[Situated Design Methods (Design Thinking, Design Theory)] [Author: Simonsen, Jesper] [August, 2014]

by Jesper Simonsen

A handbook of situated design methods, with analyses and cases that range from designing study processes to understanding customer experiences to developing interactive installations.All design is situated--carried out from an embedded position. Design involves many participants and encompasses a range of interactions and interdependencies among designers, designs, design methods, and users. Design is also multidisciplinary, extending beyond the traditional design professions into such domains as health, culture, education, and transportation. This book presents eighteen situated design methods, offering cases and analyses of projects that range from designing interactive installations, urban spaces, and environmental systems to understanding customer experiences.Each chapter presents a different method, combining theoretical, methodological, and empirical discussions with accounts of actual experiences. The book describes methods for defining and organizing a design project, organizing collaborative processes, creating aesthetic experiences, and incorporating sustainability into processes and projects. The diverse and multidisciplinary methods presented include a problem- and project-based approach to design studies; a "Wheel of Rituals" intended to promote creativity; a pragmatist method for situated experience design that derives from empirical studies of film production and performance design; and ways to transfer design methods in a situated manner. The book will be an important resource for researchers, students, and practitioners of interdisciplinary design.

Genres: Design, Art

Hardcover

First published July 18, 2014

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a PhD student in an American design school, I especially appreciate this book for its Scandinavian perspective, which is not obsessed with how design methodologies can drive economic growth for business, but pays serious mind to the creation of social value for citizens (how refreshing!) and to the creation of systems and products that work for the people who use them.

Though many of the methodologies described in the book are not new to me, it is interesting to see how the authors point to various theoretical and philosophical underpinnings; some of which were new to me and why I found the references listed at the end of the chapters particularly interesting and generative relative to my own research.

I will definitely be revisiting the chapters on Soft Design Science Methodology and Urban Co-creation.