General Design

Firstly, a question: what is design? Think about it, discuss it with your colleagues, and try to come up with a good answer. If you need help, try to answer the related question of what is good design.

And the answer: don't look at me for it! Sensible, reasoned answers that stand the probing of reason and logic will be correct - those that are just the loudest or the only ones offered without justification will probably not be.

Consider some of the objects in this room. Note that everything in here has been designed - some well, some okay, some terribly - but all have had certain decisions made about them that affect how they look, how they are used, and how successful they are. An example: the light switches. Look at the arrangement of light switches, and the arrangement of lights on the ceiling. Now, without testing it, indicate which switches should operate which lights. It ought to be obvious, after all. Now test your ideas - are the light switches sensibly arranged? Try this in a few other rooms on site and at home: you may well be suprised at how weird the setup is at times. And yet it never need be - with a little bit of thought the designer could have made the operation of the lights clear, simple and intuitive.

If you are in the lab., look at the trunking on the wall. What is it for? What features does it have that enable it to perform its purpose? Could it be made better? (what's better? - good question: better is lots of things that range from looking more aesthetically pleasing to being easier to use, or more efficient, or more obvious, or predictable, or ..... etc.). Consider the desks, the chairs, the ceiling, the windows, the ventilation system - all have been designed. Pick out good and bad features. Consider the keyboard in front of you. Notice the shape of the individual keys. Why are some different shapes? What shape is the overall keyboard, and why?

Once you have thought about some of these questions, you should have some idea of what design is all about. It is about considering every aspect of each decision you make about something because that affects its final form and function, which in turn makes it easier or harder to use. Some of the questions that you have been asking you will have felt are too obvious for words, but others should have started you thinking. "Why?" is a good word for a designer to bear in mind.

You didn't think "Oh, that's strange, I wonder why that's the case?" for any of the above questions? Well, that may be because you didn't think hard enough about all the ramifications and nuances of things, or it could be because you are especially intelligent. Well, consider these questions (and remember the aim is not to just come up with answers to them, but to realise that these are the sort of questions that you will need to be able to think up for yourself when trying to design or produce anything).

Why are light bulbs pear shaped? Why are light switches themselves so small? Why are door knobs at waist level? Why do some push doors have those vertical bar handles on? Why do keyboards spell QWERTY on the top row when ABCDEF would be more logical? Why do cashpoint machines beep at you? Why are tennis balls made out of only two pieces of material when footballs are made out of many more? Why are plugs so large? Why are television and computer screens square? Why are space rockets aerodynamically shaped when there is no air resistance in space? What use are dictionaries since if you can't spell you can't use one? Why are bathplugs round?

An example of good design

Exercise

Then, choose some everyday item that annoys you and, in the same way, show why it is badly designed. Redesign it. For example, one thing that really annoys me is kettles that have lids in which the steam comes out directly onto the handle, ensuring that you can receive a serious burn. Redesign leads to some of the newer jug kettle shapes, or more simply to a lid that isn't round and so ensures that the steam is always directed away from the handle.