Video Reflections 1: David Kelley - Human Centred Design

Before watching David Kelleys presentation on human centred design, i had an implanted idea that design was always meant to be produced for the users while the approach that David Kelley took was to also design with the user to create a product that was personalized and seemed to almost be a part of the user. The video allowed me to see design from a different perspective and to take into account a number of different factors when looking at new ideas or ways to improve existing products.

I found a number of topics very interesting in this video but the one that stood out to me the most was the research on how to make a cubicle more "friendly". The idea of wanting the walls of the cubicle to hug rather than enclose the person within those walls generated some very clever outcomes. It shows that designing is not all about brainstorming and making models to come up with ideas. It also includes putting a person in an inanimate object to make it almost human, to have a personality that a person can interact with. The flowers that were placed on the cubicle walls that wilted and bloomed as a person would come and go made me realize that not only did it put some emotion into the cubicle, but it also made the user feel wanted. It seems very shallow but the feeling when you enter a cubicle and all the flowers blossom would brighten anyones day.

The next topic that i found interesting was how design could be personalized depending on the context it was designed for. I found this very outstanding in the designs for the Prada store and the museum in London. Both were designed to suit the nature of what was happening in the building and for the people that would go to these places. The designing of these places not only considered what was going to be in the area but also the cultural role that it would play to the customers. The Prada store being a high end fashion store wanted to be unique so that it made their costumers also feel unique. This demand was met by the store having its own custom technology from the magic mirrors that allow customers to see their backs to the store scanners.

Although this video talks a lot about personalizing technologies to their users, it also talks about a different type of human centred design such as the water pumps designed for Kenyans allowing them to grow crops during the off season. This type of design is not so much the personality of the product but the usefulness it is to the people it was designed for. These water pumps were designed specifically for those who need water during the seasons of drought but the pumps are also made of a simple pumping mechanism so producing a lot of these would not be a big problem. This products meets the needs of the users and also allows for itself to be made by what it's composed of.

To sum everything up, this video was a great learning process to me as a viewer but it would be informative to anyone else who isn't necessarily in the design industry but wants to be informed with what is happening in the world on technology and design. The way that products are rearranged, personalized and customized to meet the needs of their users is something i aspire to do in the future.