Microsoft Imagination _ Richard Harper

Tuesday, 10 February 2009

Microsoft Imagination _ Richard Harper

Professor Richard Harper gave a lecture on how we communicate to discuss our own ideas. He especially, talked about how designers are different from scientists. We try to show how a design outcome looks good when we give a presentation, rather than consider the process. As a result, scientists would not understand how we arrive at the result.

DESIGN => OUTCOME + PROCESS ?
I wanted to talk about a mutual relationship between the design outcome and the process. Which is more important? Can you say one way or the other? In my undergraduate years in Korea, professors did not seem to care about the processes involved in our projects. They marked only on the final presentation of our projects, so we always tried to achieve perfect finish. Finally, we had the professional skills for the design outcome. On the other hand, we rarely, if ever, considered the processes in any of our projects. We sometimes made the final design outcome first and then made a process of the outcome!

Incidentally, I had a kind of culture shocked in 2003, when I studied at the University of Swinburne in Melbourne, Australia as an exchange student. They also considered the process of the project, as herein Dundee but the design outcome did not look as well finished, compared with that in Korea. I was confused at that time. The length of each project was greater than in Korea and there were middle presentations to show what we were doing. This was really hard for me to get used to. I cannot say, however, which is more important between the process and outcome because both of them are equally needed to achieve the optimum end product.
In addition, the Master of Design course is, for me a new experience in progressing my project. In the past, I learned a specific process, in order to achieve my design outcome. I have now realised that I have had a very narrow thinking thus far.

I have, however, strayed from the main theme of my journal! When Richard talked about how to explain our own ideas to others, this story, however, suddenly came to my mind.

We need to use various ways of communication, so as to help understanding. We should try to use tools we have and use them to develop in different ways.