Uncertainty worth tolerating in design
05.11.2013
In conceptualising new services, getting a moment of insight might involve a long wait. Patience is nevertheless worthwhile, according to a recent doctoral dissertation.
M. Sc. Salu Ylirisku, who is defending his doctoral dissertation at Aalto University, examined a design process in which a new kind of multi-channelled map service was developed for those moving around in nature. Ylirisku examined what happens when the same people meet each other repeatedly and talk about the concept of a mapping service.
The study revealed that the idea of a concept emerges only after the initial phase. That is when the resources for an idea are built, and it may take a long time before anyone knows where things are going.
Principles emerge from profound learning
In the mapping service conceptualisation process, the so-called project-specific learning emerged clearly. The term is of Ylirisku's own creation, and it refers to learning that takes place during a project. The initial vision of direction and goals can be quite different from what comes out at the end of the process.
‘In project-specific learning, the moment of insight is significant. That is when a change takes place: people start to speak differently about the object being planned and about what is good and appropriate. The significance of the moment does not come out until later in action and in speech.’
If learning is profound, principles emerge which guide choices that are made in the planning process. Maximising the map experience became a principle in the mapping service project. The aim was to make the map dynamic in a way that allows the user to be in as direct interaction as possible with the map's contents.
New theory of design
Ylirisku's dissertation is both empirical and theoretical. It examines the much talked-about conceptual design - planning that moves forward primarily with the help of speech, drafts and modelling.
For academic research the work offers a theory on project-specific learning. Learning taking place in design projects has not been examined as closely or as deeply in previous studies.
For a designer, the work offers both practical hints as well as a basis for planning the process.
"Uncertainty is worth tolerating. Even if there is initially no clear view of the final outcome, it is still possible to move systematically ahead in the right direction, to produce resources for thinking, and finally to reach a clear perception.
Defence of dissertation
Salu Ylirisku's dissertation ‘Frame it simple! Towards a theory of conceptual designing’ will be examined at the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture on 15 November at 12:00 noon, lecture hall 822, Hämeentie 135 C, Helsinki. The opponent will be Professor Ellen Christiansen of Aalborg University. Professor Jack Whalen of the Department of Design will act as custos.
Further information:
Salu Ylirisku
tel. +358 40 720 2778
salu.ylirisku [at] aalto [dot] fi
Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture