Constraints

Today’s lecture were about constraining the design space in order to further provoke the thinking of the object which can be useful, especially if the design process is “stuck”. Roel discussed different types of constraints, decisive and environmental. In reality we can think that all designs possess some kind of constraints, be it intrinsic attributes, design space or self-imposed constraints.

Roel focused a bit on decisive constraints. This is an artificial limit that should act as a resource for provoking the process. The desired result is that the the designer will acquire new insights but it is not a given. There was someone in the class asking Roel something inline with: “What will happen if a constraint is applied and nothing happens and it just becomes a waste of time?”. Roel explained that we have the privilege of working with a project that has no budget. Normally when a real project is made with real clients and time frame to respect, a more careful approach to constraint is reasonable in order to not blow the budget and timeline. Since we are students working with ample time and no budget, Roel iterated that, we don’t have to consider that caveat.

From a design perspective as designer that likes methods and tools, I think that the constraints as an approach is interesting. I have to figure out how to apply it to the LED and arduino as they seem like already scaled down, minimalistic objects. The LED has brightness/intensity and the on/off state. Constraining one of those parameters might not necessarily lead to a “creative turning point” but definitely valuable insights.

Upon reflecting on the related papers on constraints and the approach, it may have higher probability to generate result in areas were the design space is a bit larger and more complex than a red led with an arduino? I have to verify the following days when I try to the approach.

As for this week I have learned a lot about the LED and how to manipulate it. I’m still working on the sketch on how to accurately display a progress of a file being transferred.