4 ms·

...so it's just plain old thinking then.

taneq 8y ago
Virtually all methodologies like this boil down, in the end, to an attempt to codify "be smart and do the thing." When I was younger I (foolishly) derided software engineering as 'a way to get code out of people who aren't smart enough to program'. Now I see it like any other power tool - something which lets you do work that you wouldn't otherwise be able to tackle. No matter how smart you are, there's always some problem that's out of your intuitive reach, but which you could solve with a structured approach.
booleandilemma 8y ago
Try selling books and convincing others that you are a thought leader with plain old thinking though.
- krick 8y ago
  Taleb does.
cam_l 8y ago
"People Think They Are Thinking When They Are Merely Rearranging Their Prejudices" -author contested
TheOtherHobbes 8y ago
No, it's not plain old thinking then. Far too much software has almost no concept of user empathy. Example: yesterday I installed a new webcam. I was supposed to use a captcha to create a new account, and the captcha kept not working. After roughly half an hour of searching I discovered that the captcha didn't work in Europe, but it did work if you set the locale to US. Coincidentally, charges for the webcam cloud backup are much higher in the US. Did a manager decide to ban the EU and force everyone to use the US pricing? Did they tell the developers to make the change as quickly as possible? Did the developers and the sales team forget to inform users? Did something go wrong somewhere else? Who knows? As with many products, the user experience was irritatingly hostile and irrational, and the result was a firestorm of one star reviews on the App Store and Amazon. I have no idea if design thinking could have fixed this problem, but more empathy, thoughtfulness, and attention to detail from the industry as a whole can't possibly be a bad thing.
atoav 8y ago
I am a designer (and a programmer), and yes: a lot of what (good) designers do is plain old thinking, but it is a certain kind of thinking. It is a question of focus. A designer will be all about the users, their experience etc. If they manage to make manufacturing/servicing/etc better at the same time – great! But in doubt they will go with the user. A sysadmin would be focused on what is easy to maintain and won't create more work down the road. A lazy person would try to find a solution, that movers the workload to a different entity altogether. A engineer would mostly be concerned about reusing things that already exist in a clever way, with a aesthetically low standard: "Why are you complaining? It looks just like the thing company X made". It might be more durable, cheaper and a tiny bit more inconvinient to use. A business person is mostely focused on how much it costs and how much potential sales there are. A marketing person is mostly focused on the emotional visual part (see bad designer) and if they are good they will figure out what it is the customers like about the product (and if they are bad they make it pink for ladies and metallic with racing stripes for blokes). All of these "thinking hats" have a reason to exist, but only one is really focused on the details of how the customer will interact with the thing you sell them in a day to day basis. Good designers on top of that will try to take the thing in a historical context: just because it is the way it is right now, doesn't mean it is the way it should (or could) be. The iPhone is a good example.
maire 8y ago
Everything seems common sense except ethnography. An understanding that there are people who think differently than me is difficult for almost everyone. Ethnography was created because mass marketing started to break down. It broke down because people are not the same.

Virtually all methodologies like this boil down, in the end, to an attempt to codify "be smart and do the thing." When I was younger I (foolishly) derided software engineering as 'a way to get code out of people who aren't smart enough to program'. Now I see it like any other power tool - something which lets you do work that you wouldn't otherwise be able to tackle. No matter how smart you are, there's always some problem that's out of your intuitive reach, but which you could solve with a structured approach.

booleandilemma 8y ago

Try selling books and convincing others that you are a thought leader with plain old thinking though.

krick 8y ago
Taleb does.

cam_l 8y ago

"People Think They Are Thinking When They Are Merely Rearranging Their Prejudices" -author contested

TheOtherHobbes 8y ago

No, it's not plain old thinking then. Far too much software has almost no concept of user empathy. Example: yesterday I installed a new webcam. I was supposed to use a captcha to create a new account, and the captcha kept not working. After roughly half an hour of searching I discovered that the captcha didn't work in Europe, but it did work if you set the locale to US. Coincidentally, charges for the webcam cloud backup are much higher in the US. Did a manager decide to ban the EU and force everyone to use the US pricing? Did they tell the developers to make the change as quickly as possible? Did the developers and the sales team forget to inform users? Did something go wrong somewhere else? Who knows? As with many products, the user experience was irritatingly hostile and irrational, and the result was a firestorm of one star reviews on the App Store and Amazon. I have no idea if design thinking could have fixed this problem, but more empathy, thoughtfulness, and attention to detail from the industry as a whole can't possibly be a bad thing.

atoav 8y ago

I am a designer (and a programmer), and yes: a lot of what (good) designers do is plain old thinking, but it is a certain kind of thinking. It is a question of focus. A designer will be all about the users, their experience etc. If they manage to make manufacturing/servicing/etc better at the same time – great! But in doubt they will go with the user. A sysadmin would be focused on what is easy to maintain and won't create more work down the road. A lazy person would try to find a solution, that movers the workload to a different entity altogether. A engineer would mostly be concerned about reusing things that already exist in a clever way, with a aesthetically low standard: "Why are you complaining? It looks just like the thing company X made". It might be more durable, cheaper and a tiny bit more inconvinient to use. A business person is mostely focused on how much it costs and how much potential sales there are. A marketing person is mostly focused on the emotional visual part (see bad designer) and if they are good they will figure out what it is the customers like about the product (and if they are bad they make it pink for ladies and metallic with racing stripes for blokes). All of these "thinking hats" have a reason to exist, but only one is really focused on the details of how the customer will interact with the thing you sell them in a day to day basis. Good designers on top of that will try to take the thing in a historical context: just because it is the way it is right now, doesn't mean it is the way it should (or could) be. The iPhone is a good example.

maire 8y ago

Everything seems common sense except ethnography. An understanding that there are people who think differently than me is difficult for almost everyone. Ethnography was created because mass marketing started to break down. It broke down because people are not the same.