Workshop / Examining Design
This workshop emphasizes processes for examining design. More specifically, during the workshop, you will examine a designed object to determine what are its essential design elements, and how those elements contribute to its purpose(s) and function(s).
Workshop Objectives
- Examine a design to determine its essential elements/components, features, and functions.
- Demonstrate understanding of that design through your analysis of it.
- Communicate relevant details about your object of study.
Submission Checklist
- Post your summary report to the Canvas Discussion forum dedicated to this workshop.
Workshop Details
This workshop requires you to examine a design of some sort with the purpose of understanding its purpose, function, and core design elements from a user's perspective. Conduct the preliminary work of selecting and examining a design with one or two partners. Submit your own Summary Report.
During this workshop, you will complete 3 tasks.
- Select a designed object to examine.
- Examine the designed object.
- Craft a summary report.
Select a Designed Object to Examine
Wander through a space to which you have easy, convenient access. Note the design of the spaces themselves that you encounter. Note their contents. Choose one designed object from a space as the focus for your work here. It can be an object (e.g., chair, ATM, fountain), or a space (e.g., door/doorway, hall, room). Note the details below that you are expected to gather and communicate before you decide what thing to examine.
Examine the Designed Object
Note the essential details of the design. As you work, take as many photos of the design as is necessary to show it in detail. Photograph the object from multiple perspectives. If possible, photograph the object as it is being used.
Record the following details about your object of study on a page or screen that you can share later.
- Purpose(s). What purpose is the object designed to serve? What obvious problem does it solve? What less-obvious purposes does the object serve, and what less-obvious problems does it solve?
- Relationship to the space it occupies / place where it is encountered. How does the object relate to the space it is in? Is it designed for the space it is in, or is the space designed to accommodate the thing? Is the object part of a larger whole, or does it function independently of other objects?
- Physical characteristics. What are the most important physical characteristics of the design relevant to its purpose? Also identify 2 to 3 physical characteristics of the object that are not important to its function? Consider why those qualities might be as they are?
- Features, components. What are the most important features/components of the design relevant to its purpose?
- Function(s) by feature. What function(s) tie to each feature/component?
- Primary user group. Who does the design serve, primarily? What does that tell you about the design? What does that tell you about the assumptions made by the designers?
- Other user groups. Who else does the design serve? What does each prospective audience tell you about the design? What does each tell you about the assumptions made by the designers?
- Comparison to similar objects. How would you evaluate the design of this object in comparison to other objects like it?
- Overall impressions. What are your overall impressions of the object? Is it well designed? Poorly designed? Why would you suggest that is so?
Note other details as well, based on what you think is important to the process of describing and examining that object of study.
Craft a Summary Report
From your notes, compile a 400-word summary report that describes and assesses the design your team examined. Assemble your report directly in the Canvas Discussion forum for the workshop. Organize your report into four roughly equal sections.
- Description. Draw on your notes. Include relevant detail, and whatever explanation is necessary to make clear what you are describing.
- User Group. Draw on your notes. Include relevant detail, and whatever explanation is necessary to make clear what you are describing.
- Assessment. Draw on your notes. Include relevant detail, and whatever explanation is necessary to make clear what you are describing.
- Lessons Learned. What can you learn as a designer from this object of study?
I have deliberately left some details for you to determine. Construct a document that feels professional in detail and design.
Post one or more photos of the design in your summary report.
Submission Guidelines
Post your summary report to the forum dedicated to this workshop on Canvas Discussions. Attach your digitized (PDF, JPG) notes page to your post.
Note: I provide some visual guidance in the discussion forum for determining how long your report should be. However, the real standard you seek to meet here is that of sufficient appropriate detail. In general, summary reports ask you to provide enough detail to demonstrate to peers and to me that you understood the activity on which you report, and that you completed the workshop as described. If your report is too brief, or if it lacks concrete, specific detail, expect to earn fewer than 50 points for your submission.
Evaluation Standards
This section describes the standards by which your work will be evaluated for this workshop. Attend carefully to these details. If you do so, you will earn full credit for the workshop.
Evaluation Summary
There are 50 possible points for this workshop. You will earn points according to this standard.
- 50 points (full credit) for a complete summary report with accompanying notes page that meets the specifications defined in this description.
- 40 points (partial credit) for work submitted that does not fulfill all of the posted workshop requirements, or that is submitted late, but within 48 hours of the posted deadline.
- 0 points (no credit) for work that is submitted more than 48 hours late.
A Note to Instructors, Colleagues, and Others
If you are here because of random chance, or because this content came up in a search, then poke about, and read if you see something useful or interesting. If you are a teacher in any context and would like to use any of this content in your courses, feel free to do so. However, if you borrow this material, please do two things:
- Give me credit for my work in your class; and
- Share with me that you are using this material. If you adapt or alter the content, please share with me how you did so. (I appreciate seeing the ways that others apply the ideas I have developed.)