Assignment 1

In doing the reading on OpenIDEO, I was taken aback on the standards and practices on how design and design research is/was conducted. It seems strange to me to remove empathy from any part of the design experience. Ultimately, things are designed to be used by humans. Though this sentence seems like stating the obvious, I felt that the human part of the design experience gets lost if there is the removal of empathy or understanding. Moreover, it feels as if could produce an environment of ‘getting lost in the sauce” of design in removing that element. I get that the online element exist to streamline and make projects more efficient. I am very much pro-efficiency and streamlining, I just feel that in doing that it is important to not become or let the product become sterile or created in a vacuum. My other point would be that not all people have access to online platforms and that how do those people not get lost and accounted for?

In changing the balance of the company, they focused on team restructuring and the removal of competition within groups and the organization as a whole. Though at face value this seems like a really good thing, I know that in my own personal life I have learned the most from good healthy competition. I am a big believer in a gentle nudge away from complacency. But, I do think that the insuring that all ideas are heard and respected is beneficial to company culture and morale. I think there is a way to streamline design online but I would encourage the inclusion of empathy, making sure work is properly credited, and lastly making sure that just because it is being moved online does not mean that any voices are getting lost.