I decided to explore the work of the design strategist and educator, Jon Kolko. He had performed research on the design process and the way that designers utilize materials in their concept development. He is a strong advocate for the use of artifacts and tangible objects in various stages of design.

On the site of Jon Kolko there are a series of articles posted. The one that has the most pertinent material is “Trusting the Design Process.” However there is also “Transformative Learning in the Design Studio.” In this piece Kolko is identifying the need to understand some of the learning models that have been in existence in the realm of design education.

In “Trusting the Design Process” Kolko is sharing his knowledge and expertise with others and introducing teaching points and methods.

Some of the methods that he notes are the following:

•  Conduct immersive, ethnographic research.

•  Synthesize the research to arrive at the “big rocks” of innovation

•  Sketch lots and lots of scenarios that introduce new products, systems, or services

•  Visualize the “designed touchpoints” in real artifacts

•  Test the results with real people

His objective is to bring real experience into the design process.