T H E S I S // Adrienne Dye
Understanding people’s behaviors and values:
A participatory method of making visual value scenarios
Published May 2010
MFA degree, Department of Visual Communication Design
Indiana University, Herron School of Art and Design
>>> download Thesis Abstract and Complete Introduction
A B S T R A C T
Research has indicated “values influence most, if not all, motivated behavior.” Given design’s ability to transform values, according to AIGA’s “The Living Principles,” it becomes critically important that designers explore people’s values and behavior in the front end of the design process. This would mean designers could make ethically informed design decisions regarding people’s values and behavior, instead of learning only in retrospect of the impact of people’s values a design has made.
Research in other fields has begun exploring how to design with values in mind. One method, called value scenarios, is a scenario development process currently used by designers to explore how the future use of a product might impact people’s values. This thesis addresses how designers might engage people by making visual value scenarios, in order to understand people’s behaviors and values.
As a designed outcome, an engagement process and an accompanying facilitation tool were developed. The process employs storyboarding as the method of facilitating people’s expressions of their behavior and values, while the accompanying tool aids designers in facilitating the engagement process by guiding the oral language used.
E X C E R P T . O F . I N T R O D U C T I O N
Design has even extended into the realms of systems and strategy, redefining design as a creative problem-solving process instead of a predominantly aesthetic endeavor. Looking at design as a process, Simon’s definition of designing as moving from a given state to a preferred state takes on a whole new dimension of what can be designed, right down to people’s behavior.
This change in scope and impact of design is a reflection of the constantly increasing complexity of the artificial world, and therefore of design. The context of design problems have become “wicked,” or illdefined, in that problems themselves can be so complex they are hard to identify. (Buchanan 1992)
To address such complex problems, designers now work in crossdisciplinary, collaborative teams, addressing problems systemically as opposed to one piece at a time. In such collaborative teams, designers no longer assume expertise over the human condition, instead engaging real people in the process. Designers now consider people’s physical, social, and cultural contexts when designing solutions. When discussing values, one is inherently discussing ethics. The concept of “being ethical” is defined as negotiating values or morals to reach an acceptable outcome. For the sake of this thesis project, the larger ethical questions and issues of morality will not be addressed to not confound any discussion of people’s values.
A participatory method of making visual value scenarios
Published May 2010
MFA degree, Department of Visual Communication Design
Indiana University, Herron School of Art and Design
>>> download Thesis Abstract and Complete Introduction
A B S T R A C T
Research has indicated “values influence most, if not all, motivated behavior.” Given design’s ability to transform values, according to AIGA’s “The Living Principles,” it becomes critically important that designers explore people’s values and behavior in the front end of the design process. This would mean designers could make ethically informed design decisions regarding people’s values and behavior, instead of learning only in retrospect of the impact of people’s values a design has made.
Research in other fields has begun exploring how to design with values in mind. One method, called value scenarios, is a scenario development process currently used by designers to explore how the future use of a product might impact people’s values. This thesis addresses how designers might engage people by making visual value scenarios, in order to understand people’s behaviors and values.
As a designed outcome, an engagement process and an accompanying facilitation tool were developed. The process employs storyboarding as the method of facilitating people’s expressions of their behavior and values, while the accompanying tool aids designers in facilitating the engagement process by guiding the oral language used.
The Relationship Between Design and ValuesDesign has always had the power to shape new values and change old. Our values are our core beliefs, our standards, guiding how we approach our lives. With the creation of the wheel, man began valuing expediency and easier relocation of materials. With the proliferation of P2P music file sharing, millenials shifted their values of accessibility and what they’re willing to pay for music. This power of design to shape human values has always existed, but has only recently become a topic of discussion within the design world in recent years due to the rapid expansion in the 20th and 21st centuries of design in all its iterations: engineering design, product design, service design, interaction design, graphic design, and the list continues. Put simply, design is everywhere. Every road paved, piece of technology used, building built, signage created, is a piece of what social scientist Herbert Simon calls “the artificial world.” (Simon 1969)
Design has even extended into the realms of systems and strategy, redefining design as a creative problem-solving process instead of a predominantly aesthetic endeavor. Looking at design as a process, Simon’s definition of designing as moving from a given state to a preferred state takes on a whole new dimension of what can be designed, right down to people’s behavior.
This change in scope and impact of design is a reflection of the constantly increasing complexity of the artificial world, and therefore of design. The context of design problems have become “wicked,” or illdefined, in that problems themselves can be so complex they are hard to identify. (Buchanan 1992)
To address such complex problems, designers now work in crossdisciplinary, collaborative teams, addressing problems systemically as opposed to one piece at a time. In such collaborative teams, designers no longer assume expertise over the human condition, instead engaging real people in the process. Designers now consider people’s physical, social, and cultural contexts when designing solutions. When discussing values, one is inherently discussing ethics. The concept of “being ethical” is defined as negotiating values or morals to reach an acceptable outcome. For the sake of this thesis project, the larger ethical questions and issues of morality will not be addressed to not confound any discussion of people’s values.