“Without Thought” Philosophy of Design Applied to Product Design A thesis submitted to the Graduate School College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design in the School of Design of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning by Peizhong Xu July 25, 2013 B.E., College of Mechanical & Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, P.R. China, 2010 Committee: Peter Chamberlain, M.F.A., MPhil Tony Kawanari, M.A., I.D. Abstract “Designers often want to make something special, something that really grabs people’s attention. However I realized that when we actually use these products, whether or not they are special is not that important.” - This was said in the Dwell Magazine Online interview of Naoto Fukasawa, one of the best-known Japanese industrial designers[1]. Due to this reason, he decided to develop a philosophy, named “Without Thought” Philosophy of Design, which is a translation of the Japanese phrase “意識なくしている行動”. “意識” (ishiki) means conscious and deliberate thought. “なく している” (nakushiteiru) refers to getting rid of or “losing”. “行動”(koudou) has the meaning of the action or activity. Therefore, Fukasawa’s philosophy is one that attempts to remove conscious and deliberate thought from people’s everyday interactions with products – making a more direct and transparent interactive interface. This philosophy is about “finding ideas in people’s spontaneous behavior and realizing these ideas in design” [2]. Not having to think more about how to use a product could allow people to achieve their goals unconsciously, which makes the usage of a product easier and smoother. This philosophy can greatly improve the relationship between users and products. However, in order to apply the “Without Thought” Philosophy of Design to product design, the design process should be different from a traditional design process. Therefore for this project, a methodology was developed specifically for such a design philosophy, based on a case study, so that the final model could help other designers to better understand the philosophy and use it in the future. ii iii Acknowledgements I would like to express deep appreciation to my committee chair Professor Peter Chamberlain. His guidance, help, and encouragement made this dissertation possible. I would like to thank my committee member professor Tony Kawanari for guiding me with patience and encouragement. In addition, a thank you to professor Mike Zender and professor Gerry Michaud, who helped me in the research process. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents and friends for their support. iv Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ........................................................................................................... v List of Figures ............................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1 What is the “Without Thought” Philosophy of Design ............................ 1 1.1 Relationship between a Person and an Object ................................................... 1 1.2 Achieve the Design Objective “Without Thought” ............................................... 2 Chapter 2 Achieve the “Without Thought” Philosophy of Design Goal .................. 5 2.1 Case Study ......................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Design Thinking of “Without Thought” ................................................................ 8 Chapter 3 The WTPD Model ....................................................................................... 16 3.1 Design Research .............................................................................................. 18 3.2 Ideation ............................................................................................................. 20 3.3 Test ................................................................................................................... 26 Chapter 4 WTPD Model Evaluation ........................................................................... 28 4.1 Model Test ........................................................................................................ 29 4.2 Results Analysis ................................................................................................ 29 Chapter 5 Conclusion .................................................................................................. 34 References .................................................................................................................... 36 Image References ........................................................................................................ 38 Appendices ................................................................................................................... 40 v List of Figures Figure 1: Case Study ................................................................................................................................ 7 Figure 2: Maracas Salt and Pepper Shaker ............................................................................... 8 Figure 3: Umbrella ................................................................................................................................... 10 Figure 4: Printer ........................................................................................................................................ 10 Figure 5: CD Player ................................................................................................................................. 11 Figure 6: Light with A Dish ................................................................................................................ 12 Figure 7: Rice Cooker ........................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 8: Piano Doorbell ..................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 9: Daylight Entrance .............................................................................................................. 14 Figure 10: Juice Package ................................................................................................................... 14 Figure 11: Potato Cellphone ............................................................................................................. 15 Figure 12: The WTPD Model ............................................................................................................. 17 Figure 13: Milk Carton on A Flat Surface ................................................................................. 22 Figure 14: The "Undo" advertisement ....................................................................................... 24 Figure 15: Infobar 2 Cellphone ....................................................................................................... 26 Figure 16: Test Results of Yes/No/Not Sure Questions ................................................. 30 Figure 17: Test Results of Correct/Incorrect/Partial Correct Questions ............ 31 vi Chapter 1 What is the “Without Thought” Philosophy of Design 1.1 Relationship between a Person and an Object When a person first moved into the apartment, he was not quite sure about how to open the door. He inserted the key into the lock, and turned it clockwise, pushed the door, and nothing happened. He tried in the opposite direction. It was still locked. Then he turned the key clockwise again and turned the knob below, and the door was open. Sometimes in the next few days, he still could not clearly remember the direction of turning the key to open the door. Sometimes he even left his keys in the door after entering the room, and other times he forgot to lock the door from inside. Such a situation has also happened to many other people. 15 people of various backgrounds, professions, and age groups were interviewed as part of this research. In the interview, they were asked the question “Have you ever met with the situation in which you do not know how to use a product?” All of the people answered yes that they had encountered these situations. When they use some products for the first time, they need to take some time to think about how to use them. They also need to try several 1 times until they successfully achieve the objectives. They also have to remember the procedure step by step if the usage is complicated, so that they will not make any mistakes in using the product. The appearance of a product is an instruction that tells the users how to use it. A misunderstanding of the usage could lead to an inappropriate interaction that may cause serious damages to both the users and the product. In order to attract consumers’ attention, some designers design products with an appealing appearance, but with no visual cues of how to use it. However when users start to use these products, they find it difficult to understand the way to use them, and it is too complicated for them to remember all the steps quickly. If so, such products just lose their value of improving people’s life. The goal of