Design methods

"It´s extremely easy to get feedback from users.
It´s extremely difficult to analyze the feedback right."

In a technical society and global economy, design is getting more and more of influence and importance. We are in touch with dozens of interfaces daily (for example when paying a train ticket or starting a movie in your DVD player) - and bad design can have fatal consequences.

There are hundreds of design methods. The ones I have been using and testing out, are within the field of User-centered/Participatory design, Usability testing/Expert design and Interaction design. While most companies can´t afford playing around with all these methods (but stick to best practice), I have been able to test out and play with lots of methods in my studies.

Here are some bits and pieces from different design sessions:



Prototyping a game using candy.


Card sorting. Each picture has a picture that expresses a mood, feeling or action.


Context modelling. Make it easier for the user to explain her work flow was as she had a tangible map to express and remember better.


Context modelling.


Field studies in a construction area.


Drawing product sketches, express ideas.


An experience prototype from an exhibition. People´s reaction (empathy for the goldfish - which would die if people didn´t do anything or pumped too much air in) to the "sculpture" was the base of the studies.


Using expert competence, here from a hospital.


Exploring materials and putting them in a system.


Telling a story in a tangible way.


Mapping data from user studies in 3 dimentional space.


Mapping of data after a user study.


Mapping/grouping experiences.


Multi-user mapping using a wall.


A set of persona dolls for telling a story.


Presenting abstract data using posters.


Prototyping.


Prototyping in various materials.


Presenting results from a user study using senses, as an alternative to PowerPoint. The boxes had different content, and the people´s reaction was a part of the studies. In background a map with pictures from the user study.


Story-boarding.


A simple/basic prototype, but with an element of "eye-candy" style. The red handle is inspired by Scandinavian design.


Technical mapping of screens in a device.


First iteration of prototype test. The project was a screen-based system for improving health in a workplace.


Tinkering using different material.


Tinkering with people in an exhibition.


Usability lab testing. Photo courtesy of Kraftvaerk.


Usability lab testing. Photo courtesy of Kraftvaerk.


Early user studies of an existing product.


Interview. From a hospital.


Shadowing (Fly-on-the-wall) a user. From a water plant.


A system of redesigned elements.


Video card game, sorting video clips from user studies in teams.