Business Tips & How To's, Design Strategy

Unravelling It Like A Design Thinker

April 13, 2018

- Business Tips & How To's, Design Strategy

Step – 1: Identify The Problem

To have an anchor to the process you need to begin with identifying the problem and defining it well. Often problems exist and are entangled in a larger web of co-dependent issues that need resolving also, for the problem to be resolved. When a problem statement is well defined, the rest falls into place.

Imagine a tangled ball of yarn. Step one is about loosening all the knots and tangles and straightening out the fibre to see it clearly from beginning to end.

Step – 2: Use Both Sides of Your Brain

Design thinking is about using both sides of the brain – logical and creative, simultaneously.

It is also about being able to critically observe one’s own process and consciously switch from a rational and structured way of thinking to an emotive and intuitive approach as and when required.

Step – 3: Keep The Big Picture In Mind

While distinguishing all parts of the problem and attacking them individually is the key, it is also important to zoom out every now and then to look at the general overarching problem and to make sure that the bigger picture is not being lost.

Step – 4: Be Ready To Adapt

In a tight time-resource equation, things don’t often work out as expected. This is when being level headed and adaptable – in order to find the most feasible solution – becomes a design thinker’s most valuable quality. Stay hungry for a solution and you will find it.

In a nutshell, this is what the overall process of solving a problem using design thinking looks like:

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Design Strategy

Zeitgeist & Design Thinking – The Journey So Far

By admin on

April 4, 2018

- Design Strategy

I was sitting in my garden the other day and reflecting on Zeitgeist’s journey as a design house. In effect, we have been agile, design thinking and lean from the very beginning without knowing it or being certified for it back then.

Milestone 1: Designing Spaces that Enhance Human Experiences

The journey began with space design and the desperate desire to inculcate an Indian benchmark to global living standards.
This came from my years growing up abroad and knowing the difference in how I felt in a well designed space versus one that had little or no expression. A space that had intention had the ability to change my mood and mindset. And as we gravitated to applied learning, life pushed us in the direction of designing spaces to bring the best mood out of the human experience. We began to recognise the value in that feeling and held on to it. We had intention. As we moved toward authenticity it became easier to identify the disconnect in an experience – a story half told.

A space that had intention had the ability to change my mood and mindset…As we moved toward authenticity it became easier to identify the disconnect in an experience – a story half told.

Milestone 2: Infusing Personality through Brand Development

It became evidently clear to me that messages were being interrupted and lost when we didn’t put the receiver first and weave language for a complete understanding. The ability to tell that story became the need of the hour. It didn’t make sense to design the environment without understanding how the personality wove through it. We needed to be more than just one of the best interior designers Bangalore had to offer. And so we began to build the other half that was missing. This was not part of the plan. Just a gut instinct and a chance we took. So we tested. Staying light, we brought in the talent for identity design and very soon began to align on projects from multiple perspectives.

Milestone 3: Using Design Thinking to add Value and Impact

When I looked at the plate it still only seemed half full. How could we integrate these services and create an offering that actually meant something in the long run? I wanted more out of the design process. And as I began to search, my search found me. Design Thinking became the framework I gravitated toward. It had the beginnings of a structure that resonated with me. It put people first. Leaning into this kind of thinking aligned with my sense of purpose and growth.

I was excited to put these frameworks into our processes at Zeitgeist.

What would happen if we integrated this kind of thinking into our lean start-up. How much value could we offer? What new ideologies would come out of it? How could we offer strategic design consultancy that added value and impact?

Design thinking….resonated with me…..It put people first.

And so we began to recreate our internal structure around better belief systems, deeper meaning, and higher purpose.
Alignment toward this way of thinking is the naturally progressive way and we fit right in. It amazed me to think how far we had come.

With a gentle smile it struck me that everything happens by design.

Madhuri Rao
Founder & Chief
Design Strategy

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Design Strategy

The Tiniest Designers In The World

By admin on

October 11, 2017

- Design Strategy

Zeitgeist Design and Development is always looking for inspiration from the world around us. From choosing great colour schemes to creating spaces that are both progressive and sustainable, we believe that nature is the greatest teacher of all.

Biomimetics, a field close to the heart of Zeitgeist, enables thought provoking insights into some of the most effective designs on our planet – those that occur in nature.In today’s post we focus on ants and examine how these tiny creatures design remarkably effective systems.

This understanding could find potential application in the fields of:

ARCHITECTURE & ENGINEERING

If you’ve every paused to marvel at how diminutive ants design and construct colonies that are much larger than themselves and capable of housing innumerable residents, here’s something more to be amazed at.Researchers at Georgia Tech University have studied another phenomenon that occurs when fire ants are dropped into water.The ants are able to quickly adapt to the new environment and create a raft like structure that prevents them from drowning. The extraordinary part of this feat is that they use their own bodies as the building material!The ants link up and form a mass that is viscoelastic or able to resist flow under pressure, as well as return to its original form when stretched or compressed.Understanding how they do this could lead to the creation of adaptable, viscoelastic building material, which could be used to construct self-healing structures like bridges and buildings. Such structures would have the ability to auto detect and mend cracks, without human intervention.

DESIGN VERIFICATION & VALIDATION

A product that cannot deliver what it was designed to defeats its purpose.Design verification and validation are key to ensuring that concept meets practicality and is a vital stage between the design and rollout phases of a new product.Ants are known to be experts at finding the shortest routes to food sources, by employing Swarm Intelligence.Research conducted at Virginia Tech, focusing on how ants achieve this, could dramatically reduce the time spent on finding the most optimum solution, as well bring down the costs involved in the design validation process – significant in the age of complex electronics design, where applying traditional methods of verification and validation is becoming increasingly untenable.

ROBOTICS

Ants are able carry heavy loads, often several times their weight.

Research at the University of Ohio has revealed that the neck joint of the common American field ant is able to withstand pressure of up to 5000 times its body weight! The study of this astonishing capability could find application in the field of robotics, enhancing the potential of what could be done on earth and in space.

DESIGN OF ORGANISATIONS, COMMUNITIES & LOGISTICS SYSTEMS

The structure of any colonies has much to teach us about effective organisation and logistics design.

The division of labour in ant nests, which determines its structure and habits, is according to age and size. The effectiveness comes from each creature contributing what it is best at, while collectively choosing co-operation over competition.
Adaptability is key, with labour patterns and worker distribution altering as the colony grows and develops. Scaling up is thus more of a natural progression and less of an ad hoc activity.
The basic design of ant colonies, which uses vertical passageways for movement and transport, and horizontal compartments for work, storage and housing, sheds light on effective operations and logistics.

These are just a few design ideas that we can employ from the world of ants, which also teaches us to pause and realise that:

Sustainable solutions can be reached through adaptability to the environment rather than the exploitation of it.
Synergy can be achieved even amongst the tiniest of creatures, as long as they are working together for a common cause.
Utilising and enhancing the inherently unique features of a system can bring about ingenious solutions to large-scale problems.

At the core of Biomimicry is a respect for nature and the acknowledgement that we could potentially learn a better way from it… even from a seemingly insignificant little ant.

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