As we watch our economy shift toward more of a service economy, our methods of product design and concept development had to expand in order to meet market demands. Therefore we must seek all possible solutions to a problem and meet as many consumer needs as we can for any product to be successful. Here is when systems thinking can be applied. Systems thinking, according to MIT’s Proffessor Jay Forrester, is “allows people to make their understanding of social systems explicit and improve them in the same way that people can use engineering principles to make explicit and improve their understanding of mechanical systems.” So, in a service economy, it can greater help us to organize and understand user needs and possible solutions.
During my first EDSGN 100 project, my group had to redesign a smartphone and this concept of systems thinking became useful as we tried to study the market and formulate ideas for our own design. We utilized a systems thinking tool called a mind map. This is essentially a “powerful graphic technique which harnesses the full range of cortical skills in a single, powerful mannerskills manner” or a basically a branching layout of all possible solutions and ideas to a problem.
When we were breaking down the various uses of a smartphone, we were overwhelmed by the amount of components and ideas that came rushing in. By utilizing the mind map, we were able to use top-down processing, or go from a more general view to more refined and specific ideas. This greatly improved our concept formation. It also helped to highlight ares that required further benchmarking and market analysis. The mind map was a fundamental component of our project. I believe systems thinking tools such as the mind map can greatly improve design of products whether its for an EDSGN 100 class or for a large scale company through its breakdown of thoughts and concentrationon solutions for specific problems. In a service economy where the consumer is very much in control of the market, this type of thinking is essential for success and if utilized further, can improve product standards.
Resources
http://johngerber.world.edu/2012/07/01/mindmap/
http://www.thinking.net/Systems_Thinking/Intro_to_ST/intro_to_st.html