What is Design?
Bill Moggridge

Bill Moggridge’s talk on design is one that provided me with some basic examples of good design and bad design. He talks a lot about some of the good designs he has come across, but also points out that you need to look at bad design to understand what a good design is. He provides some important insight on some of the processes, such as prototyping and also some insight into designing for people. 

Moggridge discusses how everyday products in today’s society are designed, whether they are good or bad. A main example he looks at is a new technology in Japan, where the user can purchase drinks from a vending machine using just their mobile phone device. In the video it took the user 35 minutes to purchase one drink. I instantly knew this was not a very successful design, although it may have the potential to be successful. The designer of this technology did not fully understand the design process and would have conducted minimal research with minimal testing and model making. The way Moggridge talked about this example, made me understand that a sophisticated design process will usually bring about success in a product. 

Another key aspect of design Moggridge discusses is designing for people, this idea is similar to what David Kelley talked about in another talk. Bill Moggridge emphasises how designers should not design for themselves, but rather for people of varying age, gender, needs and ethnicity etc. He talks about a few stages when designing for people. The first was to learn, which involved analysing the information you have collected. Next process was to observe people to find out about their needs. I find this step quite important, since it is difficult to understand peoples need just by talking to them, but rather observing how people live their daily life. 

The example Moggridge uses is the initiative by the Bank of America, where they created an automated savings system that benefited the users.  This example of good design was successful since it helped those who were struggling and gained many participants, making this concept successful and appealing. I quickly learnt why this type of design is good design, the Bank of America observed people and how they struggled to save money, and they then took initiative and designed a system that benefited the user. 

The examples of good design that Bill Moggridge talks about in his video made me realise how good design is different from bad design. The use of sophisticated design processes, along with the extensive research and observation of people will usually bring about a refined design.

Sunprit Singh