What is the insight？
This week’s MACD teaching resource gave me an insight into design. I used to have the impression that insight was based on lots of factual data, but that’s not the case. Data is only a tool to help us think, not a direct mental output that we create during the design process.
In some specific design projects, we need to look at the potential factors in consumer behaviour from the perspective of consumers, which belongs to the “people-oriented” design concept. But that doesn’t mean designers are consumers. It sounds like a mouthful. From the perspective of the public, designers imagine themselves as consumers and listen to the needs of consumers, which is quite correct design thinking. However, it is more appropriate for designers to explore some of the underlying motivations behind consumer behaviour. And help consumers to solve problems and create value.
What is described above is the perception based on the teaching materials. In advancing the actual course project, we should grasp the critical elements of insight to practice.
I found five key aspects of insight in a fascinating article:
- context
- dilemma
- why
- motivation
- ideal
For example, as we move forward with Project 4, we can use these five key elements to check if we’re on the right track. As for me, in the process of my investigation and research on how overseas students classify garbage, I was obsessed with looking for solutions through various data at the beginning, which was incorrect. The correct way should be to simulate the psychology of overseas students and analyze why they fail to classify garbage correctly. Do they care or do not understand? And look for some creative solutions, such as incentives to encourage overseas students to do garbage sorting. Although the process of looking for is complex, I still want to proceed.