how design thinking works, or: design thinking unpacked: an evolutionary algorithm?

Why “design thinking” works?

Or “Design Thinking Unpacked: An Evolutionary Algorithm”J. M. Korhonen & L. Hassi

in this presentation- why design thinking works- when does it work- what does it mean in practice

“Design thinking”-like approach in practice is defined here as:

- multidisciplinary teams- human-centred exploration- fast and iterative prototyping

(process perspective; Jahnke 2009)

“what designers do”

Design is defined here as aknowledge-generating activity

Product development =

Product development =search for best possible designs

Imagine an (almost) infinite library of all designs...

(cf. “The Library of Babel” by Jorge Luis Borges)

Trinity College, Dublin

If we visualize what’s in the library:(mobile phones section)

Differences in design

Differences in design

Differences in design

Differences in design

Differences in design

Utility (fitness for purpose)

Differences in design

EXAMPLE CASE: Janne’s choice, 2004

Utility (fitness for purpose)

Differences in design

EXAMPLE CASE: Janne’s choice, 2004

Utility (fitness for purpose)

X

Differences in design

Utility (fitness for purpose)

X

Differences in design

Utility (fitness for purpose)

Differences in design

Utility (fitness for purpose)

FITNESS LANDSCAPE

Differences in design

Utility (fitness for purpose)

PERFECTLY ORDERED (NON-RANDOM)

Problem type: Defined, quantitative

Differences in design

Utility (fitness for purpose)

ROUGH-CORRELATED (REAL LIFE)

Problem type: Wicked, qualitative

What does rough-correlated fitness landscape mean in practice?

Usually, small changes have small effects on fitness for purpose...

Mirra Chair (c) Herman Miller

But sometimes, small changes can have large effects on fitness...

Mirra Chair (c) Herman Miller

Mirra Chair (c) Herman Miller

?? ?

Mirra Chair (c) Herman Miller

[x] Metric[x] Imperial

On the other hand, some large changes may have only small effects on the fitness for purpose...

Mirra Chair (c) Herman Miller, Office Chair (c) vcf.com

Differences in design

Utility (fitness for purpose)

ROUGH-CORRELATED (REAL LIFE)

How to reach the highest possible peaks?

The optimum strategy for getting to the top in rough-correlated landscapes:

evolutionary algorithms

Informal definition:Algorithm is a process that performs some sequence of operations

Differences in design

Utility (fitness for purpose)

EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM

X

Differences in design

Utility (fitness for purpose)

EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM

X

XX

X

XX

Differences in design

Utility (fitness for purpose)

EVOLUTIONARY ALGORITHM

X

XX

X

XX

evolutionary algorithm =- radical experimentation- incremental improvement - test, eliminate, retain

evolutionary algorithm =- diversity of ideas- iterative prototyping- rapid real-life testing

evolutionary algorithm...?- multidisciplinary teams- human-centred exploration- fast and iterative prototyping ≈ evolutionary algorithm...?

Evolutionary algorithm

Radical experimen-tation (lots of ideas)

Incremental improvement

Test, eliminate, retain

“Design thinking”

Multidisciplinary teams

Human-centred exploration

Fast and iterative prototyping

Some implications:- Explaining “design thinking”- When to use design thinking(- NPD process modeling)(- Technology S-curves)

Provisional theoretical explanation: why design thinking works

Provisional theoretical explanation: why design thinking works (and where it works best)

In short, design thinking-like approaches may be theoretically near-optimum strategies when the fitness landscape is rough-correlated

In short, design thinking-like approaches may be theoretically near-optimum strategies when the fitness landscape is rough-correlated(that is, in most cases)

Could we estimate the proper exploratory/exploitative (inductive/deductive) mix in actual projects?

Could we estimate the proper exploratory/exploitative (inductive/deductive) mix in actual projects?Could this affect resource planning?

When to use design thinking

Differences in design

Utility (fitness for purpose) Problem type: Defined, quantitative

NOT GOODPERFECTLY ORDERED (NON-RANDOM)

Differences in design

Utility (fitness for purpose)

ROUGH-CORRELATED (REAL LIFE)

Problem type: Wicked, qualitative

GOOD

HOWEVER, when “zooming in”by defining the problem better,

qualitative can become quantitative

Problem type: Defined, quantitative

Well-defined problems are best solved through formal, analytical approaches

...of course, getting to “well-defined” is the trick: engineers are really good at finding answers, but how to ask the questions?

janne.korhonen@seos.filotta.hassi@tkk.fi

www.seos.fiwww.aaltodesignfactory.fi

FI(n)NISH