Lesson video

Hi, I'm Ms. McGoldrick.

Thank you for joining me today for our design and technology lesson on bisociation.

And this lesson is part of the unit where we investigate and research a high-profile event.

Thank you, and let's get started.

Our lesson outcome for today is I can use bisociation to create innovative designs.

Our keywords for this lesson are design opportunities, now, this is what designers are always searching for, the opportunity to start designing.

So this is when a gap or a need where a new or improved product would be beneficial.

So a gap in the market.

Design fixation, something else that's really important when designing.

And this is when you can fixate on considering only one or existing possibilities.

We'll discuss that further in the lesson.

Innovative, so innovative is when you introduce new ideas, new ideas that have never been seen before.

And that is something that is very difficult to do, which is why things like bisociation exist.

And these are techniques that help us design without design fixating.

So this is a technique of connecting two unrelated concepts to produce a new idea.

Our first lesson outline is design opportunities.

Now, when we are investigating within our design project, the first kind of phase is investigating and researching.

And the whole point of that first phase is to identify a problem to solve.

And when there are problems to solve, it gives designers opportunities to start designing something to solve that problem.

So opportunities to start designing.

A design opportunity is identifying a gap or a need where a new product or an improved product would be beneficial.

So first check, a design opportunity is a finished product ready for testing, a design idea that has been finalised, or a gap or a need where a new or improved product would be beneficial? Pause.

Have a go.

Okay, so a design opportunity is a gap or a need where a new or improved product would be beneficial.

A gap in the market, an opportunity to start designing.

So completing tasks in that first kind of initial investigating and research stage might consist of things like user journey maps, a user profile, interviews, target market questionnaires.

All of them are not just there to be done, they are there to help designers find a design opportunity to discover a problem to be solved.

And when a design opportunity comes from the people in the context, there's always lots of people within a context, and we find a design opportunity from those people, maybe through an interview or a questionnaire or a profile, it is called a market pull.

And a market pull happens when the demand is from the people in the context.

The people drive the creation of a new product or a service.

So a market pull happens when the demand of people drives the creation, if a new technology is invented or when businesses create demand? Pause the video, have a go.

So a market pull happens when the demand from the people drives the creation of a new product or a new service.

Well done if you got that right.

An example of a product that has originated from a market pull is the Ford Model T.

Now, before the Model T was created, vehicles did exist, lorries and vans, but individual households did not have their own vehicle.

So that was the demand from society.

So the Ford Model T was created to meet that growing market demand for affordable and reliable cars for personal transportation.

So investigations can also include lots of other things that don't really involve the people within a context.

So things like analysing products, looking at materials, and new technology research.

So the more technical side of your investigations and research.

And when a design opportunity comes from those things, we call it a technology push.

So a technology push happens when new innovations or advancements or developments in technology drive the creation of a new product or a service.

So a check, a technology push happens when the demand of people drives it, a product is designed based on user feedback, or new innovations or advancements in technology drive the creation? Pause the video, have a go.

Okay, so a technology push happens when new innovations or advancements in technology drive the creation.

So let's look at that in more detail.

An example of a product that has originated from a technology push is the personal cassette player called the Sony Walkman.

Now, I really hope you've heard of this.

This was a groundbreaking product in the 1970s/80s.

And without this product being developed, we possibly wouldn't be where we're at with mobile phones and kind of listening to music the way that we do nowadays.

So it changed the path of how we listen to music.

It made it more personal.

It made it so we can actually listen to music while on the move, for example, walking down the street or on the bus or on a train.

And the whole reason for that is because of the technology that enabled it to be so compact.

So the technological development of compact cassette technology and also that portable audio innovations, being able to listen to music through smaller headphones, drove Sony to create the Sony Walkman.

So without that technology push, we wouldn't have a product like this.

So let's look at three steps involved in the development of the wheel for transport.

So we've got an image here of a wooden wheel.

We've got an image of a wooden wheel, but it has spokes.

And then we've got an image of a rubber car wheel.

And we are gonna look at each of these steps in the evolution of the wheel for transport in a bit more detail.

Now, there's lots of steps in between, but these three here are kind of big jumps in the evolution of the wheel.

So we can look at each step, and we can think about the origin of that step.

Why did that step happen? Why did that jump in development happen? And we can put it down to a market pull or a technology push, or we can actually argue points for both.

So the first actual invention of the wheel was made of stone, you probably knew that, and was used for things like potter's wheels or millstones for grinding kind of wheat to make flour.

But when we moved to thinking about wheels kind of used for transporting, then we moved to this solid wood wheel.

So in the image there, we've got a cart being pulled along and kind of moving heavy goods, and that is the first example of a wheel being used on any kind of vehicle.

But why did that step happen? So why that wooden wheel, that solid wooden wheel used on that cart, was that down to a market pull, so did society demand that change, or was it down to a technology push, some kind of technology that enabled that product to be kind of invented or developed? Or are there elements of both in there? So let's have a look at what Andeep thinks.

So Andeep says, "I can think of reasons for both market pull and technology push." Market pull, so the solid wooden wheel is down to, society requiring a method of quickly transporting large amounts of heavy goods, mainly for trade and agriculture.

So using the stone wheel that already existed as inspiration, kind of carts with wooden wheels were invented to fill that gap or to fill that need from society.

And then technology push as well.

So that wheel can only exist because of development in tools and equipment that were used to slice huge pieces of tree trunks into discs that enabled the wheel to be produced.

So Andeep has provided a reason for both a market pull and a technology push for that wooden wheel.

Let's have a look at the second one, the spoked wheel cart.

So Laura says, "I think this is down to a market pull." So people needed carts to transport heavy goods.

We know this, okay, that was linked to the last solid wheel kind of development, but that solid wheel was way too heavy, and the spoked wheel was invented to make wheels lighter, but keeping it strong at the same time.

Okay, so carts were too heavy, they were difficult for the animals to pull along or for people to move, so that kind of demand from the people enabled that spoked wooden wheel to be invented.

Let's have a look at what Jacob thinks with that rubber car wheel.

So Jacob thinks that it's down to a technology push.

So his reason for this is that rubber can be vulcanised, which makes it very durable.

So rubber comes from a plant, when we get it from the plant, it's in liquid form.

We can't use a liquid to make a tyre unless we do something to it.

And that kind of technology development was vulcanization, which enables us to take rubber and turn it into a more solid kind of durable material that we can use to make tyres out of.

So Jacob was saying the whole reason then that rubber tyre exists is down to that process of vulcanization.

Jacob also says, though, it did make the ride kind of more comfortable, so it did make car journeys more comfortable compared to kind of using a wooden or a metal spoked wheel.

Let's have a task.

So what we're gonna do is we're gonna look at the development of those wheels in more detail.

So here's our table, okay? And on the left-hand side there, we've got kind of our three major evolution steps of the wheel.

We've got the wooden wheel, then we've got the spoked wooden wheel, then we've got the rubber car wheel.

Now, what I would like you to do is to try and provide a reason for a market pull for each stage and a technology push for each stage.

So I would like you to kind of argue your point for each market pull and technology push for each development stage.

Now, to kind of help you along a bit, there is the example that we have already spoke about for each one in the table, so you've just got to fill in the blank there, okay? So if we look at the first one, the solid wooden wheel, we kind of discussed already that society required a method of quickly transporting a large amount of heavy goods, mainly for trade and agriculture.

So that was the market pull.

But can you provide a reason for a technology push? You might want to go back in the slides a little bit, because we do discuss that in the slides.

But for the second and third stage, you will have to come up with a reason for a technology push for that wooden spoked wheel.

And you will have to come up with a reason for a market pull for the rubber car wheel.

So pause the video, have a go, and we'll come back for some feedback.

So some feedback for task A.

So your answer could be, here it is, okay, so let's look at that first step.

So the development, the solid wooden wheel.

Can we provide a reason for a technology push? So a technology push could have been developments in tech tools and equipment used to slice large pieces of tree trunk into discs, enabled these wooden wheels to be produced.

If we look at the second step in evolution, so the spoked cartwheel, our market pull was kind of looking at people using carts needed something more lightweight.

Those solid wooden wheels were too heavy.

So kind of reducing the material and adding spokes instead kept it strong, but more lightweight.

But if we look at a technology push for that, so maybe advancements in manufacturing skills and machinery and equipment allowed to create that spoked kind of shape in the wheel, 'cause that's very difficult to do.

Creating those spokes and also creating that kind of, you know, circle kind of outline, in wood or any material, is a very difficult thing to do.

So being able to do that, being able to have the technology knowledge and the technological kind of equipment and tools to be able to do that enabled that to happen.

Okay, the rubber wheel.

So we spoke about vulcanization leading to being able to use rubber as an actual material that we could use for tyres.

So that's a technology push, but is there a market pull there as well? And I think there is.

So society required a more comfortable ride.

So I don't know if anyone's ever been in a cart that has wooden wheels, but it is not a comfortable ride, okay? So using rubber that we fill with air, you know, it provides a much more comfortable journey.

Our second lesson outline is design fixation.

So identifying design opportunities through those investigation and research tasks will always support innovative designing.

Now, innovative designing is creating new and original ideas, and that is very, very difficult to do.

Design fixation is the complete opposite of that.

So design fixation is focusing or being fixated on one idea or existing ideas.

And when people do that, it really can limit room for creativity and innovation.

Let's have a check.

Innovative designing is copying an existing design without any changes, designing with no consideration for user needs, creating new and original ideas, or creating designs focused on aesthetics? Pause the video, have a go.

So innovative designing is creating new and original ideas.

Well done if you got that right.

Let's look at an example of design fixation.

So the example that I've chosen, you all should be familiar with this, is the QWERTY layout for a computer keyboard.

So this, but why have I chosen this? Why is that an example of design fixation? Why is that an example of focusing on one idea or an existing idea? Okay, so the QWERTY keyboard layout was actually designed about 150 years ago now, and it was designed to prevent typewriter jams. So as we can see here, there is a typewriter and the person is pressing the keys.

And as they are pressing the keys, there are arms that fly forward and print letters onto a piece of paper.

Now, when someone is very fast at typing on a typewriter, the arms actually get tangled very easily.

And the QWERTY keyboard layout was designed as a solution for that problem, or the best solution at that time for that problem.

The same keyboard layout, as you know, is used today still, you know, around the world, even though there are more effective keyboard layouts like the Dvorak.

Okay, so let's look at that in more detail.

So the Dvorak keyboard layout was created in 1936, so that's almost a hundred years old.

And it was designed to be a faster, more efficient, more ergonomic, and more comfortable keyboard layout for typing.

And user feedback, you know, it reduces finger movement, it helps prevent typing mistakes, which I make all the time.

It improves speed of typing and lowers the risk of repetitive strain injuries.

So there's an example of the Dvorak keyboard layout that has been proven to be a more effective keyboard layout than the QWERTY layout.

However, we still design fixate on that and we still use it widely and very, very often.

So let's think back to our context of a high-profile event, and let's focus on an outdoor music festival.

And let's look at some examples of design fixation that we would class within a outdoor music festival.

So it could include products which already exist, like tents.

There's lots of tents at festivals, there's lots of seating, usually wooden seating at festivals, loads of T-shirts kind of being sold, being worn, you know, lanyards, lots of lanyards, you know, a lot of festivals happen in kind of nicer weather, so lots of sunglasses.

So all of those products there would be kind of the products that we think about first when we think about an outdoor music festival.

So a check.

Design fixation is identifying design opportunities through investigations, focusing or fixating on one idea or existing ideas, creating new and original ideas, or refining an idea following feedback.

Pause the video, have a go.

So design fixation is focusing or fixating on one idea or existing ideas.

Well done if you got that correct.

So being innovative is difficult, and our brain's default is to just go to what we already know, what we remember, what we've seen before.

And that leads to design fixation.

It's very easy to design fixate, and it's very difficult to be creative and innovative.

So when we're creating ideas, design fixation should be avoided.

And a way to avoid that is to be aware of it.

So example of design fixation is when people are asked to design a chair.

So think about that now, okay? What do you see when I say chair? So your brain is going to go to what you already know.

Maybe something's in front of you, okay? So close your eyes, think about a chair.

What do you see? So I think you will see four legs on the chair.

I think you'll see a flat seat.

I think you'll see a backrest.

I think you'll see some kind of material and possibly, you know, some kind of wooden material.

And that's the default that your brain will do.

It will go to what it already knows, and that is very difficult to challenge, and it doesn't leave much room for innovation.

So something like that maybe.

But just being aware of design fixation, knowing about it, kind of pointing it out from the start, will actually help block that design fixation out and identify the gaps in between.

So an alternative path for our thinking is to focus on the context and the problem and not think about the products that are in that context.

So let's take seating.

So our context would be seating plays a crucial role in daily life, serving as a fundamental element of comfort, functionality, and interaction with various environments.

That's our context.

So why don't we just automatically think about the product straight away and get it out of our brain? So the products within seating, and that is our design fixation, would be things like chairs, benches, stools, recliners, they all already exist.

And then that leaves space for us to think about the gaps, the design opportunities there.

So let's think about seating for outdoors and think about seating for different indoor environments.

Let's think about posture related to seating.

Adaptable seating, customizable seating.

Seating for young children, seating for elderly people.

Okay, let's have a go at a task.

So here's a table, and on the left-hand side of that table, we've got four different contexts.

So we've got an outdoor music festival, healthy living, encouraging nature, and an ageing population.

That is our context.

Straight away we're gonna identify, and make it really obvious, the design fixation.

When it's there in front of us, we will be aware of it, which means we will be able to see the gaps for design opportunities.

So let's point out the really obvious products that will already be within that context.

So for an outdoor music festival, we've got the seating, the tent, T-shirts, sunglasses, lanyards.

And then we can start to think about examples of design opportunities.

So is there a gap or a need where a product would be beneficial? So maybe weather-responsive clothing, okay, if you go to a festival all day, it might be sunny in the morning, but it might be pouring down with rain in the afternoon.

Can we think about our clothing? Maybe can it be adaptable to, you know, change with the weather? Eco-friendly waste management, maybe, or immersive experiences at a festival, kind of, you know, feeling like you're somewhere else, okay? So have a go at the other three contexts.

So have a think about healthy living.

Can you identify really obvious products that would be classed as design fixation, and then could you think of examples of design opportunities and do the same for the other two also? Good luck, pause the video, have a go.

We'll come back for some feedback.

So some feedback on task B.

So your answers could be, here we go, so we looked at the outdoor music festival, that was the example.

Healthy living.

So examples of design fixation, examples of products that are already in that context that already exist would be things like exercise products and water bottles maybe.

But maybe we could kind of look where the gaps are.

So examples of design opportunities, wearable technology, that is kind of, you know, really big deal at the moment, and there's still further gaps to be explored.

Inclusive exercising products, you know, exercise products for younger people, for disabled people, for elderly people.

Encouraging nature, so bird boxes, straight away.

Design fixation, okay, designing a bird box when we have a context to do with nature.

Bug hotels, you know, they already exist, they're everywhere.

But can we look at the gaps? So examples of design opportunities, maybe some kind of products that are educational that teach people about nature, or reusing waste that we generate in households to kind of promote nature in our gardens potentially.

And ageing populations, so kind of walking aids, so walking sticks, kind of frames and warm clothes.

They are kind of obvious products that would be included in that context, or examples of design opportunities.

Maybe adaptive clothing, kind of similar to the festival clothing.

Or virtual reality, using virtual reality for the kind of older population or any kind of new technologies, okay? So if you kind of generated lots of examples of design opportunities and lots of examples of design fixations for those contexts, then excellent job, well done.

Our third lesson outline is bisociation.

So bisociation is a way of avoiding design fixation, and it's the technique of connecting two unrelated concepts to help us create a brand new idea or a new innovation.

Quick check, bisociation is the technique of connecting two unrelated concepts or ideas to produce a new innovation, designing with no consideration for the user needs, relying on random chance to generate ideas, or focusing on a single area of knowledge for inspiration? Pause the video here, have a go.

So bisociation is the technique of connecting two unrelated concepts or ideas to produce a new innovation.

Well done if you got that right.

Let's look at some examples of bisociation.

So an example of an innovative product that has been created using bisociation is the hook and loop fastening tape that you will probably know as Velcro.

So here we have some hooks on a plant, on a burr, we have some loops in fabric.

Those two unrelated concepts were thrown together by the designer after walking through a field, okay, designer was walking through a field and noticed that these little burrs were sticking to his trousers.

After further investigation, kind of looking at those two things, it ended up being that Velcro was invented.

So the hook and loop fastening system was invented.

Another example is the electric vehicle.

So take the electric motor, here's a vehicle, put them together and we've got the electric vehicle.

Okay? Previously unrelated concepts, actually take both of them, put them together, we get a brand new product.

Another example is the cyclone vacuum cleaner.

So before cyclone vacuum cleaners, we had vacuum cleaners that have bags in them.

They used to lose power.

The designer, James Dyson, had a bit of inspiration, kind of looking at a dust extractor, figuring out how that worked and realising it didn't lose power, and kind of thinking, "Why can't those two things be put together to create a new or improved product?" And came out of that, the cyclone vacuum cleaner.

Last example is the fashion watch, okay? So we're taking fashion here, okay, we have beautiful patterns and amazing graphics in fashion.

Why can't we apply that to a standard watch? Okay, so before this, watches would just have kind of general leather straps on them, not very brightly coloured, until a company called Swatch came along and created something called the fashion watch.

So taking two unrelated concepts, fashion and a wristwatch, and putting that together to create a new or improved product.

Right, an example.

Okay, a time for a quick check.

An example of an innovative product that has been created using bisociation is personal cassette player, Sony Walkman, rubber car wheel, or the hook and loop fastening tape.

Pause the video, make your choice.

Okay, so an example of bisociation is the hook and loop fastening tape, known as Velcro.

Let's look at a method of using bisociation, okay? To generate our design.

So how can we use that to help us design innovative designs? So here are two lists of products.

Okay, have a look at those.

We are gonna take two products from those lists, so we've taken toothbrush and ballpoint pen, and what you need to do is identify its primary function.

So what is its main job? So a toothbrush's main job is to clean teeth, and a ballpoint pen's main job is to write.

And we're gonna switch those functions over.

So we're gonna put writing underneath toothbrush, and we're gonna put cleaning teeth underneath ballpoint pen.

And we're gonna combine those two to create a brand new product, okay? So Lucas here has taken toothbrush and writing, and Lucas has come up with this idea here, okay? So a children's toothbrush that allows children to write on the mirror or the sink or the bath or a bathroom surface whilst brushing their teeth.

So the toothbrush is there and it's got some form of writing kind of nib, okay, to enable that to happen.

So combine the new product and the function to create a new, innovative product.

So Sam here has taken the ballpoint pen and the cleaning teeth function and thought, "Right, okay, so I'm gonna create maybe a brush-style toothbrush that you could adopt a different way to brush your teeth." Okay? Kind of like a coloring-in style instead of the normal brushing of teeth.

Right, task.

Okay, so following the bisociation technique modelled on the previous slides, you're going to sketch two new innovative products or ideas from the list below, and we're gonna add notes to your sketches too.

So here are the two lists, the same as before.

You are gonna pick two products on that list and you're gonna identify the primary functions.

Then you're gonna switch their functions over and you're gonna create two brand new products from those primary functions and products mixed together.

Pause the video, have a go.

Some feedback.

So your answer could be, for example, Sam here has taken a drinks mug and identified one of the functions of the other, which is providing light, and has come up with a motion-detected light-up handle on a mug.

So when you reach for your mug, your handle will illuminate to draw the user's attention to where the handle is.

So another product and then a primary function from one of the other products, okay, so a desk lamp and holding liquid.

So we've got a desk lamp that has a calming visual and audible rain setting to help with stressful work moments.

So that's a lovely idea from Lucas there.

So a desk lamp that has some kind of calming effect, kind of to do with liquid.

Right, a summary for this lesson, Bisociation.

So design opportunity is a gap or a need where a new or improved product would be beneficial.

These opportunities can originate from a market pull or a technology push, or both.

Design fixation is the opposite of being innovative, and it's fixating on one idea or existing ideas.

This can limit creativity and innovation.

And a technique that's used to avoid design fixation is called bisociation.

And this is the technique of connecting two unrelated concepts or ideas to produce a new innovation.

Okay, thank you very much for joining me today.

I hope that you use the technique of bisociation when and if you have to start designing.

Thank you.