Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
designer
Presentation at
The second Machine Tool Industry
Summit
At Goa on 4th May, 2007
by
P.J.Mohanram,
Director (Technology Division), IMTMA
2007-05-04 IMTMA Goa Summit 1
Six eyes of a designer
Foresight : What many don’t have
despite having two eyes in the front
of the head !
Hindsight : What all of us have
despite having no eyes in the back of
the head !
Short sight : What we are blessed
with at the start: focus on the next
promotion, next raise !
Long sight : What we get when our
career is about IMTMA
2007-05-04
to Goa
end
Summit
! 2
Six eyes of a designer
So what is this presentation
about?
It is not about eyes, vision and glasses
And yet, it is about
Insight
Into a designer’s growth and
development;
about the stages in his career, and
What eyes she (which includes he!)
needs to systematically
2007-05-04 IMTMA Goa Summit acquire to be 3
Six eyes of a designer
2007-05-04
Inquire
IMTMA Goa Summit 4
Six eyes of a designer
Inquisitiveness is to a designer What a
tail is to a monkey; What curiosity is
to a child
Do not look; do not see;
Observe
An aspiring designer should
constantly ask:
2007-05-04 Why? How?
IMTMA Goa Summit 5
Six eyes of a designer
Do you know whats inside a Rubik’s
Cube?
2007-05-04
Inquire
IMTMA Goa Summit 11
Six eyes of a designer
Imitate
2007-05-04 IMTMA Goa Summit 12
Six eyes of a designer
Imitation is more than
flattery!
It is the starting point in a designer’s
career
In this stage she will most usually be
asked to:
Reproduce an existing design
Design something closely similar to a
working design
Scale up/ down an existing design
2007-05-04 IMTMA Goa Summit 13
Six eyes of a designer
Improve
2007-05-04 IMTMA Goa Summit 14
Six eyes of a designer
When one is successful at imitation,
she will embark on the next step :
improvement
In this the designer will:
Improve performance, remove deficiencies
Innovate
2007-05-04 IMTMA Goa Summit 16
Six eyes of a designer
Innovation is the ability to
develop a smart,
novel application of existing
technology or
knowledge to achieve new
functional
capabilities
Watches with
2007-05-04
complications
IMTMA Goa Summit 19
Six eyes of a designer
Extreme
innovatio
n:
The potato
clock
Two pairs of copper-zinc electrodes are inserted in each potato, offering a
rather novel example of the Volta battery. It works as long as the potatoes
remain moist. When they dry out, they can be replaced by another pair. The
potatoes do not pollute the environment and can even be eaten!
Invent
2007-05-04 IMTMA Goa Summit 23
Six eyes of a designer
Invention goes beyond innovation
It is the creation of a
fundamentally
new object,
something that did not
exist before:
steam engine
2007-05-04
telephone
IMTMA Goa Summit 24
Six eyes of a designer
An invention often changes the course
of history,
makes the impossible possible, and,
most important, it
is the forerunner to further innovation
Innovation rides on
invention and
sometimes there is a thin
dividing line between
2007-05-04 IMTMA Goa Summit 25
Six eyes of a designer
Some examples of inventions and
innovations:
Modern innovations:
cam actuated, servo driven, multi-speed,
super fast
2007-05-04 IMTMA Goa Summit 29
Six eyes of a designer
The hexapod invention and the innovative
spindle head:
Hexapod
2007-05-04
machine (invention)
IMTMA Goa Summit
Spindle 30
Six eyes of a designer
Question:
Are these eyes (innovate and
invent) god given ?
Or can a designer become
innovative and
inventive by training?
Answer:
Yes, it is possible for a designer to
acquire creative skills by following
2007-05-04 IMTMA Goa Summit 31
Six eyes of a designer
1. Learning:
Unlearn everything you know: NO
hang-ups!
Adopt a holistic approach: Broaden
the horizon
Think issues, not problems:
“Problems” limit scope
Forget the customer ! All the world’s
inventions have come without any
customer asking!
Forget patents: Only fundamental
2007-05-04 IMTMA Goa Summit 32
Six eyes of a designer
2. Tools:
Brainstorming
Morphological analysis
Synthesise – there are no more “pure”
technologies
Imitating nature (ah, the second eye
again!)
Contrathink
Challenge yourself: Practice, practice,
practice
2007-05-04
Inspire
IMTMA Goa Summit 37
Six eyes of a designer
er
Innovat are
Climb
uir
or you ?
Improve
Inq the
rImitator
ladder!