Navigate
Topics
- Design
- Flavors of the One Love
- Humans
- Information Architecture
- Politics
- Science
- Technology
- The Kitchen Table
The Asilomar Institute is dedicated to advancing and promoting information architecture.
Copyright 1992-2004 Victor Lombardi
Doblin's Short, Grandiose Theory
Thanks to Zap -- who invited me to a panel on design methods (.ppt) at the IA Summit -- I finally got my hands on a (photo)copy of Jay Doblin's A Short, Grandiose Theory of Design, an article from the 1987 STA Design Journal. In its seven pages Doblin presents a straightforward and persuasive argument for design as a systematic process. Quick notes:
- For large, complex projects, it 'would be irresponsible to attempt them without analytical methods.' He cites the existence of a too-common 'adolescent reliance on overly intuitive practices.'
- He contrasts direct design in which a craftsperson works on the artifact to indirect design in which a design first creates a representation of the artifact, separating design from production in more complex situations.
- He outlines a generic process of design: STATE 1 -> ANALYSIS -> GENESIS -> SYNTHESIS -> STATE 2
- Analysis is deciding what is relevant, then detailing and structuring it
- Genesis is expressing the concept, what Terry Swack used to call expressing the intended user experience. In some ways it is model building.
- He demonstrates using a 2x3 matrix of performance/appearance vs. products/unisystems/multisystems (increasingly complex artifacts or combinations of artifacts).
- In the end, he brings it back to a focus on business, reminding us the core issue is to compete effectively
Monday, April 26, 2004 | Permalink | Filed in Process