Amir Hamiduddin Amha’s Post

Design isn't just about the 'what'—it's about the 'why' and the 'what else' too. When you're designing a system—whether it's a distributed system, a machine learning model, a user experience, a process or whatever it may be—it’s crucial to explain not only what choices you made, but why you made them. Equally important is outlining the alternatives you considered, why you rejected them, and how you arrived at your final decision. This approach demonstrates a deep understanding of the problem space and provides confidence that the design is well thought out. Relying solely on past experience can be limiting. While experience is valuable, every problem has its nuances, and what worked before might not be the best solution now. Technology evolves, constraints change, and new challenges emerge. It's essential to critically evaluate whether previous solutions are still applicable or if they need to be adapted. If you're unsure, it's vital to seek out the necessary knowledge—whether by consulting with others, reading, or taking courses—to ensure your design is solid. Lastly, the best way to communicate your design decisions is by writing them down. Clear and thoughtful documentation not only helps you share your design with others but also invites feedback that can lead to improvements. Writing things down allows for effective collaboration, enabling others to understand the process you went through and contributing to a better overall outcome. In the end, thorough design is about more than just making decisions—it's about making informed decisions and ensuring others can follow your thought process.

Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation and problem-solving that's gained popularity across various industries. It emphasizes understanding the needs and perspectives of end-users, challenging assumptions, and iterating on ideas through rapid prototyping and testing. The process typically involves five key stages: 1. **Empathize**: Understanding the needs, motivations, and challenges of the people you're designing for. This often involves conducting interviews, observations, and immersing yourself in the user's experience. 2. **Define**: Synthesizing the information gathered during the empathize stage to define the core problem or opportunity. This step helps ensure that the focus remains on addressing real user needs rather than assumed ones. 3. **Ideate**: Generating a wide range of potential solutions to the defined problem. This stage encourages creativity and divergent thinking, often through brainstorming sessions, sketching, or other ideation techniques. 4. **Prototype**: Building rough, low-fidelity representations of potential solutions. Prototypes can take many forms, from simple sketches or storyboards to more interactive mock-ups or simulations. 5. **Test**: Gathering feedback from users on the prototypes to identify what works, what doesn't, and what can be improved. Testing helps validate assumptions, refine ideas, and ultimately develop more effective solutions. Design thinking is not a linear process; it's iterative and non-prescriptive, meaning that these stages may be revisited and repeated as needed to refine and improve the solution. This approach encourages collaboration, experimentation, and a willingness to embrace failure as a learning opportunity. Overall, design thinking provides a structured framework for tackling complex problems, fostering innovation, and creating solutions that are truly user-centered. Whether you're designing products, services, processes, or experiences, embracing the principles of design thinking can lead to more meaningful and impactful outcomes.

Unlock Your Design Potential. Eight principles to help you grow as a designer. Let’s talk about potential. We all have it, but how do we tap into it fully? Here are a few principles to help you unlock yours: 1. Start with Curiosity The best ideas come from asking better questions. Be curious about the problem before rushing to solutions. Understanding deeply leads to designing meaningfully. 2. Embrace Feedback Feedback isn’t failure; it’s fuel. Listen carefully, separate critique from ego, and use it to refine your work. Great design rarely happens in isolation. 3. Experiment Relentlessly Push your ideas further than feels comfortable. Test, tweak, and explore paths you’ve never considered. Growth lives outside your comfort zone. 4. Think Beyond the Object Design isn’t just about creating things, it’s about crafting experiences, solving problems, and adding value. Broaden your perspective to see the bigger picture. 5. Collaborate with Purpose Surround yourself with diverse voices. The intersection of different perspectives often sparks the most innovative solutions. Design thrives on teamwork. 6. Stay Curious About Tools Technology evolves fast. Learn new tools not to replace your creativity, but to amplify it. Whether it’s AI, motion, or materials, stay ahead by staying curious. 7. Celebrate the Process Outcomes matter, but the journey is where you grow. Celebrate small wins, embrace failures, and take pride in the craft of problem-solving. 8. Never Stop Learning The best designers see themselves as lifelong learners. Read widely, observe deeply, and absorb inspiration from unexpected places. Your design potential isn’t about where you are today, it’s about where you’re willing to go tomorrow. Take that next step, experiment boldly, and don’t let fear hold you back. --- Reshare to help others. Follow Jared Mankelow for more design.

I truly believe design thinking is a great thing. I was almost close saying it’s a great tool and I suddenly realized how flawed this statement would be… Design thinking is a way of (huh) thinking, a mindset, not a tool. It’s not like look, I have a hammer, I can hammer a nail. It's bigger (and harder) than that and goes beyond the mere hammer. I was watching a cooking show where they were in Italy, in a vineyard near Lake Garda. Nice place... The owner was saying that in the years after WW2, the wine market in Italy was "very relaxed" (his own words) - the wine was selling on barrels, everyone doing well. His grandfather was one of the firsts that was sensing the market shift, and started to sell bottled wine. Now, design thinking is already a quite old thing. It's here even before the TikTok, covid, and the whole new era. It was invented when our attention span was longer than 9 sec. So, after so many sticky notes, Lego pieces, design sprints, who even cares, and has patience for this big barrel of wisdom? My take? Yes, this mindset-process-whatever-is thing is still great. It helps a lot. Like wine. But I'd say we have to find a proper bottle for it. And this bottle, maybe, isn't the one-shot workshop where you stuff the whole wisdom in one hour, like a barrel in a bottle.... Today, when everyone can produce a crap gem in just few clicks with genAI, is hard to go in the heights where design thinking is. People want actions, results, hammers, bottles, many bottles. So let's give them all :)

Good design is invisible; great design is unforgettable 😎 Design thinking is a human-centered, iterative problem-solving approach that aims to create innovative solutions by focusing on empathy, experimentation, and collaboration. The main components of design thinking can be broken down into the following stages: 𝟏) 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐳𝐞: Understand the needs, emotions, motivations, and context of the end-users or customers. By putting yourself in their shoes, you can gain insights into their experiences and identify the real problems they face. 𝟐) 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞: Clearly articulate the problem statement. This involves synthesizing the information and insights gathered during the empathize stage to define the users' needs and challenges. A well-defined problem statement helps guide the ideation process and ensures that the focus remains on addressing the users' pain points. 𝟑) 𝐈𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞: Generate a wide range of possible solutions to the defined problem. 𝟒) 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞: Create low-fidelity prototypes of the most promising solutions. These can be simple sketches, physical models, or digital mockups that help visualize and test the concepts. 𝟓) 𝐓𝐞𝐬𝐭: Test the prototypes with real users to gather feedback and validate the proposed solutions. This feedback is crucial to understanding how well the solution addresses the user's needs and to identify any areas for improvement. Based on the test results, the team may need to iterate through the earlier stages to refine the solution or explore new ideas. 𝟔) 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 (not a formal stage, but often included): Solutions or concepts developed during the design thinking process are brought to life. It can be seen as part of, or following, the Test stage, depending on the specific circumstances. During this phase, the solution is rolled out, and its impact in the real world is observed.

1. Creative Block Problem: You might feel stuck, unable to come up with ideas or find inspiration. Solution: Look for inspiration in everyday life, nature, or other design works. Try brainstorming exercises or creative challenges like redesigning familiar objects. Collaborate with other designers or friends to share ideas. 2. Lack of Confidence Problem: Being unsure of your work and comparing yourself to more experienced designers. Solution: Start with small projects and gradually challenge yourself with more complex tasks. Celebrate your progress and avoid comparing yourself to others. Focus on learning. Seek constructive feedback from peers or mentors. 3. Overcomplicating Designs Problem: Trying to put too much into a design can lead to cluttered and ineffective visuals. Solution: Keep designs simple and focused. Use minimal elements to convey the message clearly. Prioritize function over form—ensure the design solves the problem first. 4. Inconsistent Style Problem: As a beginner, it's easy to experiment with different styles, but this may result in an inconsistent portfolio. Solution: Try to develop your own style by practicing and focusing on what you enjoy designing. Create mood boards or design guidelines to ensure your work remains cohesive. 5. Not Understanding Client Needs Problem: Sometimes new designers focus more on aesthetics than solving client problems. Solution: Communicate with clients to understand their goals and requirements clearly. Research the target audience and design with their needs in mind. 6. Time Management Problem: Underestimating how long a project will take can lead to stress and delays. Solution: Break projects down into manageable tasks and set realistic deadlines. Use tools like time trackers or project management apps to stay organized. 7. Learning Design Tools Problem: Beginners often struggle with mastering design software (e.g., Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator). Solution: Dedicate time to learning the tools through tutorials and practice. Start with basic functions and gradually explore more advanced features. 8. Receiving Criticism Problem: Criticism can feel overwhelming, especially if you're not used to it. Solution: View feedback as a learning opportunity rather than a personal attack. Apply useful suggestions to improve your designs, but also learn when to stand by your creative choices. contact me: Phone: +880 1606 890674 Email: khalidbinsourdoronno@gmail.com

understanding is an outcome of (good) design As a manager, the most consistent challenge I see with early-career designers is the belief that with enough research, with enough information, with enough bench-marking, whatever, there will be a clear path forward. So they get stuck when they have limited information, when the path remains unclear. The default instinct is to continue gathering information, because it's really uncomfortable to "start design" feeling like you don't have the full picture. (required disclaimer that research is good, important, and necessary, I identify as a researcher myself) But it is so often the act of making itself--making not-quite-right things and even making outright wrong things--that provides the most direct path to clarity, to understanding the right next step. Design is the act of creating as a thought process, as research, as a tool for discussion, alignment, and direction. (another disclaimer: this requires a safe environment to do this and strong feedback loops) I go back to my oft-referenced example of the game Wordle. When you are starting out, all you know are the constraints: 5 letters, 6 chances to guess. There are literally thousands of possibilities. The ONLY thing you can do is start with a word, often a strategic one, and then use the contextual cues to limit the possibilities and make a better, more informed choice for the next guess. *brought to you by a thought I had at around 3am last night, because brains are gonna brain.

Design thinking can be the first step towards action.. once 💭 thought just get into real action.

Design thinking is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer's toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success. It is a process that encourages organizations to focus on the people they're creating for, which leads to better products, services, and internal processes. Key Stages of Design Thinking 1. Empathize: Understand the users and their needs through observation, engagement, and immersing oneself in their experiences. 2. Define: Clearly articulate the problem you want to solve, creating a problem statement that focuses on the user. 3. Ideate: Brainstorm a range of creative solutions, encouraging out-of-the-box thinking and exploring a variety of possibilities. 4. Prototype: Build simple and cost-effective versions of your ideas to test and iterate on. Prototypes can be anything from sketches to models or digital interfaces. 5. Test: Gather feedback from users about your prototypes, understand what works and what doesn’t, and refine your solutions based on this feedback. Principles of Design Thinking 1. Human-Centered**: Focus on the people you are designing for and gain insights into their needs and experiences. 2. Collaborative: Encourage teamwork and diverse perspectives to foster creativity and innovation. 3. Iterative: Understand that the design process is non-linear and involves repeating steps as you refine ideas and solutions. 4. Experimental: Embrace a mindset of trial and error, using prototypes to explore potential solutions and learning from failures. 5. Bias Toward Action: Prioritize doing and making over talking and meeting to quickly turn ideas into tangible solutions. Applications of Design Thinking Design thinking can be applied across various fields and industries, from product design and service development to business strategy and organizational change. It is widely used in: - Product Development: Creating user-friendly and innovative products. - Service Design: Improving user experiences in services, from healthcare to hospitality. - Business Strategy: Developing new business models and strategies that are more aligned with customer needs. - Social Innovation: Addressing complex societal challenges through creative problem-solving approaches. Benefits of Design Thinking - Enhanced Creativity and Innovation: Encourages out-of-the-box thinking and diverse perspectives. - Better User Experiences: Focuses on understanding and meeting the needs of users. - Increased Collaboration: Promotes teamwork and breaking down silos within organizations. - Faster Problem Solving: Iterative prototyping and testing lead to quicker identification of effective solutions. - Greater Flexibility: The iterative nature allows for adjustments and improvements throughout the process.

When Do You Create Best? As I was reflecting on my last post where I talked about wanting access to more resources and examples, it got me thinking… Do we thrive by examining high-quality examples and learning from them, or do we produce more original work by designing independently? At what point in the design process should we stop leaning on existing ideas for support? Over the past three years in design school, I’ve observed professors approach this topic from various directions. One school of thought goes like this: Some caution that examples can inspire and teach but might limit true innovation. It doesn’t leave room for much creative experimentation, and when your mind is already exposed to lots of ideas, it’s hard to discover new ones. On the flip side, while working without them fosters originality, it could risk missing out on industry standards. Not only that, but examples help you learn new skills and concepts. They help set a benchmark that you can strive to work towards. While there are benefits to each creative process, I think that leaning on examples especially in the early years of learning a new hobby, skills or craft, really accelerates your learning. Finding a balance is key—drawing from examples initially, then shifting to independent creation can lead to the best results. How do you approach your design process? - 👋 I'm Jyotsna–I write about design from a student perspective. 💬 Like and comment to support. 🔄 Repost to build awareness about design.