In the lecture about design research Haibo focused on the development process from an idea to a prototype. His hypothesis was that one should spend 90% of time at the definition of a problem and only ten percent at the actual solving of the problem. He illustrated this with a story about a professor and a student who were trying to run away from a hungry bear. The professor defined the problem as to outrun the bear - which is just impossible. Whereas the student defined the problem as outrunning the professor. The conclusion of this story is, that the way of defining a problem makes all the difference between success and failure.
If an idea has been defined, how can you measure whether it is a good one? Haibo suggested money as a measurement of the greatness of an idea. But I find this problematic since it is not always possible to define the worth of an idea in money. Who would have guessed that Facebook would turn out into such a great (in terms of value in currency) idea?
Moreover, I doubt that it is always a good strategy to define the worth in money. Human beings tend to want to have things which might not be best for them. Maybe someone would earn much more money by developing a cream which can remove wrinkles than developing a cure for lets say Alzheimer, but that would not mean that the latter one was not the greater one of these ideas.
In conclusion I can say that I am not sure whether I learned that much in this lecture. I also think that the way of viewing a problem is a very important part of the research. But most information in this lecture was a highly personal view of Haibo which is why I think that one can question his views.
In my opinion the lecture about research design was more difficult one. The definition of design was a way of reconfiguring what is already there, to take a different point of view. That somehow matches with Haibo’s opinion about the importance of how to look at a problem. The design of a study it might help you finding accurate methods to gather relevant data and eventually gain more knowledge in a certain area. Furthermore, it was said that design everything in between coming up with an idea and realizing the prototype.
Another important concept was design as empirical data. This concept is based on the assumption that design contributes to the research and therefore is also just a result of the original idea the research is founded on.
The concept of research through design has been introduced. It consists of the parts of design practice, design studies and design explanation. In this case design is used as a way to explore a concept.
The second lesson seemed to contain more scientific concepts of research and design even though it was more difficult to understand.
Hi,
ReplyDeletethanks for an interesting reflection. I also learnt last week that solid definition of the problem leads to success ideas. Talking about money as an evaluation background of ideas, I would say that Haibo used the definition of money in a broader context. I wrote down that idea should make an impact on particular field and solve the current problem. Usually, if the idea reveals the problem, make an impact, then business interest will come automatically as it was in Facebook case. I agree with you that definition of designing research is a tricky one cause it depends from which perspective we are looking. But I will not agree with you that designing research and empirical data expand your knowledge. As it was said during the lecture, method is a way to look at data, but knowledge is gained through analysis. Good luck with your last assignments, the finish is just next to the corner!
Hi! Thank you for this interesting post. Your discussion about the making money on ideas that can be important for us as human beings was interesting, and I totally agree with you on that but I think at the same time that it is very sad that for example beauty might come before health in some cases. I like the discussion about that you define the problem first, I think that you might get another point of view if you analyze the situation and the problem and I will try to remember that for the future.
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteYour reflection was very personal and I personally liked that because it gives a great idea of what you've learned and if it is any good. I agree with you that Haibos lecture was hard to not look at with a critical view since he didn't really speak from a general point of view but rather his own. I also agree with your thoughts on valuing ideas in money. As you said a solution to alzheimers should always be valued higher than a anti-aging creme but if valued in money it may not be so, the anti-aging creme may bring in more money.
A really great reflection that I had fun reading!
/Maria
Hi!
ReplyDeleteAn interesting and good exposition of theme 5, with a lot of interesting discussions. One of the most important key concepts from this theme was the need to define a problem and its implications it has on the design research. You highlights this in a great way and your discussion is interesting. Well done!
/Paul