Abstract
In user-centred design, a common ground that emerges is an orientation towards research into the needs and wishes of consumers. Hermeneutic phenomenology can be adopted by a designer to investigate her/his own activity and use of knowledge in designing. A reflection of this kind is presented here. It is based on design and research activities in the domain of product design, in which the realization of user-centred design was sought by means of preliminary user research, application of its results in design work, and evaluation of the outcomes through renewed user research. The outcome of the reflection is the formulation of a generative metaphor for further design and research. This generative metaphor is derived using analytic and exegetical approaches from hermeneutic phenomenology. Thinking of the designer as “an Indian who doesn’t know how to grow the maize”, it is proposed, addresses questions of an integrative view on the design task; the proximity between designers and consumers; and the use of projection to distinguish between users’ present situation and a potential future one. In exemplarily presenting this metaphor, the paper hopes to contribute to an already growing resource of knowledge in the discipline of design, and user-centred design in particular, on the possibilities, responsibilities and implications of designers’ professional activity.
Citation
Boess, S., Durling, D., Lebbon, C., and Maggs, C. (2002) An Indian who doesn’t know how to grow the maize, in Durling, D. and Shackleton, J. (eds.), Common Ground - DRS International Conference 2002, 5-7 September, London, United Kingdom. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2002/researchpapers/9
An Indian who doesn’t know how to grow the maize
In user-centred design, a common ground that emerges is an orientation towards research into the needs and wishes of consumers. Hermeneutic phenomenology can be adopted by a designer to investigate her/his own activity and use of knowledge in designing. A reflection of this kind is presented here. It is based on design and research activities in the domain of product design, in which the realization of user-centred design was sought by means of preliminary user research, application of its results in design work, and evaluation of the outcomes through renewed user research. The outcome of the reflection is the formulation of a generative metaphor for further design and research. This generative metaphor is derived using analytic and exegetical approaches from hermeneutic phenomenology. Thinking of the designer as “an Indian who doesn’t know how to grow the maize”, it is proposed, addresses questions of an integrative view on the design task; the proximity between designers and consumers; and the use of projection to distinguish between users’ present situation and a potential future one. In exemplarily presenting this metaphor, the paper hopes to contribute to an already growing resource of knowledge in the discipline of design, and user-centred design in particular, on the possibilities, responsibilities and implications of designers’ professional activity.