Learn Design Process/Thinking from an Orangutan
Recently a video shared by Nakhonratchasima Zoo on Facebook went viral; it was of a smart orangutan in Thailand designing a hammock. She clambered up in her cage and fastened a piece of fabric together, forming the perfect spot for a nap.
I was amazed to see people’s reactions and comments about how surprised they were to see Nemo The Orangutan building the hammock. The surprise element was not that an Orangutan was building a hammock, but she was iterating to make it perfect.
Image courtesy to Nakhonratchasima Zoo
So how does Nemo teach us prototyping (or design process or design thinking whatever term you would like to call it)? Let’s break down her steps to build a perfect hammock.
Steps:
- Resource: Nemo picked the fabric or sheet that was lying in her cage.
- Build: She fastened the fabric to the cage to make the hammock.
- Test/Validate: She climbed in and tried sleeping in it.
- Identify the problem: It was too short for her to fit in comfortably.
- Find a Solution/Iterate: She unfastened one end, lowered it, moved it further and re-fastened it.
- Test/Validate: She climbed in, tried sleeping in it, and was content to find it perfect.
Lesson learned:
1. Identify the need? Nemo was very clear she needs a hammock to take a nap. Often time we forget the actual need and get caught up in a vicious circle of problem-solving. Focusing on the real requirement is critical.
2. Resource: While designing or prototyping, designers often struggle with the type of fidelity, tools, and other resources. The best way is just to get started with what you have.
3. Build-Test-Iterate: These three steps together make a golden cycle in the design process. This cycle should be rapid and fast. The sooner you build something, the earlier you can test to identify issues. You continue to go through this cycle until the real requirements are met.
[Real Requirement is the key — if it was a human designing a hammock; it is quite possible that the solution would have escalated to finding clamps, hooks and bigger piece of fabric or maybe even better quality of fabric]
This process is not just something that one can apply while designing but actually while solving any problem. Think of a solution to the problem, test it, see if it works, if not identify why it failed and iterate on your solution.
Link to the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g2FIZohfXc
