Becoming an interaction designer: DSI 08 — week 3

Welcome! My name is Cecilia Alessandrini and I am the founder of Noi Siamo Vapor, a strategy and innovation design studio, based in Italy.

It was 2007 when I attended the Taideteollinen Korkeakoulu, the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. It is 2022 when I found my notes of that year.

The following words are my thoughts back then and the process that took me to whom I am today.

Design Strategy and Innovation 2008 with Prof. Peter McGrory

week 3 –21.01.08–25.01.08

This week we develop further more the scenario thinking and vision-building processes, whilst spending more time on forecasting and back-casting methods.

The “PESTE” model is the first aspect to gain my attention. The five factors illustrated in the model, i.e. political, economical, social, technological and environmental, are the universal drivers applicable to all the projects. The chart turns into a powerful implement when it comes to analyze which of its drivers are more suitable for the current project.

In theory everything seems pretty easy and smooth, but I must admit that I felt very insecure when it came to apply it to my “Enhance creativity” project. The “PESTE” model touches so many different facets, it involves plenty of variables I found it hard to use. I started to ask myself: “Am I thinking about the right example? Am I missing any fundamental standpoint?”

What I enjoyed the most during the lecture on Monday is the speech by Baroness Prof. Dr. Susan Greenfield concerning “The Future of the Mind”. Prof. Greenfield used all her wit to show four different future scenarios starting from the analyses between the “People of the Screen versus People of the Book”.

The “Screen Culture” has got several effects either on the thinking and the identity of people. The consequences can be a shorter attention span, no conceptual framework, preference of the process over the content, a strong visual sensibility and the loss of identity, due to the so called “Yuck and Wow” attitude.

The topic of the workshop on Wednesday is a deep analyses of the process used by the most famous designers and consulting offices.

My group discussed Karim Rashid, the arrogant New York City based designer. At first it has been very hard to absorb his philosophy, I find tough to accept the denial of problem solving in the design process. But somehow I managed to calm my nerves and I focus on the reason of such international success.

The shape of his products is very appealing due to the predominant curvilinear style. Moreover the colors are bright, so the consumer’s eye is well excited. The objects look fairly friendly, suitable for different environment and some of them are affordable.

In conclusion, I keep an eye open on Mr. Rashid’s work, but I do not feel keen to follow his approach.