice segmentation. The mind, as a defense against the volume of today's communications, screens and rejects much of the information offered in it. In general, the mind accepts only that which matches prior knowledge or experience. Once a mind is made up, it's almost impossible to change it, certainly not with a weak force like advertising. The average person can tolerate being told something which he or she knows nothing about (which is why "news" is an effective advertising approach). But the average person cannot tolerate being told he or she is wrong. Mind-changing is the road to advertising disaster. The best approach to take in our overcommunicated society is the oversimplified message. In communication, as in architecture, less is more. You have to sharpen your message to cut into the mind. You have to jettison the ambiguities, simplify the message, and then simplify it some more if you want to make a long-lasting impression. Truth is irrelevant. What matters are the perceptions that exist in the mind. In communication, more is less. Our extravagant use of communication to solve a host of business and social problems has so jammed our channels that only a tiny fraction of all messages actually get through. And not the most important ones either. Scientists have discovered that a person is capable of receiving only a limited amount of sensation. Beyond a certain point, the brain goes blank and refuses to function normally. Ironically, as the effectiveness of advertising goes down, the use of it goes up. Not just in volume, but in the number of users. In our overcommunicated society, the paradox is that nothing is more important than communication. With communication going for you, anything is possible. Without it, nothing is possible. No matter how talented and ambitious you may be. What's called luck is usually an outgrowth of successful communication. The chaos in the marketplace is a reflection of the fact that advertising just doesn't work the way it used to. But old traditional ways of doing things die hard.

[whatdesignis]

Prominence of Persona

How and Why should a designer be Non-Judgemental. My favourite designer characteristic so far. It taught me exactly what I needed to learn: as a designer and also as a life lesson. I was having some difficulty while understanding how to create Personas because my mind was hard wired to stereotype. Stereotyping has become so common in our society, that it no longer feels wrong. Branding an entity and listing out characteristic traits of an entity based on certain attributes are two very distinct approaches. Since this day, I have been actively concentrating on my thinking patterns and social behavioral patterns. Every action will have its own set of reactions which may or may not be positive. Mass customization is a phrase on which I will be wondering on for a while. Would like to know various opinions on the topic of mass customization...

[whatdesignis]

Trend Analyses - The Past

                                            ARCHITECTURE

Just during the onset of 1940s, Britishers had stopped major infrastructural developments, because they were unsure about their reign. Right after our Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to brand India. This idea led to the brief he gave to the French architect Le Corbusier for the planning of the city of Chandigarh. Many buildings such as the Assembly Building and, the High Court gained critical appreciation. After the partition of Punjab, in 1947 following the independence of India, the divided Punjab required a new capital as Lahore was now in Pakistan. Thus Le Corbusier was commissioned by first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru to build a new city of Chandigarh. The brief for the design was a city "unfettered by the traditions of the past, a symbol of the nation's faith in the future". Subsequently Corbusier and his team built not just large assembly, and high court building, but all major buildings in the city, and down to door handles in public offices. Today many of the building are recognized as modernist masterpieces. (www.wikipedia.org) The major influencers after the freedom struggle in India were industrialization, time consumption and cultures and traditions. Industrialization demanded a requirement of large populations fitted in confined spaces. This is where the concept of chawls came in. With industrialization also came inflation and  thus emerged the need of cost saving and land saving. But also, society wanted a change in linear thinking by breaking the paradigm to achieve something that was beyond what it is used to. The architect Hafeez Contractor came up with the concept of architecture as aesthetics rather than a need. The facade treatment on buildings was made famous by him. Beautification of simple and dull chawls was trending. In the last decade, more practical and function based solutions are coming into the architectural scene. Design for function is the accepted motto.Quick installations are becoming a need. Even then, the roots are being held. For example, Akshardham has a old world charm with most new age techniques used for its construction. Coming to today's scenario, the major influencer is the Internet and the ease of communication. Due to this phenomenon, it is becoming easier and easier to mimic the designs from far off places and also learn about technological advancements. India being a developing country, infrastructure development is a key stakeholder in the current scenario. Few Famous Indian Architects: • Louis Khan • Charles Corea • Achyut Kandive • Raj Rawal • Hafiz Contractor • Bal Krushna Joshi Most of them belong to western India or Delhi is due to the fact that the first course for architecture started in Mumbai at J J College of Arts. Thus Education System was a major stakeholder too!

The future is majorly dependent upon the analysis of the past. Forecasting can be achieved only after the past of the product is thoroughly studied.Design thinking gives forecasting a high importance, simply because, innovations can happen only after understanding the trends.