The Design Cycle, Brainstorming

From IEOR 170 Spring 2007

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Lecture on 1/22/2007, slides.

Required Readings


Useful Resources (not required)

Discussions

Please post your critiques/commments on the required readings below. To do that, first login by using your user name and password, then click the "edit" tab on the top part of this page (between the "discussion" page and the "history" page), New to wikis? Read the Wiki editing guide. . Hint - Please put a whole line == ~~~~ == at the beginning of your submitted critique, so the wiki system will index, sign and date your submission automatically.


Note : critiques on readings in lecture 1 (Link) are required, due 11:59PM 1/26/2007

Note : critiques on readings in lecture 2 (listed on this page) are required, due 4:59PM 1/22/2007


Contents

[edit] Onyi Lam 17:44, 17 January 2007 (PST)

The nine steps listed in the article provides a general framework on any design projects. Not only do you have to know your customers and their demand, as a designer, you also have to design a product that is most convinent to the users. One thing that I found interesting in this article is that it actually promotes "plagiarizing" existing interfaces in the sense that it may be more effective in designing your product. But tI would like the author of this article to discuss more about is the collaboration between the design team members: how industrial desingers interact with engineers and who is reponsible for what. It is something that I would like to learn more about

This article reminds us how important it is to have regular brainstorming session to foster idea generations. It provides us with some guideline to faciliate a great brainstorming sessions and something that we should not do during a brainstorming session. One thing I found very true is that it is essential to develop a good problem statement up front and structure your ideas around it. The problem statment should be an open-ended topic that will not presume the answer already and will not eliminate possible solutions. The other thing that I agree is that we should always establish a playful atmosphere and always encourage different and wild ideas. Don't critize others ideas right away. But it's also important to organize your ideas in such a way that a flow can be developed.

[edit] Asmita Karandikar 18:25, 20 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process"

This article gave a brief overview of the process required for task-centered design. I liked this article because the authors do a nice job of breaking down the process into eleven steps. At the same time, they clearly explain why each step is a necessary part of the design process. I think this is helpful because it allowed me to gain a better understanding of why each step is required. However, I think it would have been nice if the authors had included a simple example at the end of the chapter of designing a system where this process was used, and the results of each step of the process. This would have allowed the reader to see how this task-centered design process was used in a real-world application.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

This article discussed ways for organizations to do better brainstorming, and what common pitfalls to avoid. I feel that the article was nicely written in a way that made it easy and interesting to read. After reading this article, I realized that brainstorms that I have participated in were not using many of the “Seven Secrets to Better Brainstorming.” In fact, we had actually used more of the scenarios presented in “Six Ways to Kill a Brainstorm,” such as having the leader speak first, and making everybody take turns in presenting ideas. I thought that the example where the group that visited the toy store performed the best was very interesting because I had not originally thought that something such as that would make a difference in the way that people brainstormed.

[edit] Patrick Liu 20:06, 20 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process"

It seems to me that the “task-centered design process” is very similar to the steps required for programming a major program. When programming a program, I have to initially figure out what the program is going to be used for and right down all the required tasks that the program must fulfill. After getting a general idea of how I should design the program I write the program and constantly check the usability of the program and altering as I find problems. I understand the task-centered design process because it seems very logical to me. First we figure out who will be using the designed product, what kind of tasks they will be implementing with the designed product, work with the users to help improve the design of the product, and constantly improve the product until ideally the product is flawless.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

I found this article to be very interesting, insightful, and true. It seems to me that many people claim to know how to do something when they really have the wrong approach and do not do it right. This article points out very good examples of the differences of good and bad brainstormers. First off, “a brainstormer without a clear problem statement is like a company without a clear strategy.” This statement cannot be truer. The problem should be stated initially and ideas for the solution should be given. Everyone participating in the brainstormer should be conducive and give insightful feedback. It is good to have tangible materials to express ones opinions and solutions. I agree with many of the “secrets of a perfect brainstormer” the article mentions, but what I find even more true are the six ways to kill a brainstormer. What better way to have a successful brainstormer than to prevent it from dieing.

[edit] Marshall Anderson 20:12, 20 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process"

This article was informative and straight to the point. It was easy to follow and the focus on user interfaces is something I have not seen before. I especially like the idea of the "cognitive walk-through" for each of the tasks. I have done this in past projects and it has helped me see what the user will see. I both liked and disliked the article because of the fact that it is based on software design. Being a mechanical engineer it was both fun and frustrating to think about how it applies to me.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

This article is great! I am defiantly going to keep this for future use. I have been to a not so successful brainstorming session in industry and I agree with the basic seven rules to a successful session. I find that a good leader is needed in brainstorming. This leader knows when it is time to "build or jump" but also keeps the group somewhat on track without limiting where the session is going. One way to do a good mental warm up is to allow each of the team members to brainstorm individually for a while before bringing the group together. This gives the group many more starting points to build off of.

[edit] Brian Loo 12:55, 21 January 2007 (PST)

“The Task-Centered Design Process”

This article highlights the main ideas and process of designing. For each step of the design process, it breaks down the importance of the step and occasionally gives a general example to show practical application of the step. Overall, this article is a good resource as it straight to the point and simplifies the process to 11 key issues. The step that was most intriguing was plagiarizing. In this step it discusses the idea of building on top of what already exist instead of re-inventing the wheel. This concept is a great point, but it leaves little room for innovation and creativity that the article doesn’t discuss much of. Furthermore, the article missed on choosing one example and tracing it through it’s design process. I feel this would connect each step better and give an overall concrete example of designing for the readers.

“The Perfect Brainstorm”

This article discusses the importance of brainstorming. It describes approaches on to having a positive, helpful, and innovative brainstorming session but also how one can make a brainstorm counterproductive. This article was very well written and intriguing as it highlights many good points that many people overlook for a brainstorm session. This article really made me think how companies and organizations always say to think outside the box and be innovative or creative, yet they fall into the traps of killing a brainstorming session that prevents this. The trait I thought that was most important for a brainstorming session is the idea of having a fun and happy environment to allow creativity, which is very true and seen in many successful companies like Google and the Walt Disney Company.

[edit] Rey Doctora 15:30, 21 January 2007 (PST)

“The Task-Centered Design Process” This article was very straightforward and provided a logical framework on how to design systems with a task-centered mindset. I liked how the article methodically approached the issue of design beginning with the users, stressing how important it is to understand who they are and where they come from, and ultimately stressing continuous improvement in systems design (or “kaizen” in industrial engineering terms). Although the article focused on software design in particular, I feel that the same concepts can be extended to other industries. There will always be a client to satisfy, and the basics of working with the client, understanding tasks, creating an acceptable product, and constantly re-engineering are applicable elsewhere.


“The Perfect Brainstorm” I liked this article because it approached brainstorming from two directions: how to foster it and how to kill it. The article stressed creative thinking during brainstorming sessions and how organizations should not limit themselves in certain ways, such as by only inviting experts into brainstorming sessions. I especially agree with the article’s claims on creating a fun environment during brainstorming sessions and opening up the sessions to a diverse group of individuals who are not necessarily experts in only one certain field. Through fun environments, people can be elevated in energy and thereby contribute more to the session; through a diverse group of individuals, the ideas proposed can be far more reaching since the people involved come from a wide array of backgrounds.


[edit] Monica Tanza 17:38, 21 January 2007 (PST)

“The Task-Centered Design Process” This article presented a broad approach to design that can be applied for many applications, not just user interface. One thing that stood out to me in the plagiarizing section was the statement that urged sticking to what users are use to rather than the more efficient method. I do not completely agree because while I think that design should fit the users, there needs to be some innovation and change and I believe these changes should make old methods more efficient and easier to use. Something that I had never considered was how you must be aware during the iteration stage that changing one thing to be better might have adverse effects toward another task. I found this to be true and an important thing to keep in mind.

“Art of Innovation” I really enjoyed these suggestions for improvement to brainstorming sessions. While I thought all points were useful, the most interesting point was the first one on sharpening the focus. I liked how Kelley suggested that rather than focusing on coming up design ideas for a specific product, brainstormers should focus on solving a design problem. This shift of focus allows brainstormers to better assess what design solutions have the most benefit to society and the users. This will certainly lead to more innovative designs.

[edit] Andrew Prasetyo 7:48 PM, 21 January 2007 (PST)

“Task-Centered User Design Process” The article provides readers with basic knowledge/steps required to design a new product. This article encourages designers to emphasize design on the users instead of the feature of the products. This is very true in the real-world sense because a feature of a product is meaningless if the user cannot use it. Despite all of its interesting contents, the article lacks of details, and most of the details are referred back to a book. It would be interesting if we can learn more about these designing steps.

“Brainstorming” This is an interesting article about brainstorming, which is often overlooked. It is basically about the “art” of brainstorming. Upon reading the article, I realize that some of the methods I have been using to brainstorm are not right. I agree with the article that a brainstorming session should encourage “wild” but realistic ideas. However, I disagree with the author’s perception of a leader/boss. I believe that leader is still needed in a brainstorming session to keep the session on-track and to encourage ideas from others though it is true that a boss may give some limitation to the session.

[edit] Timothy Manglicmot 20:21, 21 January 2007 (PST)

[edit] Task Centered Design Process

This chapter gives a great summary on how to design a process for the user rather than the designer. Many processes force the user to adapt to the way a product is designed; rather, by forcing the designer to adapt to the user a process can be much more user-friendly and more enjoyable to use. The task-centered design process intuitively offers seemingly a good approach to design, however, without any concrete examples it is difficult for to immediately adopt the process.

[edit] The Perfect Brainstorm

This article offers a fascinating way to brainstorm. Before reading this article I never though about the process of brainstorming, however, all of the ideas presented make a lot of sense toward coming up with the final goal. At my company often times we are tasked with brainstorming the solution to a problem but several of the pitfalls mentioned in the article occur. I think the ideas discussed here are a valuable framework for managers or anyone holding a meeting on how to spark creativity and come up with a good, viable solution in a timely manner.


[edit] Patricia Wang 20:50, 21 January 2007 (PST)

“The Task-Centered Design Process” The article overviews the steps one takes in a design process, in this case, of an interface. It places focus on the user, basing the design’s tasks on specific user requests and even holding user comfort over the efficiency of the design. Another highlight of the article is the importance of building an interface for change. By designing with flexibility in mind, an interface can keep up with the ephemeral nature of technology. What I found most interesting was the use of task times, keystrokes, and number of potential mistakes to quantify program efficacy. Management can use such a metric to balance the costs and benefits of further improvements and set standards of usability.


“The Perfect Brainstorm” This article discusses different methods for cultivating a productive brainstorming session. All the seven secrets as well as the six things to avoid would definitely be beneficial in practice, but I found the first two to be especially helpful. I definitely agree that an open atmosphere is central to brainstorming, especially since critiquing and debating ideas early on can really stiffen the flow of a session. To balance that flow of creativity, I feel that spending the time to develop a problem statement is just as important in order to bring focus to the group. I think such problem statement can be particularly useful for the beginnings of brainstorming sessions, which in my experience have been the most difficult part.


[edit] Michael Toulouse 21:00, 21 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process"

This article is a ogical, thoroughly explained list of the design process for a UI (user interface). Not every part is broadly relevant, as the article seems to focus on software UI's, but most of looks useful for any design situation. It seems at times like a kind of "scientific method" for design where you form a question (define use)and a hypothesis (prototype) and experiment (test it), except instead of natural physical laws we're trying to find what makes users happy. It's also important in that it reminds us that even if a product's inner workings are truly elegant and genius, if it doesnt appeal to the user, it's a failure.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

This article was less of an ordered to-do list and had more "things to remember". It was also a far more interesting read because of the often entertaining anecdotes. Still, it felt somewhat apocryphal at times, with the author relying on unscientific studies as evidence, but that fact was still acknowledged. Sensibly, the article seemed to focus more on working around human foibles and roadblocks to creativity, and leading a group in its free thinking without stifling new ideas. I felt that the section of things to avoid towards the end were especially important, as I recognize some of my own mistakes within them.

[edit] Michael Lovejoy 21:31, 21 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process"

This excerpt provides a very succinct and general overview of the design process. It emphasizes designing for a user and testing the prototype with those users before building the final product. The author also stresses the important fact that the designer alone will not be able to envision every problem with the product, so it is critical to have as many other people (experts, potential users, etc.) see the design concepts and prototypes. However, I believe the users should also play some direct role earlier in the actual design process. The author brings their opinions into the design process only after a prototype has been developed. I feel that it would benefit the process to have focus groups of users look at the rough design. They can offer feedback earlier in the design process, which would reduce the need to go back and change the design. Getting more eyes on the ideas earlier can only improve the process. However, I think that this passage provides a very good general outline of the design process.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

I did not like this article. It seemed like an advertisement for the author’s services – so it really didn’t say that much that applied to me as a college student. Ideas such as daily brainstorming would be pointless, but more importantly, the article never really explained what brainstorming is supposed to accomplish or what circumstances warrant it. I only have my limited experience to tell me that – I would brainstorm with a small group to decide what direction our class project should take. However, this article doesn’t really address how to accomplish that task. Nothing in the article seemed worth consciously keeping in mind during our own brainstorming sessions (coming up with one hundred ideas seems unreasonable), but one point did stand out. The author mentioned that it is easy to get off topic, which I have found occurs often. The only solution presented however, is to have an experienced facilitator “nurture an emerging conversation with a light touch in the first phase and know enough to let ideas flow during the steep part of the ideation curve.” This is hardly reasonable for us college students.

[edit] Alec Berg 22:23, 21 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process" - This article was very well written. It is clear and to the point. Furthermore, it is nicely broken down into 11 easy to understand steps. The steps are written with software engineering in mind, but I think all the steps can easily be extended to designing anything. One thing that I had never really thought of was the section about sticking to what the users are used to. I know in the past I have designed things by attempting to make the process fast and efficient for users, but I never really thought maybe I should sacrifice efficiency for user ease and recognition.

"The Perfect Brainstorm" - This was an extremely good article. I was very impressed by how much I learned that I never knew before and how much sense it made. The article was very easy to read and had a lot of good examples. Brainstorming is an important part of the design process and I don’t think I really understood what brainstorming was until I read this article. I want to sit in on one of these brainstorming sessions at IDEO, it sounds like it would be a lot of fun.

[edit] HAK-SEUNG KIM 22:31, 21 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process" This article gives us a clear steps of the task-centerd design process. It also gives some ideas to the beginner of design like us. One thing I am not quite sure is plagiarizm. The author explains broad advantages of plagiarizm. However, I need more understanding how the plagiarizm works for the task-centered design process.

"The Perfect Brainstorm" It is useful book not only for the designers but for everyone. I think this is a good habit for the life. I also strongly agree with the the last page section, "write everything down." Even though we have many brillient ideas, we might easy to forget without a writing down.

[edit] Connie 22:44, 21 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process" I especially liked the section titled "plagarize" because it is very true. Take aspects of a design that are known to work. Sometimes, even though a new product can be designed to be superior, it will not necessarily be accepted by consumers. A good example of this is QWERTY versus DVORAK keyboard layout. QWERTY was designed because people were typing too fast on typwriters and it would constantly be jammed. Since then, computers (which have no problem with jamming) has widely adopted this style keyboard because it is so well known. DVORAK was created to eliminate the problems of inefficiencies used in the QWERTY method but has not been able to replace the commonly used QWERTY keyboard layout.

"The Perfect Brainstorm" I found the reading to be very useful. Brainstorming is an effective way to make progress with something without it being restricted to practicality, plus it sounds like it should be a lot of fun. It is a team building, spirit boosting, and innovative driven event. I especially like how simplistic this method is, large pieces of paper and sharpies are all you need.

[edit] Ricky Surachman 22:49, 21 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process" This article is really straightforward and simple. It gives readers some hints on how designing a product should be done. One of the most important point in this article is about testing the product design with customers. It is really important because the people who are going to use the product are the customers, not the designers, and sometimes designers forget about this. One of the improvements that can be done for the article is the use of examples. Using examples can really help readers to understand more but as you can see, we can only find one or two examples in this article.

"The Perfect Brainstorm" This is an interesting article that gives suggestion on how brainstroming session should be done. I strongly agree with the part "sharpen the focus" because often people lost track on what they were doing and being "blank" because they don't know what they should be thinking of. I don't agree with the part that suggests you should send your boss to "get a coffee" because i think that although there are some bosses that really want to push their own ideas, there are other bosses who has a lot of great and "wild" ideas that can really help the brainstorming session. We also need to remember that usually our bosses are the people who already in the business for a longer time than us and they probably know better about the customers.

[edit] Esha Datta 22:59, 21 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task Centered Design Process"

The most interesting thing to me about this article was the idea of using existing metaphors and conventions when creating an interface. It seems as though in some cases in might be difficult to decide how innovative and new an interface should be and how much it should be based on prior systems. However, I do think that "plagiarizing" is important in design. For example, I think that most shower faucets in hotels are difficult to use. It is always difficult to figure out how to switch between bath and shower modes and which way you should turn the faucet to get hot water and which way to get cold water. If there could be a simple standardization of how temperature should be controlled, it would make the process much easier.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

I think that the most difficult part of brainstorming is refraining from critiquing ideas too soon. As was mentioned in this article, it's important to have a comfortable atmosphere and it's important to come up with crazy ideas. I think that this is important because often a crazy idea leads to "building" and will get other people thinking about related ideas which might be more feasible. The other part of this article that I thought was interesting was how "show and tell" can really help a brainstorming session. I had never thought about this before, but I definitely think that having something in front of you that you can see and touch would probably really help to get the ideas flowing.


[edit] Karey Park 22:59, 21 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process"

The informal tone made this a pretty easy read. It basically is an introduction in the purest sense of the word, though very formulaic, telling what the book is about, and what it recommends. These recommendations all seem to try to drive a single point home, that design should be accomplished in a way that provides the most benefit to the users who ultimately will be using whatever is being designed. Ironically, this chapter stands very well on its own, written more in the style of a concluding chapter rather than an introductory one.


"The Perfect Brainstorm"

This author also provides readers with an easy read and sheds a lot of light on brainstorming, something that many think is supposed to a blind, directionless, procedure solely done as a means to an end. The importance of good leadership is a point that seems to be emphasized more than the other points, though all are definitely valid. Indeed, it is the strength of the leadership, that if properly executed, not only brings a sense of reassurance to the team, but also "leads out" the best ideas from everybody else. However, therein lies the difficulty, and this article merely touches the tip of the iceberg of what that exactly entails.

[edit] Joshua Funamura 00:06, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process"

This approach was presented in a straightforward and iterative fashion, and made a lot of sense for the design of a user interface. While I perceived most of the steps as fairly easy-to-follow, the "Plagiarize" section struck me as being especially tricky. It seems too easy to fall into the same conventions as one's predecessors, and too dangerous to be innovative. For fear that a user might reject a superior new product in favor of the known inefficient way seems like a viable reason why many of our user interfaces are so similarly flawed.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

The article puts a big emphasizes on removing barriers and limitations on collaborative thought process. The enemy seems to be anything associated with a conventional meeting - a boss in charge, idea restrictions (patentable!), transcription, or democratic process. Properly facilitating a brainstormer is definitely a skill and an art that requires attentiveness and creativity in itself. I liked the ideas the author presented about warming up the group through tangible show-and-tell objects, as well as the visiting-the-toy-store idea that "proved" it's positive effects.

[edit] Umber Masood 00:08, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process"

This article thoroughly explains the design process, from beginning to finish. I like that it also addresses some of the issues that arise in the process; for example, designers should have the perspective of the users of the interface. The article mentions that a new interface should copy those attributes of existing interfaces which users are accustomed to; I agree, yet I also think that designers should not be afraid in designing interfaces which users may not be accustomed to. If the product is well designed, users will switch to the new interface. I agree with the article that a well designed interface is one that understands the needs of the user and is able to perform tasks that other interfaces can not. There are two steps that the article mentions separately that I think should be combined into one: testing of the design with users and iterating. Testing should be a continuous process and should stop when no errors can be found. The interface should be able to do the tasks it is supposed to do without errors occurring. Overall, this is a well-written article. The overview of the design process is one that does not change much over time and the article is still valid many years after it was written.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

This article was another well-written article. I liked the guidelines for better brainstorming that are listed, as well as the list of things not to do at a brainstorming session. I agree with all of the guidelines that are mentioned in the article. Numbering ideas is something I had not thought of before. I also did not know that spatial remembrance helps in brainstorming sessions. The article says that brainstorms will sometimes be hands-on, and I agree that looking at and observing objects helps in thinking of new ideas. The article thoroughly explains the way brainstorming sessions should be.

[edit] Raymond Kim 00:39, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process"

This article does a nice job of adding some sort of structure to the entire product design process. One step which I believe to be overlooked too often is plagiarism. From personal experience, many designers are overly obsessed with trying to "Rediscover America" every single time they go about accomplishing a design, ignoring the valuable comparable designs out there that can provide tremendously useful information. The concept of plagiarism basically calls for reinvention rather than invention from scratch, which is more often the case in today's fast-paced product market.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

Another great article which provided a general framework for brainstorming. Initially, it seemed awkward to try and structure brainstorming sesssions as the goal is usually to let the mind run free, but the author did make a good point in that the human mind can only stretch itself out for so long; as a result, time must be conserved by remaining on topic. The article also gave insight into the important role of the mediator or discussion leader who often plays the most important role. He/she must transcribe ideas, try to spark new ideas, and basically control the flow of thought by building and jumping from topic to topic.

[edit] Erin Palermo 00:59, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process"

What I liked about this article is the focus on the efficient design of a user interface. It makes it clear that it takes a large amount of time, and programming, to create a successful interface, and that those are precious commodities. I also liked the emphasis on the testing of the interface with users who are representative of typical users of the system. It is important to make sure that the interface will be received well by your target audience, and testing is the method by which this can be ensured. Though the developer puts a lot of time and energy into the project, they often times cannot see the minor mistakes that they make, which are detrimental to the interface. The suggestion of videotaping testing sessions is very good, because seeing people's reactions as they interact with the interface can be more informative than receiving feedback after the fact.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

I had never heard of 'brainstorm' as a noun. I always thought that people "brainstormed," and this new usage of the word amused me. I have seen very successful brainstorms. They are fun! What I found interesting was the advice about what NOT to do in a brainstorming session. The author was informative about successful tactics. I think that anyone could read this short piece and then produce a fruitful brainstorm, using their recommendations. I also appreciated the recommendation to diversify the brainstorm group. It's true that different people have different experiences, and it's useful to tap into those experiences for brainstorm purposes. This article is fun, and leaves me wanting to cover my entire room in butcher paper, just to see what kinds of ideas my housemates come up with!

[edit] Tawan Udtamadilok 01:10, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

I loved that this article felt authoritative. The author was very well aware of the subject matter, and made this clear by referencing several examples. This made it easy to be more receptive of the ideas presented in the article.

I agree completely with the main message: creativity should not be drastically limited. It is imperative that a group come up with many ideas to not only have material to work with, but also to help the group work as a team. I also loved the fact that the article addresses more than just idea formation. The article's commentary on effective leadership styles is essential to the discussion, and the list of brainstorm-killers was also useful.

"The Task-Centered Design Process"

This article provides a rough framework for the design of any product. Although it is in no way complete, the article allows the reader to explore a few options when going through these steps. I especially enjoyed the section on plagiarism which suggested that user-friendliness cannot only be based on ease of use of a feature, but must also incorporate the design of similar features in products that the consumer has used before.

[edit] Justin Hsu 01:23, 22 January 2007 (PST)

[edit] Task Centered Design Process

The article “The Task-Centered Design Process” was a great introductory read. I like how it gave a general framework in which to approach industrial design problems because it gives us (new students with little design experience) a point of reference when we study other methods in the future. While some the steps to the task-centered design method were quite intuitive, there were some points that I would have never considered. For example, while conducting several iterations of beta testing is quite expected, plagiarizing existing designs from other parties is not as obvious. While the reasoning behind plagiarizing other designs is quite sound, I have mixed feelings about this concept. I feel that while using other designs as a foundation is an excellent way to begin the design process, it also somewhat limits creative and “out-of-the-box” thinking. Radical changes in design can be hit-or-miss phenomena, but they can also be wildly successful. Examples that immediately come to mind are Apple products like the iMac and the iPod.

[edit] The Perfect Brainstorm

The article “The Perfect Brainstorm” was an eye-opener for me. My perception of the corporate brainstorming process was much different than the process described by the author. Interestingly, many of the qualities that I thought belonged to corporate brainstorming were in the article’s “Brainstorming Killers” section. The way the author describes brainstorming as a skill that can be practiced and refined is something that had not occurred to me; I always thought brainstorming was somewhat of a haphazard and arbitrary process. I liked the “Get Physical” section because I completely agree with the author that having visual representations of ideas can really facilitate discussion and the creation of new ideas. The way that the author mentioned that brainstorming sessions were chances for team members to shine surprised me. By making brainstorming sound like a pure, free-flowing, and self-contained process in the beginning, I felt like the author slightly contradicted himself and switched gears unexpectedly by bringing the idea of competition and outside motives into the picture.

[edit] Tracy yang 10:30:23, 22 January 2007 (PST)

The article entitled, “The Task-Centered Design Process” really puts onto paper the main difficulties that designers as a whole face during the creation process. Specifically, it refers to designers dealing with the formulation of new interface programs. While it is not incredibly hard to design something, creating a successful product takes much more careful planning that it first appears.

To the outside world, designing looks so simple, so easy, so “common sense.” Many consumers don’t realize the years of research and development behind interface products. The reality is that such designs require research, sketching, prototyping, testing, re-designing, testing, and updating. Developing products such as the iPod took years in which they most likely followed very similar steps to those outlined in the article. It was no accident that the first iPod fit perfectly into your hand.

I really enjoyed this article, for the process given here can very easily be applied in architectural design. I have undergone every step outlined here at one point or another during my studio design classes; it is very realistic about how successful designs consider the users at every step of the way. However, one critique I would give the author is that this article merely scratches the surface of the complex network of questions a designer must face. Sure, familiar button placement is important, but so are its color scheme, visual icon, and even its size and spacing.

The second piece entitled, “The Perfect Brainstorm” is a very good follow-up article to the first. In many ways, the writer describes his company’s brainstorming team actually doing the steps laid out in the first article. The leader states the task, the groups study other successful designs, they sketch out their designs, make samples, test them with the client, return to the drawing board, design again, test them, and so on.

While I do agree that brainstorming is a very good approach to design, it is also important to recognize that it is not the only method. Designing in groups has its drawbacks; for one it is exponentially harder to execute decisions when many are involved. I feel that mixing the type of discussion examined here with individual creative explorations in which meetings are a bit more regimented is the best solution to getting towards a goal.

[edit] James ChunJye Tong 11:16, 22 January 2007 (PST)

“Task-Centered User Interface Design”

I think this article gives a good introduction to the process of designing a new product. The authors have brought up some really good points in the article. It is important that the new product is "doing what's needed" and is easy for the users to use. Also, there might be misunderstanding between designers which wouldn’t be discovered until the ideas have been made into concrete objects. I think the authors did a good job in breaking down the designing process into steps that is easier for beginner to understand. I think it would be useful if the author can provide a case study so the readers can understand each step more clearly.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

I think this is a very interesting article. It gives examples of how can brainstorm helps develop new ideas in a company. Brainstorm is like any other physical activities, it can be practiced and it can be improved. The seven tips of good brainstorming gives excellent examples of how brainstorming can be practiced. I found the first tip “Sharpen the focus” particularly useful. I often found myself in the situation that I cannot come up with enough ideas because I have limited myself in the situations the author mentioned in the article. The six tips about the common pitfalls for brainstorm are very useful too. These mistakes are very common and I have seen these things happened before but never realized that they could affect the quality and quantity of brainstorming. Overall, I found this article very useful and I would like to practice these tips during future brainstorming sessions.

[edit] Rabia Siddiqi 11:22, 22 January 2007 (PST)

The Task-Centered Design Process

This article provided an 11-step process that can be effectively used in designing and developing a system. For each of the steps, it explains why the step is important and gives a description on how it should be carried out. I liked the article because it was written in a clear and interesting manner, but I believe it should have had one example carried through the article. The writer could have made the article more helpful by discussing a specific system that this process was used to design and how the process was effective at each step for that system. Despite that, I enjoyed reading the article and believe the steps described would indeed be effective in ensuring a well-designed system with minimal errors.

The Perfect Brainstorm

I really enjoyed this article because it was written in an interesting, conversational manner. Brainstorming is very important to get a good flow of ideas and to raise the energy of the group. The brainstormers described by the author seem like meetings that group members will look forward to attending and will not be afraid to share their input at. I also liked how simple the methods of brainstorming are, ranging from making sketches on walls covered with paper to bringing in show-and-tell items. The last two pages of the article are very helpful because they discuss common mistakes that should be avoided at brainstormers and why these errors defeat the original purpose.

[edit] Penny Yuan 11:27, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"Task-centered User Interface Design"

This was a very great read for newcomers in industrial design. It is very succinct yet detailed in its descriptions of the UI design process. Also, the article focuses more on designing for certain tasks rather than the aesthetic aspects which is the most important part of interface design that many people overlook. I especially applaud the paragraph on understanding the user and the user's background because this information is sometimes completely overlooked or not researched carefully. This definitely can be related to why the iPod outshines most other MP3 players. The design of the iPod is very simple; the interface is something that most people find very intuitive to use, unlike the more complicated designs of other MP3 players.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

Though not as structured as the previous, this article provided guidelines for what it claims to be "The Perfect Brainstorm". Could these points direct groups to create the perfect brainstorm? Possibly. But with something as unstructured as brainstorms, it really depends on the people within the group and the ideas that pop out of them. To me, no matter how many tips or tricks are given, there really is no secret recipe for the perfect brainstorm. The article did, however, give me more of an insight to how brainstorming works at IDEO, one of the country's top industrial design companies, and showed me how the corporate world balances freedom of ideas and structural focus.

[edit] IKhambaty 11:33, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"Task centered design process"

I found the Plagaiarizm section to be counterintuitive.I liked how the article used examples but I wish they were more prounounced and frequent.I also liked how the article was organized into a chapter seperated in steps that were succinct.Overall the information and steps presented were usefull. It was information that seems obvious after reading but not really considered until red.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

I thought this reading eventhough long was very interesting and informative. I never really realize how often i brainstorm on little and trivial matters. I learned things that i find will help improve my brainstorming ability such as how to produce an open ended brainstorming topic or how brainstorming shouldn't include any arguements or debates and that numbering helps motivate. I also was interested to learn how Warm up practices like word game and show and tell produced better brainstorming results.

I further liked how ways to kill a brainstorm were listed. Some items that were listed, i never realized how they damaged brainstorm efforts.

[edit] Bryan Boling 12:05, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task Centered Design Process"

This chapter was very logically laid out, and provided a good overview of the design process in user interface applications. By breaking up the subparts of the design process into 11 steps, the author simplified the task-centered design process. After reading this I was reminded of many of my past design projects, and became aware of certain practices that could have made those projects easier. For instance, I'm often eager to begin building early in the design process, but ultimately this can lead to higher costs, unnecessary labor, and increased frustration dealing with poorly thoughtout designs. In this respect, the chapter was very informative, useful, and easily understood.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

This was an interesting article on "brainstormers" that made me think about and even re-evaluate my brainstorming techniques. In the past, I've often worked with groups where our brainstorming sessions often turned into no one talking or everyone just joking around. From the six ways to kill a brainstrom presented at the end of the article, I can now see that my past brainstormers were simply conducted without a sharp focus or serious nature. I think these guidlines for contributing to successful brainstorming sessions are useful in engineering practices, but I found the article to be a bit lengthy for the content matter. Overall, there were useful ideas that could be beneficial for future design projects.

[edit] Christopher Ling 12:45, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task Centered Design Process"

I enjoyed the logic and rationale of this reading because it provided a systematic strategy to approach any design situation so that unecessary work can be avoided. I definitely see this applied in many products such as with Apple Computer and their products. I heard a speach from a lead designer concerning product design, and he described many characteristics that were also listed in this article. For example, I learned from this article that all successful products must have a distinct form and function, such as how a chair is designed in a specific manner to be comfortable. This article was interesting because it lays out guidelines that everyone should use.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

I always knew that brainstorming was important, having brainstormed many times for group assignments. However, I never read an article on brainstorming that provides an outline of good brainstorming. I agree with many of the rules provided for good brainstorming, such as the statement "The Space Remembers" in making good use of people's spatial memory or even the statement that suggests conducting a warm-up activity to get your mental juices flowing. I will try to apply these concepts the next time I brainstorm for future projects and assignments.

[edit] Megan Whittey 13:42, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task Centered Design Process"

When I first read the 9 steps for this article I was suprised when I saw 'plagerize' as step 3. Once I read the plagerizing paragraph it seemed very logical to use the basic functions that were already designed so you don't have to start from scratch and do more work than you need to. You're using something you already know works. When I read the 'task and user analysis' step it made alot of sense and the thought that came to mind was don't make the user want your product, make the product so the user thinks they HAVE to have it. I also liked the idea of putting everything on paper first for the 'rough out the design' step. Writing everything down and then having something else question it seems like it would help alot and help improve and refine your beginning idea. I also found it smart to videotape the users when testing your product. You'll have an actual result that you can go back to and actually watch again instead of just notes to look at. Overall, I found the reading useful and interesting but a little vague, some of the things they didn't go in to much detail about but it was a good introduction article.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

I like that one of the tips for brainstorming is to keep your problem statement vague and not too narrow. There is a big difference between 'bicycle cup holders' and 'helping bike commuters to drink coffee without spilling it or burning their tongues.' I was able to think and brainstorm new ideas right off the bat after reading the second statement, but not so much after the first statement. I also liked how numbering your ideas was one of the tips. It is an easily understood and a good way to set a goal for everyone at the beginning of the meeting. I noticed Kelley numbered his/her ideas in the paper. In the space remembers tip, it may be a good idea to star or highlight an idea many people were excited about and/or an idea you know you want to come back to later in the meeting. Kelley may have wanted to include that. I never would have thought that a show and tell would help boost results so well but it does make sense. Also, acting out (if possible) the scenerio in which your product would be useful is smart because you may realize things when you're physically acting it out that you wouldn't have noticed or thought of before. After reading the article I was actually excited to brainstorm. I liked how Kelley not only included tips to improve brainstormers but also included ways in which a brainstormer may not work out as well or become a negative brainstormer.

[edit] Luciana Cook 14:04, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task Centered Design Process"-- I likes this article because its concise and straight to the point. The nine steps are very usuful to use. They are essential to anyone creating a new product. I think that the authors notes on plagarism are good because something that people are always thinking about is how to improve existing ideas or products that they have already created. A perfect example of this is iPods. They are always coming out with better and improved iPods.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"--This article was interesting because most people seem to think Brainstorming isn't that interesting eventhough its the first thing you should do. Also I didn't know that brainstorming should take so long (up to an hour and a half). The article gives very good tips on how to ask the question right to get the right answer or righ ideas out there. It also gives very good tips on what not to do when brainstorming. I like the part where it said that doodoling was good but not to act like you are in History 101, because I never right anything down when I am brainstorming because I have personally found that it takes me away from brainstorming.

[edit] Michael Chen 14:04, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task Centered Design Process"

I consider the article a very decent algorithm in design. The 11 steps are very distinct and laid out with meaningful and brief commentary. From my own experience, I think that by far the best advice that the article gives is 1.2, Choosing Representative Tasks. Mentally walking through the steps of a simple task in the user design does wonders in identifying the little details that are invariably left out when just discussing the big idea.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

Kind of like the article itself, this article is a lot more free flowing than the previous article, and provides more of a commentary about brainstorming than the algorithmic, 11 step approach in "TTCDP." The article showed brainstorming not so much as being an event that generates novel and innovative design (which it still does), but also as a way to increase the value and productivity of your employees. Having better, brilliant workers is far better than having a couple of good ideas.


[edit] Jason Hu 14:22, 22 January 2007 (PST)

“The Task-Centered Design Process” Though this article focused on the design of computer software interface; the process it elaborates seems universal enough. It’s nice to have product design process laid out logically, step by step. I contains many helpful suggestions, like having to synchronize with the keyboard shortcut standards of seemingly unrelated software. A multidisciplinary team is important, as is constant feedback from users, managers, and other outside sources. Yet we must also scrutinize their feedback to discern what unhelpful assumptions/habits they themselves retain.

“The Perfect Brainstorm” I read “The Art of Innovation” when I was in high school, because I had read a really interesting magazine article about IDEO. The book, like this article, was filled with ideas that seemed obvious, though there were definitely things I might not have thought of. An easy little project manager’s manual. I like how this excerpt gave lots of environmental design suggestions in order to foster the right atmosphere for productive teamwork. It shows how background elements can be vital to social dynamics. I should probably start to apply these techniques to this class.

Both of these articles were like lists of helpful suggestions for a complete creative process. The ideas presented - like finding a balance between a familiar and a possibly more efficient interface, and about the manager’s brainstorming role - seem easy to say and hard to do. I don’t yet know how to find that sweet spot.

[edit] Nicolas Suryono 14:29, 22 January 2007 (PST)

-The Task Centered Design Process- The article was a pretty good guide for beginners in design. This article's emphasis is that when designing something, designers should keep their minds in their customer's need. Even though the design is perfect for the designers themselves, If the customer cannot fully utilize their design to meet the customer's individual needs, then the design is a failure. The steps explained in the article were pretty clear and concise. However, I think the author needs to talk more about creativity in the design rather than just following someone else's finalized product (in the Plagiarize section).

-The Perfect Brainstorm- This article provides some good guidances on brainstorming. It completely describes why brainstorming fails and how to avoid that failures. I think the most important thing that I get from the article is that there are really no rules in brainstorming. You have to let the ideas flow from your brain naturally without any other constraint from outside (i.e Boss' rule or Ideas have to make sense, etc.). This way, anyone can come up with some fantastic ideas that will maximize one's true potential.

[edit] Rakesh Vij 14:32, 22 January 2007 (PST)

The Task-Centered Design Process: This article describes the details of an eleven step plan that should be used to follow a task-centered approach to interface design. The HyperTopic describes how this type of approach results in better design relative to other methods. Also the HyperTopic section discusses the importance of certain characteristics within the design team. From personal experience with working in teams I find that these suggestions are very important issues in building a successful product. Not only must all information be shared freely but every member should take equal initiative and responsibility for the final product. As far as the eleven step process goes I think that it is definitely the correct way in order to create a good design for a user interface. The suggestions to learn the uses and users of the product first seem logical, but the importance of this step is immense. Thereafter the steps prescribed are great methods of designing in general. The heart of this method is, as the name suggests, understanding the tasks the system will perform and efficiently building to suit. This reading lays out all the important steps which should be followed to efficiently achieve a good interface design.

The Perfect Brainstorm: This article outlines the importance of improving brainstorming skills, and seven valuable secrets to better brainstorming. The first was to have good focus. This concept mirrors the first reading about task-centered design since both emphasize the importance of starting with a clear problem. Additionally the reading says to set rules in order to use all energy to productively brainstorm. Numbering the ideas is also a very good approach since it sets goals, organizes, and motivates brainstormers. A good facilitator will also help bulid and jump while also making sure to make all the ideas visible to all members. The last two secrets are to have warmups and to get physical in order to get everyone comfortable with each other and make the most productive sessions. The reading also mentions six ways to waste a brainstormers potential. All of these tips are very important, and when used will help any brainstorming session. The ideas suggested seem very logical and will help any group develop a good product and design.

[edit] Edgar Hernandez 14:30, 22 January 2007 (PST)

Task-Centered User Design Process

This article is straightforward and pretty easy to read. This article supplies the reader with the basic steps necessary to design a new product. It presents a great summary on how to design a product for the user rather than the feature of the product for the designer. I felt most of the steps as reasonably simple, but the section regarding "plagiarism" was a bit of a shock. It’s so hard to come up with a brand new solution on your own, so it makes some sense to use things already designed and building on from there. This article could definitely use more examples, so that the readers obtain a better understanding of the results due to these steps.


The Perfect Brainstorm

This article offers a creative new way to brainstorm. I definitely find it difficult to stay focused for a large period of time. My mind tends to wander off and I lose track of what I am doing, so the section on “sharpen your focus” really caught my attention. I think that the most difficult part of brainstorming is refraining from critiquing ideas too soon. As emphasized in this article, it is important to come up with wild and outrageous ideas (these tend to lead to better ideas). I believe a common problem we have is that we cancel out extreme ideas too soon. We don’t provide enough time for the idea to blossom. I think this “perfect brainstorm” will encourage creativity and benefit any project in need of a solution.

[edit] JohannesLeholmm 14:04, 22 January 2007 (PST)

The Task Centered Design Process

This article was informative and an excellent introduction to effective user interface design. I especially liked the emphasis on user experience and understanding the users needs through certain tasks. I think of many products that have become very successful because of a focus on the user's experience. One example resting on my shoulders right now is my vest; soft and warm, yet rugged and hunting-ready. It also has 6 zipper pockets in extremely convenient locations to store food, ammunition, fruit, and trail mix. Although I was not a part of the design process for this particular article of clothing, I can only assume that its designers are/were hunters, wear vests, and carefully arrived at the exact location of the pockets and material of the vest through tests. Moreover, the vest is constantly updated. Functionality does improve with each product release. One thing that might be important to do when looking at past products that worked (from the plagiarism section), is to also find which products failed and why. A designer may come away with valuable information on what not to do or great ideas on how to make bad ideas go good. This way you steer clear of legal issues and you won't feel tied down to limited ideas that worked.

The Perfect Brainstorm

This article was a real eye-opener. I immediately felt that my past attempts at brainstorming have been hopelessly flawed. I really liked the recommendations listed that contribute to a general atmosphere of funning and adventurism. I recall past failed attempts at brainstorming because of groups where we'd scorn individuals for making 'dumb' suggestions. That was like a high pressure system moving into our brainstorms, creating clear empty skies. The clear goal is essential to brainstorm effectively without moving too far off topic. I hope to apply these tools while brainstorming tonight.

[edit] Ryan Panchadsaram 14:35, 22 January 2007 (PST)

“The Task Centered Design Process” This article was a good run-down on what it takes to have a design process that emphasizes tasks that users engage in. It is a progressive article because it points out the fact that design needs to revolve around the user and that design needs to be influenced by the way a person interacts with products. The steps listed are in an ideal situation, so it is important to understand that in the real world tradeoffs will occur. While having iterations in design is a valuable part of the process, when deadlines are around the corner iterations will be sacrificed in order to deliver the product. There is one part of the article that I did not agree with. The author states in regard to using existing systems, “But more often than not, the best answer is to stick with what the users know, even if it does require an extra keystroke or two.” I don’t completely agree with that. I think it is necessary to for innovative products to streamline processes and make things easier for the user.


“The Perfect Brainstorm” I really enjoyed this article, especially because it is the solution to a dry and dreary corporate world. After finishing it, I realized I only knew 20% of what it takes to conduct an amazing brainstorm. Brainstorms needs to be exciting, they need to be environments where ideas can be thrown out with no repercussions. A good brainstorm gets people “up” and allows them go wild for an hour. The article makes sure to point out that even though brainstorms are fun, they can be productive if they have proper focus and people with the right attitude. I really enjoyed how the article took a jab at corporate “off-sites” to conduct brainstorming…it is all about brainstorming in the trenches.

[edit] Shady Guirguis 14:47, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process" This article provided an eleven step guideline to the task-centered design. This article was insightful as it made it clear that the first step is to figure who is going to use the product. This is a very important step, as it helps distinguish the customer pain and clarifies the goals behind creating it. After that it lists the steps of actually creating the design and the product. I enjoyed reading this article is it helped me realize that once a design is finished, it should not be finalized. Meaning that there is always room for change and improvement, which is critical when creating a product.

"The Perfect Brainstorm" I enjoyed reading this article as it described ways for better brainstorming, and what should be avoided. The most important thing when brainstorming is to have a clear idea or objective without a preset goal or result. Meaning, we should wonder why we are doing this, and not try to solve it by having a single idea and aiming everything towards that single idea.

[edit] Anar Joshi 14:48, 22 January 2007 (PST)

“Task-Centered Design Process” This article outlined the steps in the design process through the example of designing a software program. The article emphasized understanding and being aligned with the end-user. The user was described as essential for the initial design of the product, to test in order to find areas of improvement, and to track the success of the product. The article also described the specific tasks that should be executed at each step, making it simple to extract key insights to use in any design project.

“The Perfect Brainstorm” This article discussed the success methods as well as the common pitfalls of brainstorming tactics used by the design firm, IDEO. I found this article interesting because it made me think about my past brainstorming sessions and assess how successful they really were. At one of my past internships, I worked at a consulting firm where we had weekly team brainstorming meetings and used most of the ideas described in the article. I found that it not only helped my team to eventually come across a solution for our clients, but also, caused us to constantly challenge our creativity.

[edit] Urvashi 14:52, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The task centred design process"

I feel that this reading gives us a very logical step based approach to the design process, and this approach is flexble enough to apply to many things, such as design of products, user interfaces, web applications and many more. The article also mentions how we should plagarize from existing interfaces that work and then modify them to incorporate whatever new technology we are coming up with so its easier for users to adapt/ I definitely agree on that count as most users including myself would be reluctant to try out something radically different from what I'd been used to but also feel that gradual change is necessary if the existing interfaces can be significantly improved.

"The Perfect Brainstorm"

I found this article to be not as clear-cut as the first one, and I still find myself wondering how to brainstorm effectively after reading the article. Its definitely not a structured step-by-step approach and I feel that despite all these pointers, good brainstorming is ultimately a product of the intellignce and creativity of the people participating in the brainstorm. But as the article points out, this might be as brainstorming is a lot about teaching yourslef to think in a particular way and focusing on the actual problem at hand instead of getting confused by other issue that do not go to the core of the problem. Reading this definitely made me think back on my own brainstorming experiences and re-evaluate my techniques.

[edit] Howie 15:06, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process"

The article imparts a systematic and structured approach to designing an interface. At first glance, it does seem a tad incredulous that the creative process, often perceived to be more productive when designers are given a free rein, should be subject to such rigid guidelines. However, after reading what I felt were very sensible guidelines, my conclusion is that these guidelines are needed for the design process to be more disciplined. Adhering to a chronological order of design process steps makes it easier for designers with varying quirks/interests to cooperate, and for teams to be less distracted and more focused on meeting deadlines and expectations.

I feel the word plagiarizing makes a very important step sound unrespectable or even downright unethical when it really shouldn’t be. A more appropriate description is probably “imitating”. Users, being humans, are generally lazy and less inclined to pick up a new set of skills to deal with new technology. That is why we design “plug and play” technology that requires minimal user learning. Hence, it is a good bet that new technology with familiar design/operation procedures is likely to be more widely accepted by users. Users are generally unconvinced about having to pick up a new set of skills/learn new paradigms just to operate the one new product they purchased (I mean, how many of us really read instruction manuals in detail?) Hence, imitation of old designs is a practical and sensible way to ensure design success (or user approval)!

This design process suggests that user response should be solicited after the prototype has been produced, and prior to that the cognitive walkthrough is performed only by designers. I feel that users should be solicited for their opinions much earlier in the design process, at the moment when the design is roughed out, especially if the product considered is an upgrade to a previous edition with an already existing user base. Take Lego Mindstorms for example- when Lego decided to do their upgrade, they got their users to chip in their ideas during the design process and incorporated their suggestions at the end of the day, way before the actual prototype was even released for users testing!

“The Perfect Brainstorm”

This article captures the dos and don’ts of brainstorming in a very descriptive fashion. One of the most important advices that a brainstorming session can receive is probably the first one meted out in the article- “Sharpen the focus”. Although it may seem a little contradictory, even brainstorming sessions need to be streamlined such that the wild and chaotic tossing of ideas is done within the confines of the subject in question. I’ve seen one too many brainstorming sessions end up straying to become an informal chit-chat session. For brainstorming sessions to be most productive, a clear goal and subject needs to be established at the very beginning.

One thing I found interesting was how the article suggested that offsite brainstorming sessions may be counterproductive. So many companies hold brainstorming sessions to chart future development in the guise of offsite retreats for senior management, say at a country club or beach resort. It’s become almost instinctive to regard the workplace as a dull and insipid place that inhibits the flourishing of radical ideas. But how true is that? Perhaps it’s not so much the environment, but the way the activity is carried out (say over an informal tea session with sumptuous buffet, or while playing team building games?) that makes a brainstorming session effective. And do we want to instill the notion that brainstorming sessions can only be productive when it’s done outside the workplace? Offsite activities often entail a lot of cost at the expense of work time, and bosses must really consider how much more valuable an offsite activity is before implementing it.

[edit] Richard Chen 15:16, 22 January 2007 (PST)

“The Task-Centered Design Process” The main principle that really resonated with me in this article was the idea of having an iterative process for any process—not only design—but for any process that you will encounter. This concept was also nicely brought up in the first lecture slides, and I believe that the key to any sucessful solution or design lies in the improvement aspect. Only through continuous improvement can a designer build upon products that are already on the market or in the pipeline. And only through continuous improvement can any idea be carried through from conception to realization. The other point that this article brought out was that it is very useful to have a structured framework in mind when solving problems related to design.

“The Perfect Brainstorm” What I really enjoyed about this article was that it made the important dinstinction between opposing elements of the brainstorming process—quatity and quality—and that both elements are needed in order to make the brainstorming session that much more effective. This balance is critical to engaing team members and serves as a critical springbroad for implementation. I also think that this article provides terrific insights into the process of building effetive solutions to problems, many of which are principles that consulting firms operate on...notably, brainstorming without commitment—spewing out ideas without regard to how wild or silly they are, in addition to striking a balance between chaos and structure. Effective sessions to finding solutions involves both chaos—the output of ideas—AND structure—the process of transforming that chaos into implementable change.

[edit] Shilpi Verma 15:28, 22 January 2007 (PST)

The Task-Centered Design Process: This article essentially gave an overview of the key aspects involved in the task-centered design process. The steps involved in the design process look at the requirements from a user’s perspective. I liked this article because it gave a clear definition of each and every step, and I can now see how they are necessary for a good design. The “hypertopic” of this article talked about “Managing the Design Process.” This portion of the article discussed the key factors in designing the team and coordinating all aspects of managing the design process.

The Perfect Brainstorm: This article discusses the importance of brainstorming and the different techniques that are successful and the ones that can be improved upon. I not only really liked the content of the article, but also the way the article was written because it easily helped the reader understand the true value from brainstorming. After reading the article I realized there have been very few instances where I have brainstormed properly according to the “Seven Secrets for Better Brainstorming.” In one instance during my summer internship last year, my team followed one of the “Six Ways to Kill a Brainstormer.” This article was extremely informative and interesting. I really liked the examples and hope to follow the techniques mentioned regarding brainstorming.

[edit] Shwan Kazzaz 15:30, 22 January 2007 (PST)

The Perfect Brainstorm: I really enjoyed this article as it was very well-written and contained some very good ideas. I particularly believe in taking careful considerations about the environment and the people involved in a brainstorm as one can often run into a roadblock when the chemistry or atmosphere isn't right. I felt that the author thoroughly evaluated and addressed all topics related to a successful brainstorm, and I enjoyed the specific examples from IDEO.

The Task-Centered Design Process: This type of design focuses on maximizing efficiency by performing certain steps in a specific order. The reason that I like this method is because it focuses on efficiency, while also improving quality. This is due to the fact that following the design outlines listed in the article will help you cover all your bases when designing. The one fault I did find in the article was that it did not mention flexibility. I feel that this general strategy can be used, not all designers are the same, and thus they can't all follow the same guidelines. An example of a time where it may not be ideal to follow the guidelines would be the creation of a mockup as you rough out the design, sometimes the hands-on experience can inspire the designer with new ideas.

[edit] Aubuchon 15:35, 22 January 2007 (PST)

I found that the Task-Centered Design Process if very logical and helpful. It is not a linear flow, but rather allows for repetition of steps as needed. The process keeps in mind strategies and designs of other products when designing your own. I was suprised to see this so clearly identified as 'plagarism'. I would have found if helpful if the author had included a running example a product's design all the way through these steps- a cell phone for example.

The Perfect Brainstorm outlines how to run brainstorming sessions effectively. It gives good examples of what to do and what not to do. For instance, the article appreciates holding on to "off-the-wall" ideas, and not ruling them out prematurely. It also gives advice for forming a good problem statement such as "helping bikers drink their coffee" instead of "bike cup holders." I would have liked to see a brief enumeration, flow chart, or a graphic that summarizes the steps outlined in this article.


[edit] Brenna Williams 15:46, 22 January 2007 (PST)

“The Task-Centered Design Process” The author presents a clear and exact method of how to design, with the main discussion relating to the design of a user interface. It seems as if the article presents eleven steps to create a product, assuming that each step takes place in the order that it had been presented. However, for myself, the steps seem somewhat constricting, thus creating a sort of recipe that I would be obliged to follow. While the tasks presented in each step are well thought out and extremely necessary in a design process, I feel as if I would only be able to use them as a design process if there was more flexibility, an ability to overlap certain steps and have less regulated instructions.


“The Perfect Brainstorm” This article clearly illustrates how it is easy to believe that one is brainstorming when in fact the brainstorming that is occurring may be useless and even detrimental to a project. Initially, I thought this idea was slightly ridiculous because it seems as if brainstorming is part of the creative process and because creative processes can vary between people, it seems unusual that one part, the brainstorming part, can be identical among these various ways of designing. However, the “rules” for brainstorming were extremely intuitive, so much so that I began reflecting on past brainstorming sessions only to realize that they had been unsuccessful and frustrating due to the fact that I had failed to follow some of the key points that the author mentions.

On the other hand, this article only dealt with brainstorming as a group process. Can it be done individually? Perhaps, the author feels as if an individual brainstorm would be limiting and does not grasp his definition of a brainstorm, yet a discussion on how one can create an individual brainstorm in order to improve and solve individual projects would have been an interesting addition to this article.

[edit] Minhaaj Khan 15:48, 22 January 2007 (PST)

1. The Task-Centered Design Process

This chapter is a summary on Task-Centered Design Process, which places emphasis on the designer designing a product that is tailored to the need of the user while ensuring ease of use based on both existing and new interfaces. The article discusses the importance of close personal contact between members of the design team and the people who will make use of the system/product that is designed. I found the article somewhat enlightening, and contrary to what someone said earlier, the fact that the chapter focused on software design in explaining the task-centered Design Process made it very easy for me to understand from both a designer and a user’s perspective. One thing I found very interesting was the idea in the “Plagiarize” section that said more often than not it is better to stick with what the users know than creating a more efficient convention in the design process. Although I understand the intuition, in certain instances I’m sure a more efficient convention can lead to system/product differentiation that will be beneficial to both the designer and the users.

2. The Perfect Brainstorm

This article was a very entertaining and helpful read. Having taken part in focus groups in the past I completely understand and agree with what this article is saying. Thinking back to my previous experiences in focus groups where we have a bunch of people sitting around basically “brainstorming” and someone who leads the group, I completely understand the applications of the seven secrets for better brainstorming and six ways to kill a brainstormer. This article will be useful in tackling future class projects as more often than not I believe the best way to begin a class project is to brainstorm with your group members. I look forward to implementing some of what I’ve learned through this article in future projects for both this class and my other classes.

[edit] Luna Dai 16:03, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-centered Design Process" This article provided a very clear and thorough structure for the user-oriented design process. I liked how the author gave different possible approaches for some of the steps, making the article relevant for different companies and situations. In today's world, even products with better capabilities may be rejected by users in favor of products that are easier or more fun to use. For instance, the ipod became more popular than its competitors even though it was neither the first nor the most capable (in terms of hard drive space, etc). The article also brought up the question of who to follow for user interface, especially for an update on previously existing programs. In many cases, these programs already have shortcuts and button placements that are familiar to old users but would it be better to replace these with more popular ones in the interests of new users?

"The Perfect Brainstorm" Kelley presents an anecdote-filled and energetic account of the right and wrong ways to brainstorm. I especially liked the example of show-and-tell warmup for the brainstormer on alternative wine beverage containers. A lot of the times when I encounter bad design at stores and in buildings, I'll think about possible alternatives but it's usually just a mental unrecorded brainstorming exercise. I'm sure this is true for other people as well. The inclusion of physical examples or reenacting experiences would allow me to the ideas that originally came to mind at the time.

[edit] Bryanfarris 16:02, 22 January 2007 (PST)

“The Task-Centered Design Process” This article was very interesting and straightforward. It highlighted the process of designing systems with a task-centered mindframe. I found the need to focus design on the users and understanding who they are and what they want as very interesting. One thing that also jumped out at me was the plagiarizing section that discussed building on things users are already accustomed to rather than a more efficient method. I think this article laid out a logical framework for thinking about design in many aspects.

“The Perfect Brainstorm” This article had interesting approaches to brainstorming, including how to improve it and how to kill it. It did a good job a highlighting important aspects of a bad brainstorming session and how to improve them. For instance, inviting only experts in certain fields or not having a fun, creative environment. Also, this article made me realize how much importance should be placed on initial brainstorming sessions for product design as they shape the entire future of the product.

[edit] Christine Shih 16:05, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process" This article describes the steps users should go through when designing a new system. I thought it was pretty revelant because I believe many companies go through similar processes of outlining, prototyping, and testing repeatedly when designing new interfaces. One thing that really stuck with me was the importance of having communication with users throughout the entire design process.

"The Perfect Brainstorm" I really enjoyed reading this article. It made me want to work for IDEO- great advertising. I think brainstorming is a great tool to get people in a group to develop and consolidate their ideas for a project as a team. However, I believe the effectiveness of a brainstorming session is largely dependent on the creativity of the group and the skill of the facilitator. If group members are not very good brainstormers or the facilitator can't keep the ideas flowing or can't keep the group on topic, I can see how a brainstorming session can quickly become a waste of time.

[edit] Ryan Shelby

"The Task-Centered Design Process" This article provides an excellent overview of how a designer can approach the problem of creating a product that an end user needs to complete a given task. I like the fact that the article emphazised designing products to fit the user's needs instead of making the user adjust to a product. I also think that the article did a good job of encouraging designers to follow the progress of the product once it is in the hands of the user. Following the products allows the designers to receive invaluble information about how well or not well their product is preforming with its user. There are, however, somethings that I wished the author had included in the article. I think that the article should have discussed some brainstorming or concept generation techniques that can be used by a designer. The article was missing information about working effectivly and efficiently on teams to design a product. I also felt that the article should have encouraged the designer to fiqure out why a particular interface instead of just blindly copying the interface into the designer's system.

"The Perfect Brainstorm" This article is a great way to introduce people to the art of brainstorming. The article did excellent job of pointing out why brainstorming is important and how an organization should empoly the brainstorming techniques. The article shows the reader that brainstorming is key to the success of businesses because it enables them to create new and exciting ideas that can possibly give them a competive edge. The best thing about the article is that laid out that several steps to creating an environment conducsive to brainstorming and it also list several things that can literally smash any creative thoughts that a person might generate. Ryan Shelby 16:07, 22 January 2007 (PST)

[edit] Jordan Blum 16:15, 22 January 2007 (PST)

"The Task-Centered Design Process" I think that the article is very clear and concise, but also narrow-minded. The eleven steps presented by the author are coherent and logical, but not necessarily approriate or necessary for all design problems. I think it is always dangerous to set out a clear set of instructions for a task that is ultimately subjecvtive. Since solutions to design problems are never right or wrong, but rather good or bad, there cannot be one particular way to design. That said, the eleven steps presented by the author are at least broad enough that any two designers following the same steps could end up with vastly different soltuons to the same problem, which seems desirable.

“The Perfect Brainstorm” I really liked this article, particularly because I saw a T.V. special on IDEO's design philosophy, and I really liked the stratagies they employ. The article contains two lists: one of productive ways to facilitate brainstorming, and another of ways to kill brainstorming. Both lists, I think, are pretty comprehensive and contain good insights. As far as the first list, I think the two best stratagies that the author discusses are "3. Number your ideas," which to me echoes the way most designers work with trace paper, saving every iteration they make, and "5. The space remembers," which says that you should cover the walls with paper so that the minute a good idea pops out, there is space to put it down on paper.

[edit] Luis Guzman 16:27, 22 January 2007 (PST) 

My critique on “The Task-Centered Design Process.”

In general, people are, usually, technologically disabled or in other words do not know what they are doing when it comes to use a new device. The majority do not take the time to read the instructions, and that is why is the purpose of a designer and the manufacturer to come up with a version of the technological device that would be more complex but at the same time more users friendly. However, more often than not, “the best answer is to stick with what the users know, even if it does require an extra keystroke or two.” Through the use of many techniques we need to learn a new way to come up with ideas that will help rather than frustrate the user. As the article describes “a successful system has to merge smoothly into the user's existing world and work.”

My critique on “The Perfect Brainstorm.” The article deal with the pros and cons of brainstorming and how good it is to do so. It also argues that one should have/work in a fun environment. Anyways, the artic