Here is a good example of a design which looks beyond the simple functions of the product to the emotional perceptions and requirements of the user.

The Playpump is used to pump water in schools in such places as South Africa, Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia. It is essentially a windmill on its side. Unlike other pumps, the Playpump is designed to be driven by children in play, who use the wheel as a merry-go-round.

Water pumps are placed in areas of high drought and provide drinking and irrigation water. They greatly benefit the surrounding areas and are seen as something to be celebrated. Designing a pump which incorporates the play of children, takes this emotional element into account. Its design combines the function of the pump with the celebration of its installment and use.

Rather then the traditional approach of designing emotion into a product, the Playpump is a manifestation of emotion generated by its presence. It is an interesting perspective to consider when trying to design that ‘must have’ product.

Photography is one of my favourite user-centred research tools. Simply put, a photo allows you to show someone else who wasn’t there. Often we get asked in workshops about getting permission to take photographs at a client’s business. Or how to get access to someone in their home, which is a personal space. The answer could be as simple as give a camera to the person instead.

Anthony Levin-Decanini reconnected after meeting a few years back at a design conference. He worked on a project called Aphasia Talks, that used photography as a method to give a voice to stroke victims who suffer difficulty producing, using or understanding words. Aphasia can impair any or all of the abilities to speak, read and write. What a fantastic approach to empower people to communicate, as well as build empathy with a particular group that would have difficulty communicating their needs.

PhotoVoice is a research technique, as well as non-profit organisation whose mission is to bring about positive social change for marginalised communities through providing them with photographic training with which they can advocate, express themselves and generate income.

A fantastic example of design innovation, from a pig farm in Canada!

Mary Haugh versus 3,000 pigs in a barn. Her husband indisposed though ill health and she had to herd all their pigs. Now, traditionally a “chase board” is used to a guide and angle those pigs, too heavy for her and too short to be of much effect alone. Mary needed something new to be able to manage and set about solving the problem. Her solution cuts the time required to move the hogs by 70%, has won two prestigious innovation awards and become a commercial success.

She noticed that the pigs hesitated whenever they passed by the bright red chase boards. She wondered if the colour itself affected the pigs and whether a length of red fabric could be used as a long, flexible chase board. The pigs turned every time. Prototyping the idea with her brother she developed a roller based system that weights 14kg, extends to 15m and can be hooked into a gate post to be operated by one person.

All the classic hallmarks of the design innovation process are present; observation, imagination, experimentation, prototyping and delivery of the idea as a product. The innovation process may have happened far from a design studio and Mary never attended design school but the LongArm, her trademarked invention, is a good as it gets.

Check out the National Hog Farmer article for more

Photograph by Christopher Lamarca

The lessons that Amy Smith has learned developing the phase-change incubator, screenless hammer mill and sugarcane charcoal in the Third World are equally applicable to any design project. You might ask how “try living on $2/day” is relevant to everyday design projects. Sounds like deep understanding of those you are designing for to me.

I especially like the idea of providing skills, not just finished technologies. How does a solution go beyond just solving a problem and actual enable people to create solutions themselves?

For more, check out Amy Smith’s TED talk.

Michael Grossman of the User Experience Arts blog recounts the presentation by Alex Lee, CEO of OXO at this year’s GEL Conference. (A personal favourite of mine from the States.) In order for a idea to become commercialised at OXO, it must be intuitive to use, obvious in function, provoke thought and inspire re-use. OXO also discounts the value of verbatim customer feedback. We’ve also found that people are often bad at articulating needs and frequently do things they would never tell you. I can only assume the insight to develop the Angled Measuring Cup came from watching people bend over to get level with traditional measuring cups.

When we begin our workshops on user-centred design, we have participants peel an apple with several different peelers (including an OXO peeler). The participants, regardless of design experience, are quickly able to list all the positive and negative attributes of each peeler, and through a few minutes of experience, have done some great design thinking around creating the perfect peeler.

The Adaptive Path blog recently highlighted an Adobe employee that was using the comic book format to communicate research findings. Not only is the presentation more compelling than your standard presentation or report; comics place characters (people) into the context of a story. The dialogue is their own (user-centred) and communicates emotion (empathy). This method certainly isn’t for everyone, but if you are intrigued, read an interview about the work that inspired her.

Shaul Schwarz/Reportage, for The New York Times

In an article nothing short of fascinating, The New York Times follows Nokia’s user anthropologist Jan Chipcase on his design research visits to the developing world. The mobile phone, one of many objects of convenience to most of us, is transformed within a new context.

Something that’s mostly a convenience booster for those of us with a full complement of technology at our disposal — land-lines, Internet connections, TVs, cars — can be a life-saver to someone with fewer ways to access information. A “just in time” moment afforded by a cellphone looks a lot different to a mother in Uganda who needs to carry a child with malaria three hours to visit the nearest doctor but who would like to know first whether that doctor is even in town.

Simple user insights lead directly to new design features.

Influenced by Chipchase’s study on the practice of sharing cellphones inside of families or neighborhoods, Nokia has started producing phones with multiple address books for as many as seven users per phone.

However, more than just an expose on user-centred design in practice, the article explores issues of identity, the role of technology in the lives of others and design for self-actualisation.

Of additional interest is Future Perfect, the personal blog of Jan Chipcase and a collection of “thoughtless acts” images and descriptions.

Pushing technologies on society without thinking through their consequences is at least naive, at worst dangerous, though typically it, and IMHO the people that do it are just boring. Future perfect is a pause for reflection in our planet’s seemingly headlong rush to churn out more, faster, smaller and cheaper. Somewhere along the way we get to shape what the future looks like.

Design Delivers is a one-day workshop run by the Centre for Design Innovation. In this highly interactive session, you will learn practical tools for identifying your key customers and applying design research tools to extract meaningful insights that can be developed into product and service offerings.

The first half of the day focuses on user-centred design; what it is, why it is important to your business and how to do it. You’ll be taken through a straight-forward process of applying user-centred design (Identify, Look, Involve, Try, Plan). Each step will be illustrated using tools that can be applied after the workshop. Why would you want to invest resources to develop ideas or services your customers don’t want or need?

The second half of the day will focus on branding. Branding adds value to your business, helps you differentiate your offering from the competition and helps you connect with your customers. A brand is not a logo or an identity, it is much more. You will learn why branding is important to your business, as well as the components that make up successful brands. Convey your message more effectively and consistently. Sell your products and services at a premium. Attract better customers, distributors, partners, suppliers and staff.

What have past participants said about the day?
“Practical tools to bring back to the workplace.”
“This kind of seminar should be available as soon as you enter into business. Day one.”
“Informative and essential for any discerning SME who wants to drive value in their business.”
“Like the interaction exercises … I hate sitting and listening for hours solid. Thanks.”
“It has taken the blinkers off to what design can be and do for the business.”

Why should I care?
Research conducted by the Centre has proven that Irish businesses who use design innovate more often, more effectively and compete less on price. Companies that integrate design at the highest strategic levels are 2.5 times more successful than those that do not yet only 15% of organisations use design at this level. Why? One of the reasons may be they just don’t know how. Begin to learn how during this one-day workshop.

How much does it cost?
The event is fully subsidised by the BMW Assembly and is free of charge to organisations in the BMW region of Ireland.

Is one day enough time to learn this?
Our goal at the Centre is to help demystify the design process and provide tools that allow you to use design thinking for yourselves. When it is time to undertake more detailed work you will feel more confident and empowered to brief the appropriate expert to provide you with further support. You’ll get a lot of value from the day.

Where and when will it take place?
The workshop will be run three times, with the second session taking place Tuesday, April 29th, from 10-4PM at the offices of the Centre Design Innovation, Room G1003, Business Innovation Centre, Institute of Technology Sligo campus. Please RSVP to Justin Knecht, Programme Manager, justin@designinnovation.ie.

via Aesthetics of Life, Tastes Fine

The user-centred approach Sohrab Vossoughi of Ziba speaks about in this post could apply to all health care systems. The fact remains that a healthy workforce is a more profitable one. Vossoughi dubs the new era the Age of Empowerment and groups health care experience innovation into three groups: self-care, service innovation and Internet-enabled.

User-centric experience innovations need not be relegated to businesses using design to establish a loyal bond with their customers. Applying time-tested design methods to a national institution like health care can help ensure that our citizens not only have affordable care, but that the quality of the care actually empowers them to live the lives they desire.

Not getting your daily fill of user-centred insights? TMTBOX Media have pulled together a list of their Top 100 User-Centred Blogs. Though very heavy on the interface side of user-centred, you may find a few feeds to add to your own list of favourites.