The Design Process in Six Steps

There are many variations to a design process, some work better than others, some not so well. Personally, in my secondary schooling, I followed a particular design process that worked quite effectively, in terms of understanding and proficiency, and it can be summed up into a six-step process (Chicago Architecture Foundation, 2012-2019).

I used this process for all three design briefs in my Design and Visual Communications course - Product Design Brief, Presentation Brief, and Spatial Design Brief.

Discover Design Handbook (2012-2019). Chicage Architecture Centre: The Design Process. Retrieved from https://discoverdesign.org/handbook

STEP ONE was to define what problem existed in the specific scenario or design situation. (P Lloyd, P Scott. 1995). This allows us to understand the extent of our issue and give insight into what possible solutions there may be.

STEP TWO was to research and collect as much information surrounding your issue as possible to create a better understanding of the issue and grasp inspiration from relevant sources.

STEP THREE was to start to brainstorm and analyze the ideas you have preconceived to get a better visualization and understanding of your ideas to then know what would work best as a pathway for a solution.

STEP FOUR was to develop. Continuously change, enhance and play around with your concepts to outstretch your field of view to different possible design solutions. This helps change perspective and add more innovative outlooks to design solutions and I usually refer to my research in order to come up with a new take on things. This includes beginning to prototype and create more thought out solutions.

STEP FIVE was to gather feedback. Share your ideas, get different perspectives on your solution to provide more insight into your solutions and help notice what you could do to improve.

STEP SIX was simply to improve. After getting feedback, the next step is always to reflect and then choose a course of action. Personally, I like to develop and look back on my research again as it helps refine my design solution more as well as infuse a detailed design process into my head.

This is the design process that I followed, and I found it particularly effective because research and development adds depth and understanding to your work and allows better design solutions as a result. All steps worked to come up with a better solution for my design problem. However, there is ALWAYS room for improvement, so that's why I recommend going over the process as many times as you see fit till you have a satisfactory result. This design process worked quite well and I guess what wouldn't work quite well is the possibility that you become too complacent with a solution that you don't understand the need to evolve your idea or the opposite where you will never be satisfied and do excessive and unnecessary development. However, this design process created a foundation method for all my creative projects and I highly recommend it.

Here's a brief look at the design process incorporated into my Spatial Design Brief:

WORKS CITED:

Chicago Architecture Centre (2012-2019). Discover Design Handbook: What is The Design Process? Why is it Helpful? Retrieved from https://discoverdesign.org/handbook

P Lloyd, P Scott (August 1, 1995). Difference in Similarity: Interpreting the Architectural Design Process. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1068/b220383

Jane Darke (July 1997). Design Studies: The Primary Generator and The Design Process. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0142694X79900279#!

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