Thoughtful Interaction Design by Jonas Löwgren and Erik Stolterman
Chapter 1

The article talks about the design process and how we as designers, should be aware that it is a constant ongoing process that is affected by the forever-changing and growing new understandings of the problem (situation). The article talks about design having different approaches in solving these “problems”. Firstly, design is an ethical activity that is strongly influenced by values and ideals, be it of the designer or the target audience. An example that I can think of is the creation of Singapore Airline’s batik patterned sarong kebaya stewardess uniform being strongly shaped by Singapore’s conservative values. This is manifested in the long skirts and ¾ blouse sleeves. Overall, the whole Singapore Girl is branded as and engendering “Asian values and hospitality”.

Secondly, the article describes design as being an aesthetic activity whose artefacts influence our lives by their form and the way we experience them in use. This reminds me of Engineering Psychology which is a field of psychology that concentrates on the relationship between humans and the products we use every day. One other aspect that engineering psychology covers that is not apparent in the article’s description and discussion of aesthetics, is the emotional response that an object can garner in the user. Humans are very emotional and feeling-oriented beings. We are heavily affected by the way things make us feel and hence we make decisions or habits around these objects. The design process should be keenly aware of this as well.

Thirdly, design is said to be a political and ideological activity. I was very confused by this statement for a while. I started to think of real-world examples to comprehend what the statement means. I managed to come up with two. China’s Social Credit System 社会信用体系 is a mass surveillance system using big data analysis technology which is inline with its relatively authoritarian and anti-liberty stance. Basically, how it works is that if you do good, your actions will be captured and you gain more points. If you do bad or undesirable actions (deemed so by the state), you get points deducted. If your total points are below a certain number, you are blacklisted. This means you would be refused when you try to buy plane tickets, among other things. Another instance of politically and ideologically driven design would be Singapore government websites. They are always in English. You would be lucky to find one that has immediate Chinese translations and even luckier if there are Malay or Tamil translations (this disregards the user’s ability to turn on Google translate). This is deliberately done so to promote and align to Singapore government’s stance of English as a universal and unifying language in Singapore.

Lastly, the article emphasizes that design can incorporate any of the above qualities AND it includes responsibility. As designers, we need to take ownership and responsibility of the designs we come up with. As Uncle Ben in Spiderman puts it, “with great power comes great responsibility”. Taking ownership of the work ensures that we are accountable, and it pushes us to be better designers (in terms of produced end products and humans).

 

At the end of the day, the subchapter seems to hint that the final design may be important, however, the process and the designers’ approach to understanding the different problems (and even situations whereby solutions lead to new and more problems) and navigating through the ever-changing landscape is equally, if not more important. There is no clear right or wrong way either.

 

In the next subchapter, it asserts that design forces us to challenge the present and makes us think about the basic conditions of society. I find this very true, as good design should be thoughtful towards the needs of the society. The article points out that design is driven by a will for change. Yet, “almost any attempt to make a change will face some kind of resistance. This means that the person pushing for change must be brave and prepared to take on the resistance in a suitable way.” I feel that this is a very important point. Often times, we get too complacent or comfortable with the status quo. This includes myself. I think a very good example to illustrate a desire to improve and enhance a design for the different needs of society would be the humble scissors, or specifically Fiskars’ scissors. They produce scissors for lefties, scissors for fabric cutting such that it doesn’t cause the cloth to tent when doing so, differently lopped scissors for the elderly and young people, etc. This is done through understanding the needs and abilities of the people they are designing for. (You can read more here: https://www.fastcompany.com/3040816/48-years-later-this-is-how-fiskars-keeps-improving-on-its-classic-orang)

 

In response to the article, I find that Laurent Mareschal’s artworks reflects the concepts in the reading. His work can be seen as an ideological work. He incorporates the Islamic decorative patterns such as geometry and flowery patterns in his tile designs. His work is site specific, taking in the cultures of the area and representing it through his choices of spices in creating the tile patterns. Mareschal does not protect his works with a border. People often think that it is a real floor tile and trample over it. Sometimes the people realize that it’s actually spices and that they have just messed up the work, while others don’t. Hence his work is ephemeral, fading away with time. His art practice has grown in terms of him as an artist better understanding the human interaction with his work. The audience’s lack of awareness of their surroundings and their nonchalant actions have caused a “disruption” in their environment. It can also be seen as a social commentary (design as a political activity) about the impermanence of the Palestinian lives in Israel. By exhibiting it in a public space, he wants to draw parallels to the hardships that the Palestinians face. I really love his installation work. I find it to be quite an experiential experience where you can smell the spices and see the beautiful tile designs. I find it interesting how the design process in this work seems to be ever changing. Every time someone walks onto and disrupts the spice design, it becomes a new “problem”.

 

I would like to end off the reflection with a quote from the article, “To be a designer does not mean that you have to get rid of all obstacles. The real task for the designer is to develop something of lasting quality in the most suitable and creative way given the existing conditions.”