Role of designer

Design philosophy

"Design philosophy" is simply someone's philosophy on design: what they are trying to accomplish with design, and, more importantly, what one thinks design should accomplish.

Basically, it's someone's way of spelling out exactly what they think the purpose of design is, what it's role is in the process of completing a project. Some think aesthetics have nothing to do with design. Some think design follows content, not the other way around.

Function over form

Dieter Rams inspired a generation of designers, including Jon Ive, with his philosophy of making a product useful, above all else. Under his reign, no product passed through the Braun assembly line without an intense focus on function over form.

“My aim is to omit everything superfluous so that the essential is shown to the best possible advantage.” – Dieter Rams

Simplicity

It doesn’t matter whether you are designing a boat or a boot, simplicity always works. Strip things down to their essential, core purpose and you get the most fundamental, simplified version of the object.

As Jonathan Ive, easily the best known proponent of simplicity in modern design, says:

“Simplicity is not the absence of clutter, that’s a consequence of simplicity. Simplicity is somehow essentially describing the purpose and place of an object and product.”

Aiming for ‘WOW’

Milton Glaser, the legendary graphic designer who made some of the world’s most recognizable logos and graphic art, once said:

“There are three responses to a piece of design — yes, no and WOW! Wow is the one to aim for.”

The “wow” is shorthand for a powerful, visceral reaction to visual images. Aim for wow, and everything else will fall into place.

Form and function are one’

Frank Lloyd Wright coined the phrase “form and function are one” and spent his life creating organic designs. This was a decidedly post-modern approach to design –instead of focusing on form (like most contemporary designers), Wright focused on creating integrated designs that flowed easily into the surrounding terrain.

“Form follows function – that has been misunderstood. Form and function should be one, joined in a spiritual union” – Frank Lloyd Wright.

Deconstructivisim

Although Frank Gehry would be the last one to align himself with a school of design, much of his work has been obsessed with deconstructivism — destroying all traditions and rebuilding things in your own vision.

“Life is chaotic. Buildings should reflect it” – Frank Gehry.

THE ROLE OF DESIGNER

Today design is still about innovating within the same parameters and driven by the same ambition, but applied to a much broader specter of challenges, where the designer is part of a value chain where in-novation – that reaches far beyond material outcomes – is addressed by multi–disciplinary teams. Thus the role of the designer has increasingly become that of facilitating qualified choices by individuals, enterprises or society between real and more sustain-able alternatives than current ones – rather that creating more of what’s already there. Design is all about attractiveness, sensuality, aesthetics and functionality, about real people and real problems, about individuals and their encounters with systems, about encouraging responsible behavior and choices, about challenging our prejudice ,about fellowship and ownership, commonality of reference and cultural diversity, about expressing identities – for the individual, for groups of individuals, for corporate entities and for societies at large; design is all about ”people, profit and planet”.

Design for global, environment and social

Design fundamentally builds on an analysis of what could possibly be done to improve the perceived quality of any given situation. Design respects the sensual sensitivity of

the user. Not only the visual, but rather the combined and rarely rational sensual

reaction triggered by the experience. If the solution resonates aesthetically with the

user, it will automatically be perceived as relevant, thus somehow appeal to any one

out of numerous forms of engagement. In the case of a physical object, it might incite

usage or merely visual or tactile enjoyment. A well designed service or relation invites

the user into active engagement, while well designed –most often visual  communication is more easily and immediately understood  increasing the probability of

the user actually relating to the message communicated..Design is also a means of promoting involvement, inclusion and coherence by offering

access to products and services that are often  and rightly so  perceived exclusive

and prohibited by many because of their physical or mental impairment, or simply

because they are different from the vast majority.

Design and designers can neither save the planet nor humanity on their own. However,

design and designers can make a significant difference and contribute to a development

that matches the more optimistic rather than the most depressive scenarios being

discussed globally.one of the roles of design will be to define the needs and aspirations that future technologies should fulfil. Many emerging economies face a historical choice. Should their people have the right to experience the same material growth as the western world and

thereby perpetuate our pressure on the earth

All designers have an influence on the future of the earth through their work,

and they can all work towards more sustainable solutions and to optimize the products, services or environments they work with within the limitations of the task at hand.

One important factor for more sustainable production is the choice of materials

and suppliers. In a globalized world, an increasing part of the actual manufacturing takes place in poor countries. Thus, a meticulous choice of suppliers and demands

of both environmentally and socially responsible behavior could influence hugely on as

different parameters as the living conditions of the workers and their families and the overall environmental consequences. More than three out of four decisions directly influencing on the final choice of materials and manufacturing processes are made in the design phase.

the most important role of design today is to ensure that the most responsible solution  whether design driven or driven by technology  is also perceived by the client and the user as the most attractive. One of the most effective ways of achieving this is to create products that are more meaningful to the individual and that are kept and cherished rather than being disposed of and replaced long before their functional lifetime has come to an end.

The User-centered design

The User-centered design (UCD) process outlines the phases throughout a design and development life-cycle all while focusing on gaining a deep understanding of who will be using the product. The international standard 13407  is the basis for many UCD methodologies. It’s important to note that the UCD process does not specify exact methods for each phase. 

According to Userfocus , there are multiple principles that underlie user centered design. Design is based upon an explicit understanding of users, tasks, and environments; is driven and refined by user-centered evaluation; and addresses the whole user experience.  The process involves users throughout the design and development process and it is iterative. And finally, the team includes multidisciplinary skills and perspectives.
The following are the general phases of the UCD process:

• Specify the context of use: Identify the people who will use the product, what they will use it for, and under what conditions they will use it.
• Specify requirements: Identify any business requirements or user goals that must be met for the product to be successful.
• Create design solutions: This part of the process may be done in stages, building from a rough concept to a complete design.
• Evaluate designs: Evaluation - ideally through usability testing with actual users - is as integral as quality testing is to good software development.

There are many variations of the UCD process.  It can be incorporated into waterfall, agile, and other approaches. Depending on your needs, the user-centered design process is composed of several methods and tasks. What you are developing, your requirements, team, timeline, and the environment in which you are developing will all help determine the tasks you perform and the order in which you perform them.