Stealing is good, but consider your context
Wowza! You know that feeling when you realise you’ve been doing something inefficiently since forever!?
That happened to me recently. Twice!
Coming from a mechanical engineering background I have been taught the waterfall model of design where your final product is largely inhouse with little user research or testing performed. This largely involved iterating on an already released product and adding ideas from competitors.
Undertaking a design thinking course as part of my Masters in Interaction Design has given me a HUGE upheaval in my design process. But my ego wasn’t damaged. Why? Because I’ve learnt the direct application of Picasso’s popular musing
“Good artists copy. Great artists steal”
Within modern society, stealing is often associated with criminals and wrong doing. But consider for a moment that the Graphical User Interface so popular on Windows PC’s was ‘stolen’ from Apple. Is stealing now so wrong?
Epiphany #1: Stealing is good … sort of
Those who have seen Picasso’s quote previously may understand that it is talking about borrowing ideas in order to create your own original piece of work. In design thinking we have learnt that this stealing is vital in all stages of the design process, but as I will explain below, copying is the worst direction to follow.
Copying involves taking an idea and making little or no changes.
Stealing involves taking from many ideas and forming your own.
Whilst enjoying the learning curve that is design thinking, my amazing tutor has religiously posted examples of great ideas linked to our core course topic of social inclusion within urban environments. These ranged from Coca Cola commercials through to interactive displays which push the reaches of technology. One incredibly successful design was called ‘Before I die …’ which encouraged people to record their bucket list items.
This design has been been copied to over 2000 individual contexts, in over 70 countries, and over 35 languages. Yet it does not work in 100% of contexts.
What I learnt from this process is that whilst an idea can be copied, it is not necessarily going to work in your own context.
Ignoring all the legal and ethical reasons behind copying, if an idea is to work in a new context it needs to be appropiated for that context. Each final product is simply the final product of a long design process. And whilst we can steal ideas to help build our own idea, the consideration of context will inevitably produce a concept far different, and more effective, than any we have stolen from.
However we can garner several deep thinking insights by stealing from inspirational (and failed) designs:
- Innovative ways to use technology
- Interesting ways people can interact with their environment and each other.
- Efficient ways to attract and keep attention
Epiphany #2: Consider your context
Our design thinking course focused on social inclusion within the urban environment of the Cultural Centre in Brisbane.
The Cultural Centre by name defines itself as the center of culture in the city. As an area it contains an array of cultural facilities, and with this an implied status of a melting pot of culture.
Considering the context is a much bigger part of design than simply copying and applying an amazing idea. Context is an aspect of design that needs to be considered in all aspects of the design process.
Step 1: Empathise
It is of this stage in the design process that context is perhaps the most critical. In sociology terms they speak of building a ‘thick description’ (Geertz, 1973). This thick description is a built up understanding of the context, but is never complete.
To build this thick description and develop an understanding of our context, we were introduced to several design research methods. Whilst we could have copied the research from previous studies done on the bridge, it was imperative that we perform our own research to develop this thick description which is only possible by immersion in the field.
Our team headed out to the Cultural Centre a number of times to gain further understanding of the Cultural Centre. And the results were staggering.
By observing and interviewing users at the Cultural Centre we were able to develop a number of personas that in a way summarised the diversity of the area. Additionally we gathered a number of insights that provided us with an glimpse of how social inclusion currently occurs (or doesn’t occur) on the Cultural Centre.
Step 2: Define
Before field research was undertaken we did have some inkling of possible directions to go with our design. But they were thrown out the window. By empathising with the people located on the Cultural Centre we were able to identify a number of issues specific to the context. Namely from my notes:
“People are not observed talking to strangers, yet are very happy when we talk to them”
We were further able to develop a set of criteria that are unique to our identified and researched context.
Empathsising with the specific context of the Cultural Centre has allowed us to develop a set of requirements that are unique. Several of the requirements above have come directly from immersing ourselves in the context:
- Create community: Based on contextual observations that there is no one single community that individuals identify with.
- Promote communication: Contextual observations showed our team that strangers did not converse.
By understanding the context and developing a set of criteria based on the context, we have already changed the design direction from other ‘successful’ designs.
The effect of context flows through out the design process, and has significantly effected requirements defined in this section of the design process.
Step 3: Ideate
The ideation part of the process is perhaps the one where stealing comes to forefront. We are able to grab parts from different ideas (successful and failed) and use them in our own.
However as discussed above, the context has influenced our design requirements and as such will effect the ideation.
In this section of the design process we can begin to see where several prior successful social inclusion projects may fail within our own context.
Take for example the Moments of Warmth design below.
This concept seems to fit in with the bus interchange located on the Cultural Centre also. However when we compare it to our context it fails in an number of areas. Brisbane is a much warmer climate, and additionally commuters in the Cultural Centre had been observed to “walk fast and with purpose”.
Each idea needs to be continually linked back to the context in order to produce an idea that is valid for the concept.
Step 4: Prototype
Whilst our prototype is still in its construction stages, context has had a heavy influence on the design and build.
Our initial prototyping was the undertaking of a body storming. This was undertaken within the confines of our cosy design studio. Yes we did get valuable feedback on many aspects of our design, yet there were still one main question left unanswered. How would real users interpret our concept?
Additionally as the prototypes are constructed it has been realised that not all aspects of an idea that we envisioned have been possible within our researched context. For example a big consideration in our context is the use of language. English is not the first choice many identified users of the Cultural Centre, and as such our prototyping had to ensure that limited use of language was emphasised.
Step 5: Test
Testing comes in many forms.
Yes! Again we needed to examine the responses of people within the Cultural Centre context. Being at a university we can easily ask university students to assist in testing, but there are plenty of identified differences in the context:
Examples of contextual differences:
Cultural Center has many tourists. University has many students.
Cultural Centre is surrounded by entertainment. University is surrounded by study areas.
Any testing done within the context of the university would clearly be skewed away from the results we would gather at the Cultural Centre itself. This may result in a concept iteration moving in a direction opposite of the optimal.
As mentioned above, the ‘thick description’ of the context is never complete. During the testing stage we will once again be in direct contact with potential users. Design research methods such as observations and interviews can further refine our knowledge of potential users. Our prototype makes use of coffee, and assumes (from theoretical research) that users have a positive attitude towards coffee. This is one major insight we are looking to gain on the context in our next iteration process.
A better society
It is clear that considering the context will dramatically change the outcome of the design process. As a result a concept can have a greater positive effect on the context it was designed for.
Whilst stealing an idea may work in context, it is far better to gain an understanding of your context first before moving through the design process.
We can see several negative side effects of simply stealing ideas:
Legal
Legally due to the copyright, patents and trademarks we are unable to directly copy designs. There are several legal cases each year with technology companies suing because another has simply copied an idea.
Ethically
Design is like artwork. It is the result of a long process involving many iterations and countless hours on research, prototyping and testing. You wouldn’t steal a bike, but would you steal a great design?
Failure to innovate
Growth is a key aspect of todays economic theory. Countries which innovate have a higher potential for growth. If you simply copy the idea of another and apply it to your context you have no chance of getting ahead. The best you can be is the best that your competitor is. As a result the society itself will fall behind.
Failure in the market
As discussed in the ideate section above, another design will not simply be successful because it was successful in another context. Concepts need to be tested and iterated upon in order to best serve the identified needs of the target users.
To produce the best possible result, the design process must be followed in its entirety. Ideas can be stolen as inspiration, but the design process will soon show you that your own design will be a much better fit. Design in itself is a way for society to move forwards and continually adapt to our ever changing world.
