ENGAGING THE USER// This approach to design and problem
solving has led to the development of design methods that provide
designers with the option to not just design products for people
but to design experiences with people. This shift underscores the
importance of design process along with the involvement and
participation of users throughout all stages of a project. We are
interested in enhancing the designer’s understanding of their
users’ interactions and relationships with technology, products,
systems and environments in order to design for better experi-
ences. The outcome of design here is not a product, but the overall
experience across all touch points, interactions of people with
products, spaces and other people. This approach moves beyond
the individual experience of users, customers and/or employees,
to design’s influence within the broader context of the global
economic community.

PROBLEM SYNTHESIS & DESIGN IDEATION// Designers
“discover or construct many different variables” in order to frame
and define the right design problem...in identifying these prob-
lems designers “set boundaries, select particular things [...] and
impose on the situation a coherence that guides subsequent
moves” (Schon, 1988).

“Léwgren and Stolterman (2004) describe this design process
through three levels of abstraction: the vision, operative image,
and specification.” They believe that “vision emerges when the
designer first confronts a design situation.” The initial idea
is internal, “often fuzzy [and] intuitive” but crucial in aiding
the designer to “understand the situation” they are working in
(Hegeman, 2008). Synthesis and design thinking are about
embracing the ambiguity of design and combining tacit knowl-
edge, critical thinking and creativity in the design process that
lead to an “operative image”. It can be considered “a dialectic, or a
conversation [because it] involves design wisdom, judgment, and
knowledge” (Hegeman, 2008).

Through an iterative process designers discover, learn, and
immerse themselves in the world of their users, to better under-
stand the different perspectives and factors of the design
challenge.

Designers examine and explore people’s behaviours and rela-
tionships through a set of methodologies (such as observational
studies, user research, workshops, etc.) that support their vision
and understanding of users in different stages of the design
process. These new methods provide designers with a toolkit that
allows them to design more effectively for behavioural, experien-
tial, and emotional responses.

MODELING INTERACTION & EXPERIENCE// Designers are
visual thinkers. Sketching and drawing are fundamental skills
for designers and enable them to express and communicate their
mental models, ideas and decision-making in different stages
of the design process. The non-permanent nature of sketches
allows for experimentation and play throughout the design proc-
ess, providing designers with an opportunity to fail and learn. Bill
Buxton in his book Sketching User Experiences describes sketch-
ing as “quick, timely, inexpensive, disposable, plentiful, and
ambiguous” (Buxton, 2007). Buxton uses the term sketching to
describe a continuum of visual techniques from traditional pencil

Figure 1.
Strategies for Leveraging Sketching and Visualization Techniques for
Modelling User Interaction & Experience (adapted from Sanders. 2008.)

sketches and storyboards to theatrical improvisation, animated
digital sequences and ‘wizard of oz’ scenarios that can be used
to represent time-based events to communicate an understand-
ing of potential user experiences. In the early stages of the design
process, these techniques can serve as tools to help us under-
stand the context, culture and intentions of users by synthesizing
research data. Similarly these visual techniques can be used to
portray multiple variants of prospective concepts and solutions in
the later stages of the design process.

RESHAPING THE ROLE OF DESIGN// As our understanding
of the role of design continues to evolve it becomes clear there will
be a need to progressively update our methods and techniques to
address the complexities of day-to day life. By building on design’s
roots and strengths in problem synthesis and ideation together
with our abilities to communicate concepts through sketching
and visualization techniques designers will be able to continu-
ally leverage new methods to develop a more effective dialogue
with our user community in our efforts to create more holistic
solutions to more demanding and complex design challenges. +

REFERENCES //
1. Buxton, B. (2007). Sketching User Experiences. San Francisco: Morgan
Kaufmann Publishers.

2. Fulton Suri, J. (2003). The Experience Evolution: Developments in
Design Practice. The Design Journal 6 (2), 39-48.

3. Hegeman, J. (2008). The Thinking Behind Design. A thesis submitted to
the School of Design, Carnegie Mellon University.

4. Kolko, J. (2007). Thoughts on Interaction Design. Brown Bear Savannah,
Georgia.

5. Lowgren, J, and Stolterman, E. (2004). Thoughtful interaction design:
a design perspective on information technology. Cambridge, Massachu-
setts: The MIT Press.

6. Moggridge, B. (2007). Designing Interactions. Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.

7. Sanders, E.B.N., and Stappers, P.J. (2008). Co-creation and the New
Landscapes of Design. CoDesign: International Journal of CoCreation and

Design and Arts 4(1), 5-18.
8. Schon, D. (1988). Designing: Rules, Types, and Words, Design Studies
9/3 181-4.

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