Interactions - September/October 2010

commanded clearly and confidently by an expert? What would make the population believe in the information and instructions being offered? How can the community feel cared for? How can the design solution build trust?

After we extract and distill core values from the research, we can then think about the specific character and tone the design solution should have to accurately reflect the values of the community and help it actualize in the desired way. Character and tone can relate to all aspects of a solution, including industrial design, interaction design, service design, or brand design.

To continue with the same medical example, the character and tone best suited to the seniors may be one of a guardian or protector or chaperone. Discussions about the qualities to be embodied in the design are best had with an integrated team of researchers and designers so that what has been seen in the field, and how those needs might be addressed via design, can be thoroughly understood and vetted. Such collaboration also ensures team members from diverse backgrounds can start to speak the same language.

Next, we can create design principles as concrete and actionable guidelines to represent the agreed upon qualities of the design solution [ 6]. To be useful, the wording of these principles must ground the abstractness of “character and tone” in clear and memorable language that is both meaningful and inspirational to designers. Here are a few examples of design principles that might support the character and tone of a guardian:

• Decisiveness—The design solution should use a voice ( verbal and visual) that is firm and direct, but also calming and reassuring.

• Accuracy—The design solution should provide information that is exact, consistent, and timely to build trust with users.

• Dependability—The design solution should address as many situations as possible, communicating functionality clearly and continuously to establish confidence with users.

To be successful, design principles must systematically relate to the core values of the community of use and the experience it desires with the given design. Since the wording and tone of these principles are key to their effectiveness, much iteration (and definitely collaboration) will be necessary.

The final way in which affinities are represented in design is, of course, through design action, which includes the traditional activities of early ideation, development, testing, and refinement. Having a record of the process that transfers core values through character and tone to design principles is important; such a record can make design decisions traceable and can reinforce design intent throughout the development process. The record can also facilitate buy-in for the design direction from both internal stakeholders like engineers, prototypers, and developers as well as external stakeholders like client executives, sales and marketing representatives, and distributers.

perceived, adopted, and used, it is just one element in a design’s success. Usefulness and usability (as well as novelty and price) can’t be belittled or dismissed as factors in how users and consumers select products and services. However, since affinities encompass so much of what is important to us as humans (our ideals of beauty and notions of identity), the importance of affinities should always be considered in design initiatives. A design has the ability to take me back to a place, time, or experience to which I would like to return; it can allow me to be part of a community and can help define me in relation to others in a group; and it can even help me signify who I want to become. For these reasons, affinities, and a meth-odological research and design process to address them, are important to the designed world and those who are creating it.

AbOut the AuthOr
Matthew Jordan has
worked in the human-cen-
tered research and design
industry for 14 years and
focuses on balancing user
needs with business goals to deliver mean-
ingful and creative solutions. He has
worked with a range of organizations, from
start-ups to midsize companies and large
corporations, and enjoys the interplay of
the medical, consumer, technology, and
social sectors. Jordan earned a B.A. in lan-
guage and literature from the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a M.A. in
professional writing and communication
design from Carnegie Mellon University. He
has published articles in MX (Medtech
Executive), MD&DI (Medical Device and
Diagnostics Industry), Visions magazine by
the Product Development Management
Association (PDMA), and the annual

Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES).

[ 6] Ideally, design prin- ciples have universal application, whether the design solution is to be a physical product, a user interface, a service offering, or a messaging campaign. However, if the form of the proposed solution is known, it may be pos-sible to make the design principles even more grounded, focused, and specific to the develop-ment activity. The goal is to focus and inform design but still leave ample space for inspira-tion, creativity, and the designers’ expertise.