Course Reaction

Bruce Mau's readings does not necessarily seem like a way of design thinking to me. It is a compilation of ideas that can be used throughout design.
Here are a few that stood out when I first read it.

Forget about good.
Good is a known quantity. Good is what we all agree on. Growth is not necessarily good. Growth is an exploration of unlit recesses that may or may not yield to our research. As long as you stick to good you'll never have real growth.

Process is more important than outcome.
When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.

Work the metaphor.
Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.

Don’t be cool.
Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort.

But I believe that all or at least some of these ideas can be applied to all the way of design thinking that we have read about it class and for our blogs. They may seem basic but they can be used as a starting point or as the foundation to your own way of thinking in all kinds of design.
Andrew as a designer still seems to be "behind the curve" compared to what Meredith and Ideo are doing. If Mau's ideas are the basis of design, Andrew still feels strongly in that type of thinking but doesnt hang on to it. He believes that it is progressing something more/different. Davis argues that design is backwards. That the way design is taught is going and has been taught the wrong way, or at least in a less effective way. She believes that line, form, shape, etc should not necessarily be the first thing to be taught regarding design. She wants to us to design and involve ourselves in a challenge that allows us to produce good design and has meaning. This is exactly the type of design that Ideo is aiming towards and accomplishing. They are trying to solve social issues, poverty, economic issues, health, etc. through design. They are trying to contribute to the world and society through design. And myself, this all relates to me because I am a design student. Luke seemed to try and teach or at least attempt to make us understand what each of these designs ideas are and how they relate. Are 2nd project seemed aimed mostly towards what Ideo is doing, but also incorporate the others thinking.

For my own design process, what I followed most was probably Bruce Mau's way of thinking. Forget about good, if you are too worried about the outcome, you are not focused on the process. The process is the most important part of the design, how you came to the decisions that you made, why you made them, etc. Good design comes from thurough process. Work the metaphor. Many things can elude or mean different things to different people. When I design I try to get across what exacty what I mean to. I do not want a design that look/seems like a cohesive mass of ideas. Also, dont afraid to explore and do something different. Just because someone else's design is widely popular, does not mean that it is the only good design. Just be careful when trying new ideas.