design thinking 01

8/8/2019 Design Thinking 01

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Nick Clarke

Lecturer in Digital Media Design

The University of Manchester

Faculty of Engineering and Science

School of Materials

Design Thinking 1: Lecture 2

Design Space, Synectics, Morphological charts,


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Design space

what is it?

complex and large design spaces

expanding and limiting the design space

Design by accident

Synectics

making the familiar strange

making the strange familiar

Analogies

direct, fantasy, personal, symbolic, biological

Morphological charts

Prototypes and proof of conceptExercise


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Introduction to Synthesis

Synthesis: the putting together of parts or elements so as to

make up a complex whole (Oxford English Dictionary)

So far we have been systematically building up towards a design

solution

we worked out what the design should do

we clarified our objectives and added constraints

we refined the problem statement and structured the problem

Now we are seeking to combine the various elements into a

selection of complete and potentially workable solutions

the selection between these potential solutions will occur in the analysis

phase


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Design Space

What is design space?

it is a mental framework encompassing all the potential solutions to a

design problem

the concept of space is useful because it conveys the idea of freedom to

movement

Hence, a large design space has many potential solutions or

many parameters, and may be difficult to navigatee.g. a Boeing 747 has approximately 6 million parts

A small design space is highly constrained, with minimal

freedom of movement

e.g. the design of an image sensor pixel


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Complex design spaces

A design space can be complex, even if is not large

Complexity can result from the interdependency of even a few

parameters

especially if some of the dependencies are very sensitive to each other

or if precise conditions cannot be known

hence the system is hard to optimise

Complex design spaces by decomposition

by subdividing the design problem into manageable units

A new design technique

the morphological chart which can help us to

decompose the overall design problem into sub-problems

identify a means to solve each sub-problem within the design

synthesise the parts back into a coherent design whole


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Expanding the design space

When we talked about creative thinking, we were effectively

developing techniques for expanding the design space

Using existing information

benchmarking competitors products

reverse engineering products

Patents

Design team activities

brainstorming

convergent and divergent thinking (explorer and detective)

statement restatement

In the same way we had metaphors for thinking explorer,

engineer, artist, judge etc we can have metaphors for ways to

expand the design space


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Synectics

A method of problem-solving, esp. by groups, which seeks to

illuminate and utilize the factors involved in creative thinking(OED)

it is designed as an aid to overcoming the barriers to creativity

The principal exponent of synectics is W.J.J. Gordon

Synectics: the Development if Creative Capacity, W.J.J. Gordon, Harper

& Row 1961 (YUL BF 408 G64)

Synectic theory is based on three assumptions

creative efficiency in people can be markedly increased if they

understand the psychological process by which they operate

in creative processes, the emotional component is more important than

the intellectual, the irrational more important than the rational

it is these emotional, irrational elements which can and must be

understood in order to increase the probability of success in a problem-

solving situation


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Synectics aims to promote creative thinking by two principal

techniques

making the strange familiar

making the familiar strange

The root of this idea is the recognition that creative thinking is

impaired in two potential ways

the problem is so far beyond our everyday experience that we cannotimagine how it could be solved

or that the situation is so familiar that we cannot conceive of a better

way of solving the problem, e.g. a paperclip

see Henry Petroski, The Evolution of Useful things (1992); ISBN

0679740392 (a history of the evolution of paper clip design)


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Making the Strange Familiar

The mind tends to analyse a new situation by forcing the

problem to fit existing preconceptions

the strangeness is compared with data previously known to eliminate

as much of the strangeness as possible

this is the whole point of the paradigm and the paradigm shift

it is a reflection of the fact that human thought tends to be conservative

In design terms, one obstacle in this process is the quantity ofanalysis required for the translation

Equally, translating everything to the mundane also risks

losing the innovation inherent in the strange idea


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Making the Familiar Strange

Genius . . . means little more than the faculty of perceiving in

an unhabitual way William James, The Principles of Psychology 1890 VOl1/2

This action is very tough to perform because strangeness and

uncertainty are uncomfortable

To overcome this, synectics makes extensive use of analogies

personal analogy

direct analogy

symbolic analogy

fantasy analogy


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Analogies

In the early 1940's, Swiss inventor George de Mestral went on a walk in the Alps

with his dog... Upon his return home, he noticed that his dog's coat and his

pants were covered with seed pod burrs . His inventor's curiosity led him tostudy the burrs under their natural hook-like shape.

This was to become the basis for a unique, two-sided fastener - one side with

stiff "hooks" like the burrs and the other side with the soft "loops" like the fabric

of his pants.

De Mestral named his invention "VELCRO" after the French words velours,

meaning 'velvet', and crochet, meaning 'hook'.


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Direct Analogy

Analogy:

inference that if two or more things agree with one another in some

respects they will probably agree in others

resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike

The direct analogy makes links between the present problem and

similar problems that have already been solved

Sun Tzus The Art of War is used for business strategyLego is analogous to real building bricks

rip-stop fabrics are derived from parachutes

to miniaturise an MP3 player, see how digital cameras are miniaturised

if you want to make a lightweight, strong laptop, look to see how other

light and strong objects are made (e.g. planes)


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Fantasy Analogy

Fantasy in this case is interpreted as beyond belief

Many of todays commonplace technologies were imagined by

earlier science fiction/fantasy writers

escalator moving staircases (Arthur C. Clarke)

the laws of robotics (Isaac Asimov)

submarines (Jules Verne)

Fantasy analogies can be used to remove a block in the design

process

imagine the solution to this exists, and lets carry on

Or can be used to approach a practical solution from the reverse

When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion

that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract,

positive thinking. Albert Einstein

solution fantasy analogydirect analogy


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Symbolic Analogy

The symbolic analogy sums up the objective in a way that is not

technically accurate but captures the essence of the situationwe want a car that moves like greased lightning

a seal that is tighter than a clam shell

a solution that is outside the box

a basketball shoe that sticks to the floor like glue

Many of these subconscious similes can suggest ways in whichthe problem can actually be solved

This can also involve pictorial thinking

e.g. imagining electrons in an atom to orbit the nucleus like planets

around a sun

electrons in a semiconductor to act like balls


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Bionics Biological Analogies

In many situations, particularly withinindustrial design nature has solved the

problem already

Velcro being a good example

animal backbones are similar to bridges

bamboo is similar to (and in some

countries used for) scaffolding

tubes are used for mechanical stiffness in

many applications e.g. truck crank shaft,

spider legs, many plants, pipes, bones

artificial neural networks are based on

models of the brain radar and sonar are similar to the echo

location of bats, whales and other sea

mammals


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Checklisting

Asking the appropriate questions can often hasten the

determination of a solution

Checklisting is one approach to this which combines elements of

Kepner-Tregoe and statement re-statement

what is wrong with it?

what doesnt it do?

what is similar to it?

why is it necessary?

what can be eliminated?

how can its assembly be improved?

what new materials could be used?

in what way is it costly? are there any other applications?

in what way is it inefficient?

can it be improved ergonomically?


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Limiting the Design Space

All the previous examples were intended to expand the design

spacebut instead we sometimes need to limit the design space so we can reach

a manageable solution

Here we can use some of the tools already introduced for

structuring the search for a solution

general constraints (safety etc) objectives and specific constraints (design goals)

order and structure our objectives (trees and Kepner-Tregoe)

eliminate impossible solutions


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Morphological Charts

Morphological charts are a widely used technique for getting an

idea of the size of the design space and for synthesisingpartial solutions to the problem

morphology is the study of structure or form (Webster)

again, the start of the process is similar to the objectives tree, except

we are primarily interested in features and functions rather than

objectivesThe morph chart is a means to select ideas that really work

The list of functions and/or features should be at the same level

of detail in the objectives tree

and now we include all the possible ways of achieving these

functions/features


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Beverage Container Objectives Tree

Features and functions of the

container might include contain beverage

material for container

access to juice

display product information

sequence manufacture of juiceand container

These are identified with the

general objective to promote

sales

How might we implement eachitem on the list?

C.L. Dym & P. Little, "Engineering Design: A Project-Based

Approach", Wiley, 2000


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Contain beverage can, bottle, bag, box

Material for container aluminium, plastic, glass, waxed

cardboard, lined cardboard, Mylar filmProvide access to juice pull-tab, inserted straw, pop-up straw,

twist-top, tear corner, unfold

container, zipper

Display product information shape of container, labels, colour of

material

Sequence of manufacture serial, concurrent

Implementation


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Beverage Container Morph Chart

The morph chart shows this information in a visually useful way

All we need to do is choose one option (1,2,3 ) for each feature, as

above

1 2 3 4 5 6

Contain beverage can bottle bag box

Material forcontainer aluminium plastic glass waxedcard linedcard mylar

Provide access to

juicepull tab

inserted

straw

twist

top

tear

cornerunfold zipper

Display product

informationshape labels colour

Sequence of

manufactureconcurrent serial

means

feature/function


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Design Space and Morph Charts

How many potential design options are there?

4 x 6 x 6 x 3 x 2 =864!

Of course, not all of these 864 solutions are feasible

e.g. glass can with a tear-off corner

Hence the morph chart can be used to highlight impossible

solutions and hence to limit the design space

constraints etc. can also be employed in the same way

also incompatible pairs can be eliminated (e.g. card and zipper)

this is effectively the activity of synthesis

Note that the functions and features were all identified with a

fairly high (less detailed) level in the objectives tree

means of achieving shock and temperature resistance would beincluded on a separate morph chart because they were considered to

be at much more detailed


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Prototypes

The next stage of the design process might be to build a

prototype of the outcome of the morph chartor to perform modelling or simulation of several of the options

A prototype is a working example of the finished design, or part

of a design

it should resemble the final design as far as possible in its functioning

although the method of manufacture may be different (e.g. individuallycrafted rather than moulded or stamped hand produced instead of

mass-produced)

Extensive testing of the prototype identifies behaviours that were

not anticipated in the original design and provides an

opportunity to fix themprototypes may also be used to obtain data for improved modelling theoryand simulation

Pre-production models (equivalents of beta versions of software)

may also be tested on eventual users of the product


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Proof of Concept

Proofs of concept are similar to prototypes but are usually closer

to the R end of R&D

They are typically versions of a final object that are restricted in

some way

they are used to prove that an idea works and is worth exploring further

the idea should, in principle at least, be expandable or scaleable to the

final objectFor example

Marconis first transatlantic radio transmission

Bells first telephone call

Bardeen, Brattain, and Shockleys first transistor


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Summary

In this lecturer, we have explored the concept of design space

and how synthesis fits within the design process

We looked again at how the design space could be expanded to

increase the number of new design options

synectics is one technique for expanding the design space

we also considered analogies as a means to understand and solve

problemsMorphological charts provide a good way to reorganise design

possibilities

to help identify new combinations and to eliminate impossible

combinations

Prototypes and proofs of concept are often essential ways ofdemonstrating and evaluating new designs


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Exercise Forklift Truck

Use the morphological chart technique to design a forklift

truck used for lifting and carrying heavy loads in factories and warehouses

design thinking 01

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