Donald Norman is one of my most revered people of this
period. He is someone that I look up to in many ways, and has entirely changed
the way in which I view our world. If you want to know anything at all about
design, I highly recommend reading not only “The Design of Everyday Things”,
but also “Emotional Design”. However this is not about these books, but rather
this post is about the article he wrote some time ago and recently updated with
Scott Klemmer on the state of design education.
I think the most important thing that Don is talking about
in this article is that the world has changed. It has become an increasingly
complex place that has no simple solutions. Design as a discipline has also changed
dramatically and we need training in experimental, service and interaction
design, as well as the social and behavioral sciences. We have moved on from
the days where design focuses on the aesthetics and functionality of everyday
objects and have moved into a new world where design requires people with
advanced knowledge in many non-design related areas.
We need a new kind of designer that can function in a broad
range of fields from business and technology to science and engineering. They
need to know how to market themselves, and to understand people in order to
meet the demands of today. Don also cautions that we need to adapt these other
disciplines to be included in design education, to create courses that are
unique and fulfill the requirements expected of new designers.
Where does this lead us into the future of design education?
This is a question that I am unprepared to answer. Because I am currently a
student of design education, it is hard to analyse how well we are prepared for
future success without first reaching the point that I need to make something
of myself. I do however know how I am trying to work myself out of this problem
by taking on further education beyond my required classes and reaching out into
the world of books, online MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), and trying to network
myself in the community. I think one of the root questions that need to be
asked is if one education program alone has ever been enough? So how do we
teach to encourage more students to reach beyond their everyday coursework?
No comments:
Post a Comment