Good Design
Workshop Design
Duration
5 weeks
Role
Design Consultant & Facilitator
Good Design is a workshop aimed at creating a space where design students and faculty have conversations about what they thought “good design” was.
With acknowledgment of design discipline lacking space for feedback and critique, our goal was to reevaluate the modes and methods to ensure our practice doesn’t create further harm to the communities we work within.
With acknowledgment of design discipline lacking space for feedback and critique, our goal was to reevaluate the modes and methods to ensure our practice doesn’t create further harm to the communities we work within.
Project Background
Problem
Our client, a design school, aims to integrate diverse perspectives into their educational practices. However, they feel the current disciplines lack space for reflection and critique. To avoid contributing to harm within communities, the institution seeks to establish opportunities to address challenges, re-evaluate previous practices, as well as share methods to create better design practices within their academic communities.
Our Solution
Create a platform for reflection and dialogue on "What is Good Design?" This broad topic allows design actors to have various personal reflections and diverse approach exchanges. By extending discussions beyond educational contexts, participants can connect their practices to real-world concerns, enriching honest reflection on the impact of design in society.
Objectives of the Workshop
Explorative
offer a creative and safe space for reflection, questions, and discussion about design practices and their impacts.
Evaluative
facilitate discussion to critique current design practices of both individuals and organizations.
Linking
invite students to engage with professionals in the field, facilitating valuable exchanges of perspectives on design practices.
Workshop Planning
Participants
Among them were students, faculty members, and experts from various design disciplines.
*a list of individuals we invited prior to advertisement
Mood
To achieve this, we focused on creating a comfortable atmosphere by paying attention to details like lighting, furniture arrangement, artifact design, spatial layout, and catering provisions.
Structure
Part 1. Interaction Discussion
During the interactive discussion segment, we provided various tools strategically placed throughout the workshop space. These tools allowed participants to individually or in groups, respond to prompted questions about "What is Good Design?" in a relaxed and informal manner, fostering brainstorming and comfortable conversations about design with others.
Part 2. Presentations
Participants who had expressed a willingness to share their own tools for conducting “Good Design” prior to the workshop introduced their practices. As facilitators, we reorganized the space into multiple stations where participants could engage with the introduced tools, gaining valuable insights and perspectives.
Workshop Operation
Part 1: Interactive Discussion
Tool A: Interactive Wall
This interactive wall prompts participants with questions about Good Design, fostering focused discussions and diverse perspectives. It encourages sharing of experiences and feelings, enhancing understanding among participants.Tool B: Love Letter to School
Love Letter to School is a tool for students and faculty to express appreciation and suggestions for improvement. Inspired by dating apps, it metaphorically explores the love-and-hate relationships within the educational institution and broader community.
Tool C: Barnraiser
The Barnraiser, created by Public Lab, is a 1-page “newspaper” designed to summarize written thoughts and share various stories in a lighthearted, succinct, and low-burden manner. During the workshop, we created the Barnraiser with stories and ideas shared by Good Design participants. This allows individuals to easily and holistically capture the workshop’s conversation in a comfortable and accessible format.
Part 2: Presentations and sharing of design tools
Tool A: Wool Combing
Aisha, a graduate student who shared the tool, explained that wool combing helps her slow down her thought process, allowing her to approach problem areas with a more relaxed mindset.
To facilitate this practice, we set up a cozy corner in the workshop where participants could engage in wool combing while verbally and individually sharing ideas.
Tool B: Idea Sticky Cube
With six different colored sticky notes stuck to each side of a cube, Khipra, an industrial design professor, explained that he utilizes the cube to gather diverse ideas around a concept.
According to Khipra, this approach allows a more comprehensive analysis and critique of a design concept, enabling consideration of a wider range of factors in concept generation.
Tool C: Idea Rotation
Anonymous participants introduced a novel approach involving four drawing boards, each allotted a limited amount of time for designers to generate ideas based on a designated topic.
By the end of the sketching session with rotation, a diverse range of ideas per drawing pad emerges, enabling designers to view and introduce their concepts to one another effortlessly.
They introduced that this tool is effective in the initial concept generation phase, right after user research to ensure incorporating everyone’s thoughts in the idea building.
Things Discussed
Next Step
Learnings
Throughout the workshop, our Good Design team became more convinced of “design power” to empower communities, bridge gaps in ability and accessibility, and positively impact lives. However, we also acknowledged the potential for design to cause harm if power dynamics and identities are not considered.
Understanding these complexities, we recognized the need for more space to openly discuss these ideas, share diverse perspectives, and explore various Design practices. This dialogue is essential for nurturing our shared beliefs and expanding our knowledge, ultimately fostering a more holistic approach to ethical Design.
**Addition