The Conceptual Framework

The Context includes the intelligence inherent in the product--what the product "thinks" it is.

Previously , we have redefined design as a relationship of purpose. We explored the ways in which products such as the watch and the coffee maker relate to the Big Ideas they are supposed to serve. We also took a critical look at the walkman-type tape player and noted how it in many ways fails the Big Idea of music, despite its popularity. Here is the definition with which we concluded the article:

If Design is Product; Relationship is Experience and Event; Purpose is the Big Idea. Design then is a relationship of purpose; a product is designed for its relationship with the Experience in the context of the Event for the purpose of the Big Idea.

That is one definition of design, but by no means a final one. It is a definition based on the Big Idea - a central, radical concept that should dictate whether the design is successful. With a coffee maker, it is the taste of coffee. With a watch it is the idea of measuring time. With a tape player it is shared emotions through music.

But of course there are other elements that tie in with the Big Idea.

As we demonstrated, a coffee maker is designed for the purpose of producing the liquid we call coffee. The coffee is produced for the Experience of taste and for the Event of coffee drinking. None of this would be possible without the Big Idea of roasting and grinding the beans and brewing the coffee to be drunk in a moment of relaxation.

A tennis racquet is designed for the purpose of hitting a tennis ball. It is a part of the experience of a specific activity during an event we call playing tennis. None of this would be possible without the Big Idea of friendly competition between two or more people, within the defined rules of what we call the game of tennis.

The Conceptual Framework is another critical item which is of equal importance to the Big Idea. It refers to the placement of the product (the object of the particular design project) in a defined Context. The Context can be of different natures; a particular sort of work for which a tool has to be designed, or a particular cycle of events in which the object plays a role. Again, the Big Idea is the social happening or human invention that the product is intended to serve.

The Conceptual Framework and the Big Idea are interdependent; they are the two most important issues in design. Together they form the Context into which a good designer places the design outcome or product. The Context can be defined by the designer, by the client or by society.

The Conceptual Framework includes the constraints of the given, that is, a definition of the product, its intended market, and so on. That is part of the Context. But it also includes what the designer can add, the "soft" value, the human value, which has nothing to do with the defined function of the product. This is the play value, or the relationship value. It can almost be said that the Context includes the intelligence inherent in the product--what the product "thinks" it is.

If you are designing products without a Conceptual Framework or a Big Idea, and therefore without a Context, you are at best improving the aesthetics of an existing product. This happens often in industrial design. The client--a manufacturer--defines the product according a limited, short-term vision of the Context. But this "Context" is often the client's vision of the competition; the corporation is hiring a designer to revise a product as a reaction to a new product launched by the competition.

Rarely does a client call a designer in and say, "Design a product within the context of personalized written communication." They might say, "Give us a ball-point pen that looks like an expensive fountain pen."

The designer considers the function of the pen as a writing instrument, examining features like the smooth flow ink and the efficiency of the mechanism. But the good designer goes beyond that. He or she also examines what people do with their pens when they are not writing. David Letterman has a clever trick of flipping his pencil up in the air and catching it in writing position without looking at it. This can only be accomplished with a lot of practice and a well-balanced instrument. Other people like clicking the button of the pen, and every pen has its own "click".

There is the cheap "snap" of an inexpensive pen; and then there is the muted, weighty sound worthy of a quality writing instrument. The client, the engineer or the consumer might not consider this--the feel and sound of the mechanism--but it is part of the designer's job to make sure the product addresses as many of the senses as possible. In this case, the sense of touch and sound are important considerations when designing a quality pen.

If, as a designer, you take the client's brief and add your values and your understanding of the consumer, then integrate complex values of society into this product, you can create a product that reflects the Conceptual Framework.

Interestingly, when a designer creates a product this way, a common comment from engineers and clients is, "I never thought it would look like that."

People envision a form that will be dictated by the function of the product. But form doesn't always follow function. Form follows spirit.

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