Concluding thoughts on module

Some lessons I took home from the weekly Tuesday morning class…

You REALLY don’t have to please everybody.

This module opened my eyes to new concepts, some of which I still find hard to stomach. I guess the hardest of them all is that it is better to design for a few users than to attempt to capture everybody. Initially, I thought that doesn’t make good business sense at all. Wouldn’t it makes better (money) sense to try to capture as many consumers as possible? Why limit yourself to a minority?

Of course I now know better that capturing a few fiercely loyal consumers triumphs over a bunch of easily swayed consumers. In a way, satisfied customers begets more customers. Making a product according to a specific need, satisfies everyone with that particular need. On the other hand, products that tries to please everyone just get used, not loved.

Here! Try my shoes on!

I mentioned in our final report that as our client is a hypothetical F&B company, we had to play the role of designers servicing the client AND the client itself. While in a way it was double the work, it was great approaching the project with both perspective. The class critque sessions are an extension of this scenario and were important in helping every group streamline and hone their product.

Try this! You might just die from it.

One man’s meat is another’s poison. Oh how true! Funtionality creep, a term that I come across for the first time in my life, a mistake that we tend to commit countless times throughout the project. As designers, we tend to lump so many functions into our design that while they are useful on their own, their combination turns into one huge mess. Hybrids are halfbreeds and they are good at doing stuff. The problem is that they are usually half good at this and half good at that.

Keeping it simple wins. If only simple was easy…..

Doctor, I think you extracted the wrong tooth.

This module isn’t about memorizing or regurgitating. It doesn’t test how many theories you can spew or how fast/much you can write in two hours. (In fact, our group only made use of the PRINCIPLES behind the theories and models taught. We end up modifying most of them!)

End of the day, this module teaches me to focus on the core need of users whom we’re designing for. Satisfy their core need and they really don’t need anything else. Sounds simple but it’s not.

Listening helps.

I took 4 months plus to learn this lesson and I daren’t say I’ve mastered it.

There can be miracles when you believe.

Deadlines, assignments and oh-so-much testings. So much to do in so little time. Looking back, us believing in the product, that it could do some good was what kept us going. All nighters at the Central Forum on SUNDAYS were tolerable only because the team was passionate in making the product work.

Thanks Paul and Esther!