David Kelley: Human Centred Design. www.TED.com

The talk by David Kelley on human centred design gave me a very simple and important message, design is moving away from designing a product and just unveiling it to the world and expecting everyone to use and love it. The talk gave new and current designers a message that humans are becoming the centre of design, how does the product work? How does it interact with the user? How well does it work with the user? Is it user friendly?

Designers and design companies are having to really start to not only design their products but to also create the behaviours and personalities of the products. Designers used to only build 3D models and computer generated images of thier prototypes, but at times develop we are having to spend more and more time on getting their products in working stages as a way of showing the public how the product will be used and what it actually does. Kelley says that internal video production groups have been established to produce 'experience prototypes' that show what the designer wants in terms of how humans interact with the product.

In his talk he then goes on to show some of the work his company IDEO has been involved in over the past year of the talk. All of the examples that he presents are based around human interaction with the product or space that they have produced. One very interesting example is the cubical that they designed to be more human and better for human interaction that the old cubicles in offices that dont provide much in terms of user product interaction or relationship. It is designed to be a space that is much better for humans to work in, and the detail is staggering from fish tanks in the wall, to orange lights that follow the angle of the sun to even a flower that whilts when the worker leaves the cubicle and becomes straight again when they enter again.

Designers and students of design should all listen and take in the points put forward by Kelley as he is explaing to us the way in which design is developing in terms of how machines and products interact with humans and vice versa. It is extremely interesting and his point has really struck home in terms of showing me of how much extra thought and process must be put into the design and production of a product before it is really ready of human interaction. Our design is becoming very human cetred, designers have and must realise now and for the future that the design of a product must work for and around humans and not humans for and around the product.

LINK TO TED WEBSITE
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/david_kelley_on_human_centered_design.html