Design thinking needs to challenge conventional thought process. That’s when innovation happens

From the time people started interacting with each other, they have always been curious about how differently other people conduct and go about their lives which is not similar to their own. Over the centuries these exchanges has happened voluntarily or have been brought about by trade movements or territorial invasions. We can trace this cultural evolution through Indian history. Let us take a look at the events that shaped the ethnographic landscape of the India over last few centuries.  Impact created my movement of traders via The Silk Route   In 138 BCE, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty of China (202 BCE – 220 CE), sent his emissary Zhang Qian to the west to negotiate with the Yuezhi people for help in defeating the Xiongnu. Zhang Qian’s journeys resulted in him coming in contact with varied cultures & civilizations in central Asia. The northern Mesopotamian province (present-day Iran) became China’s preferred partner in trade, as part of the Parthian Empire, opening ...

Ethnography  is a naturalistic observational method that emphasizes the detailed observation of people in a naturally occurring setting.  An ethnographic approach in Human Centered Interaction originates from social anthropology. Social anthropology is a study of human societies and cultures.  So, what does it really mean?  In a nutshell,  studying the targeted group of people and their culture!   Who are these people? What is their profession? How do they spend their day? What do they believe in? What factors of society they most influenced by? What language do they speak? Etc.  Questions like these breaks down the concept of  ‘the study of people and cultures’.   And data derived from studying these questions can be used to design better solutions to the wicked problems. For example, in India, one needs to understand and study the different regional groups, their languages, their cultures, the society they live in, etc., in order to cre...

Before, the outset of book buying and delivering companies like Flipkart or Amazon in India, the whole book purchasing experience was mostly going to the bookstore, browsing the books and then buying what you like with limited options of payment like cash or occasionally card payments. Chances were you won’t even find a book you really have your heart set on because bookstores have a limited capacity of stock holding. User experience to the rescue- Consequently, Amazon has overturned the very idea of book buying and delivery solutions from across the world to your doorsteps. Today Amazon dominates the online shopping industry. As Brian Reed says, ‘everything is designed. Few things are designed well.’   Amazon is all about delivering a premium user experience by keeping the customers’ needs as the foundation.   Amazon operates through websites, mobile apps, m-sites and what not. Amazon promises each customer a personalized shopping experience, a wide range of...

Have you noticed how the tea kettle is designed? Why is it designed differently from other pots that hold liquids like water? It is because the tea kettle holds boiling hot liquid which needs to retain that temperature till it gets consumed.  It also needs to serve the purpose of pouring the hot tea into small cups, without it getting cold while doing so. Hence the kettle is designed with a handle to lift the hot pot. A spout is incorporated so that the liquid can be carefully poured into the small cups with ease while retaining the required temperature. Now imagine using the regular water pot for storing and serving tea. You will probably end up burning your fingers; mess up the place while pouring tea and it will most likely be served cold! Human mind is capable of imagining far more sophisticated solutions to problems when we are faced with constraints. The kettle demonstrates that someone successfully overcame the problem of handling hot tea and could elegantly serve it...

Information Architecture — Navigation Navigation is the way in which a user will cruise through the information provided in the product to achieve his end goal. This is a crucial component because if the navigation does not guide the users properly, it can lead to frustration and eventually the product will end up losing the users. Information can be organized in many ways to make it available to the users in an efficient way. The different navigation patterns are: 1. Single page pattern: This is a very simple pattern meant for small websites where all information is fit into one single page 2. The flat pattern: This is meant for simple websites where the topics available are few and they all are arranged as peers, that is, no hierarchy. 3. The index pattern: This is a simple pattern with one single index page that points to different pages. 4. The hub and spoke model: This is where the users can access several workflows that start at a single poin...

Information Architecture — Labeling Labeling Labels represent bigger chunks of information. You can say it gives a visual representation of the structure of the information. Labels can be textual or iconographic. Types of labels Textual labels : These are texts which are hyperlinked to another page of information. It ideally tells in a word, what the user can expect if he clicks on it. The different kinds of textual labels are: 1. Contextual links: These are texts within a content which is hyperlinked to further information or to another page. 2. Headings: These are used to describe chunks of information. It has to be obvious and inform the sequence of the hierarchy. 3. Navigation systems: These are the labels used for navigation system. For instance, Main page, home page, search, FAQ, Contact us, About us etc. These labels should be consistent. 4. Index terms Iconic labels: These are labels that are pictorial and represent the information it can lead to or cont...

What is information Architecture? Imagine a national library where a person walks into find a book for reference. But upon reaching, he sees that the entire lot of books is piled up on the floor. He now has to pour through each pile to check where the book he wants is. Chances are that he eventually gets frustrated and walks out grumbling. That is, if he had not given up just upon seeing the pile of books in the first place. Would it have not been easier had each book been arranged in a certain sequence to make the task of selecting a book easier? The primary task of Information Architecture is to take the information (read it as an overload of information) in our hand and arrange and structure them to make it usable for the users. What is information Architecture? A kitchen is a place of everyday use. Most of the activity that happens in the kitchen is complex and between it all a few things are taken for granted because it is never thought about in any other way- the wa...