Intersection of user experience design and industrial design.

2. UX ROUNDTABLE
DESIGN PARALLELS ACROSS INDUSTRIES
6.28.2012

3. WHY THIS TOPIC?
How have you been able to make the leap from physical product
design to interactive development at the Nerdery?
GOOD QUESTION, WHY HAS THIS COME UP?
My background is in product design and development
I don’t have a background in Interaction Design
[as we know it here at the Nerdery]
Believe it or not there are some consistencies

4. NOTICE ANY OVERLAPS
IN OUR CURRENT
PROCESS YET?
THE PROCESS I KNEW
Strategy
Sourcing
Design
Tooling - Development
1st Round Development
2nd Round Development
Final Sample Development
Packaging
Production
Testing
Shipping

5. THE PROCESS I KNEW
Strategy
Sourcing
Design
Tooling - Development
1st Round Development
2nd Round Development
Final Sample Development
Packaging
Production
Testing
Shipping
NOTICE ANY OVERLAPS
IN OUR CURRENT
PROCESS YET?

6. THE PROCESS I KNEW
• Direction
Consider Problem/Market
• Comp Shop (Mass, Drug, Grocery, Specialty)
Research Solutions
• Trends (Materials, technologies, colors)
Design & Develop
• Design a framework, prototyping, mockups
Test Solutions
Evaluate Results
• Concept Generation
• Design Review
• Licensor Kickoff Calls
• Concepts Approval
• Spec Sheets
Strategy
Sourcing
Design .
Tooling - Development
1st Round Development
2nd Round Development
Final Sample Development
Packaging
Production
Testing
Shipping

7. WHAT IS
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN?
The use of a combination of applied art and applied science
to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics,
and usability of a product,
but it may also be used to improve the product’s
marketability and production.
[Wikipediade Noblet, J., Industrial Design, Paris: A.F.A.A. (1993)]

8. Align FORM & FUNCTION
Bridge gap between MARKETING & ENGINEERING
Defend product AESTHETIC through PRODUCTION
WHAT DOES AN
INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER DO?

9. 4 CLASSIFICATIONS OF INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
COMMERCIAL RESPONSIBLE EXPERIMENTAL DISCURSIVE
Commonly understood
as industrial/product
design. The design work
oriented toward, and
driven by, the market.
Socially responsible
design, driven primarily
by a more humanitarian
notion of service, and
ethics rather than the
market.
Primary intention is
exploration and the
design is defined more
by its process than its
outcome.
Refers to the creation of
utilitarian objects whose
primary purpose is to
communicate ideas and
encourages discourse.
Studio Dror folding chairAeron – Herman Miller Peter Gronquist$79.99 - Stackable

10. HOW IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT WE DO?
OR IS IT?

11. PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
AFFORDANCES
CONSTRAINTS
FEEDBACK
VISIBILITY
MAPPING
CONSISTENCY
How do I use it?
Why can’t I do that?
What is it doing now?
Can I see it?
Where am I now and where can I go?
I think I have seen this before?
A conceptual model is the mental model people have of the ‘system’. All that
users interaction with builds this model, including the physical properties,
documentation, icons and instructions.

12. AFFORDANCES How do I use it?
Refers to the actionable properties between product and person.
They exist naturally and they do not have to be visible, known, or desirable.
Note that there are both real (physical) and perceived affordances which exist but can play very
different roles in physical products than they do in the world of screen-based products.
A designer cares more about what actions the user perceives to be possible than that which is true.

13. CONSTRAINTS Why can’t I do that?
Refers to the restrictions of interactions that can take place. Use these effectively to
reduce the chance of error and focus user’s attention to needed tasks.

14. FEEDBACK What is it doing now?
Refers to the information provided from the system to the user. Feedback needs to be
immediate and synchronized with user action.

15. VISIBILITY Can I see it?
Refers to functionality that a product informs the user of and/or allows them to see.
Prioritizing functionality & allowing important factors to be visible directly impacts usability.

16. MAPPING Where am I now and where can I go?
Refers to the relationship to controls and the effect they have on an object. Placing
controls in a manner that is clear and natural to the user directly impacts usability.

17. CONSISTENCY I think I have seen this before?
Systems are usable & learnable when similar concepts are expressed in similar ways. Enable
people to quickly transfer prior knowledge to new contexts & focus on relevant tasks.
Consistencies exist in both FORM and FUNCTION.
It is important to consider consistency amongst INTERNAL elements within a system as well as
EXTERNAL elements within the environment.

18. THAT BEING SAID, LET’S HAVE SOME FUN WITH IT
These principles guide decisions we make whether products are tangible or
not and should remain at the forefront of our minds while we are designing.

19. LET’S DESIGN SOMETHING
6.28.2012

20. Questions?
THANK YOU.
6.28.2012