Something within Design
Some understanding and reflections on design at this stage.
- （Non-linear Narrativity）&（Process-Oriented）
-
（Ambiguity）&（Latent Potential）
-
（Symbiosis）
-
（Divergent Thinking）&（Emotional Resonance）
-
（Multidimensionality）
-
（Fluidity）
- （Co-creation）
In design thinking, platform thinking is a systematic thinking framework. This approach encourages designers to build a flexible, expandable structure or system that incorporates various resources, elements, and creative components, making the design process more open, dynamic, and efficient.
Systematic Framework:
The core of platform-oriented design is to establish a systematic framework. Within this framework, designers can freely access, exchange, and combine resources and elements. For instance, a design project can organize various design elements into modular parts that can be flexibly assembled. This enables designers to quickly create multiple possibilities during the creative process without being restricted by fixed forms.
Multidimensional Combination:
Platform-oriented design allows designers to achieve multiple design possibilities through multidimensional combinations. This extends beyond physical spatial combinations to include dimensions such as time, function, and theme. For example, within the same framework, different cultural elements, historical styles, or functional requirements can be integrated, creating designs that are diverse yet internally cohesive.
Openness and Adaptability:
Platform-oriented design thinking emphasizes openness. It provides a foundational framework that allows designers to quickly adjust design direction in response to changing scenarios and needs. It functions more like an open "ecosystem," enabling designers to continuously innovate and expand the boundaries of design without being constrained by specific forms or limitations.
Non-linear Narrativity: （Fragment）
Design uses fragmentation or multiple narrative pathways, allowing the audience to experience and understand it from various sequences or perspectives. Non-linear narrativity breaks the traditional cause-and-effect structure, enabling viewers to discover new storylines or layers of meaning each time they engage with the design. As they explore through different paths, they create a unique experience of their own.
Process-Oriented: （Logical）
This approach focuses on the generative process of design rather than solely on the final product. It emphasizes the evolution of the design, allowing the audience or user to observe its step-by-step construction. This visualization of the process often adds depth to the design, inspiring viewers to reflect on materials, craftsmanship, and time. It may even convey a sense of "unfinishedness," presenting the openness of design.
Ambiguity: （Possibility）
The divergent nature of design often stems from ambiguity—leaving undefined spaces that allow viewers to interpret freely. This ambiguity is not only an openness in design form but also extends to narrative style and symbolic meaning. This vagueness enables viewers to form diverse perceptions and associations, sparking multiple paths of thought.
Why？“Reason”（ Direction ， Choice ）
Latent Potential: （Limitation）
Design holds unactivated potential, awaiting external triggers. Latent potential makes a design appear static yet filled with rich possibilities. It can reveal different layers through user discovery, exploration, or even reinvention, similar to the concept of whitespace in art. Different levels of audience engagement can awaken more hidden meanings within the design.
Limitation, Scope, Trigger Conditions
Symbiosis （ Noah‘s Ark ）
Emotional Resonance （ Engine ）
Symbiosis: （Noah‘s Ark）
Design, as an open system, establishes interrelations with its surrounding environment, audience, and other designs. Symbiosis transforms design from an isolated entity into one that can integrate with other elements and adapt to new demands. This symbiotic nature gives design a platform-like quality, enabling it to support various functions while serving as a bridge for communication, sparking diverse thoughts and perspectives.
Leader, Control, Spark
Emotional Resonance: （Engine）
Design triggers deep emotional connections, establishing a sensory bond between the audience and the work. Through delicate details, emotional cues, or narrative expressions, emotional resonance transforms design from a mere object into a vessel of emotion, allowing viewers to feel an inner response or sense of connection.
Vitality, Flame
Fluidity （ Water ）
Multidimensional: （ Kaleidoscope ）
Design should possess a perspective that goes beyond the two-dimensional plane. Multidimensional space refers not only to physical depth but also to dimensions of time, emotion, and thought. This approach allows audiences to interact with design on various levels and at different points in time. It provides viewers with diverse angles and pathways to understand the design, enabling them to revisit the same work repeatedly and discover new content and meanings with each experience.
Path, Origin, Possibility
Fluidity: （Water）
Design should embody fluidity, adapting to changes in time, space, or user needs. This fluidity introduces a sense of openness, allowing design to redefine itself in different contexts and environments. By breaking away from rigid forms, fluidity infuses design with vitality, offering people continuous experiences and opportunities for new discoveries.
Diversity, Vague yet Clear