Basics Design: Design Thinking

Basic design directions

Design Thinking

Idea generation

Once the overall design direction has been chosen, the design team needs to

think about how this will relate to the design direction of competing products,

brands and organisations. Will the design solution be different or similar, will it

stand out or blend in with competitors?

Point of difference or unique selling point (USP)

The point of difference or unique selling point (USP) is the combination of

values and attributes that differentiates a company or product from all other

similar companies or products. As such, it is a form of divergence as it involves

moving away from the designs used by similar companies or brands.

Clustering

Clustering can be found in any town. For example, the presence of many

restaurants in one area draws people to that area to eat, although they may

not know which restaurant they’ll be eating at until they get there. Designs can

be created to blend in (converge) with the visual image presented by others in

the peer group or can be created to stand out (diverge) from them.

Inclusive design

Inclusive design aims to increase social equality and ensure that products,

services and environments are accessible to all people. Given the estimations

of some research that by 2020 half the UK adult population will be aged over

50, while 20 per cent of Americans and 25 per cent of Japanese will be over

65, this is becoming an increasingly important factor for consideration.

MTV (facing page)

Pictured here are two MySpace web pages created for MTV. Both feature

transformation in content delivery and content presentation. The page on the left is

taken from the new MTV UK MySpace site, developed so that the MySpace Chart

Application could be shared over the MySpace network while allowing MTV to share

exclusive content with its users. The MySpace page pulls content from the MTV UK

website, which makes publishing content easier. This is a cluster design as its general

presentation structure is similar to that commonly found on web pages.

The page on the right is taken from MTV’s FUR TV MySpace site. Here, the design

has moved away from the typical MySpace layout to make the pages look like a

desk or bulletin board. This design is inclusive as it has a familiar, engaging look with

snippets of information that are easy to locate. The level of detail on a typical website,

on the other hand, may act as a barrier to older people or to those who are more

receptive to visual presentation of information.

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Title: Basic Design-Thinking

Client: QPL Size: 160mmx230mm

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