SEBASTIAN HEYCKE

// Projects>>> How I start developing design strategies

11_003.jpg
click picture to enlarge 		Date:
July 2006

Keywords:
presentation skills, concept, ideas, design strategies, post-it notes, reflection

Task:
Before writing the diploma thesis at our design department one has to do a 30 minute exam where you have to describe your projects and prove that you have become autonomous in what you have specialised in as a designer.


11_003.jpg
click picture to enlarge

11_003.jpg
click picture to enlarge 		My Solution:
The first thing I did while preparing for this exam was to see it as a task. As with every task I try to solve, I develop questions for myself. With these questions in mind I attempt to develop strategies and methods to solve it.
In the majority of cases, I take notes about the most meaningful terms, describing this task.
By playing around with these notes I try to discover patterns to divide them into category groups.

While doing this I realised, that this procedure was the most important experience I had learned and benefited from my course of studies.

At this point I started developing a concept to show this learning experience in form and content on one hand and to reflect the projects I did during my studies on the other...

As a visual hint I used post-it notes in my presentation to show that these design strategies have to be unique and flexible in each case because every task demands a different answer.

Finally, I presented the following concept:

I explained the design strategy I developed for the exam in three steps. These three steps were visually presented by post-it posters on the wall and supplemented by screens on my beamer presentation.


11_003.jpg
click picture to enlarge 		1.) I showed what terms I developed to reflect on my projects.

Just to mention a few terms:
  • reduce complexity
  • coincidence vs. control
  • curiosity
  • research
  • failure and confusion as a creative state
  • chaos management
  • stubbornness
  • various design disciplines (interface design etc.)


11_003.jpg
click picture to enlarge 		2.) Then I sorted the most meaningful terms by dividing them into the following three categories:

  • the development of professional skills
  • the development of methodical skills
  • the development of individual skills


11_003.jpg
click picture to enlarge 		3.) In the last step I showed that I could use this method to analyse and reflect on my projects by showing what skills (professional, methodical and individual skills) I developed most whilst realising the project in question.

After repeating the last step for six different projects, I drew the conclusion that what I learned most during my course of studies was (in the majority of cases) to be able to develop methods and find patterns to solve tasks, thus I could prove that I have become capable of acting autonomous as a designer.

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