Chapter 1 from Kim Goodwin, Designing for Digital Age

This chapter gave an insightful viewpoint of the role(s) of design. I especially appreciate the point on how ‘no designer can determine exactly what experience someone has’. While we do design to achieve certain user experience as a projected outcome, we have to note that each person interprets designed experience and artifacts differently and may experience something different from what we, as designers, had set out to achieve. This was explained by Kim that each person brings her own attitudes, behaviors and perceptions to any situation; I feel that this is rather important concept that we have to be aware of, while designing.

The author mentioned a point that ‘some organisations may believe getting a best-guess product out the door is more important than taking the time to understand their users and customers in any depth, so there are ways to jump to design with little or no time spent on research’. I wonder about the extent of trade offs in such cases and how good research would value-add to the outcome, and how much the before-mentioned organisations would gain in the long run. If the long-term benefits outweigh the immediate returns, how and what can we as designers propose to these clients/ management?

Are there examples of optimal design teams that are small but has frequent contact with members of a larger design team? The way they work and collaborate with one another might give us a more concrete understanding on how these teams deliver effectively and efficiently.