Video: What is design?

In the video what is design, Bill Moggridge explains the definition of design. He defines design as anything altered by man, and thus alludes to how broad design really is. There is no one category of design, but rather, it design itself branches out to reach the fashion industry, interior shapes and even engineering. From architecture, to industrial design, to interior design, Moggridge really covers many interesting aspects.
In the first part of this video, the first lady talks about the education of students in design. She talks about how some children are “cut off” from America’s rich cultural life. She wants to open up new incentives for younger people to embrace the culture of design that surrounds them in their everyday life. Also she talks about achieving this through workshops and mentoring sessions like the one she gave her speech at to give direction to those interested and shape dreams.
There are good and bad designs in our world and Moggridge showed a few examples of good designs by the award winning designer Jane Thompson, the U.S. Design Research Company and the Green Building Council. He also noted noteworthy designs produced by the Bauhaus and the architectural successes by Frank Geary.
Bad designs are evident when there are apparent problems between interaction design and technological design, and the showcase example is a Japanese design organisation attempt to allow the function of mobile phones to purchase drinks from vending-machine, which proved to be very inconvenient to any users.
Successful designs should harness the subconscious mind; remember not to design for one; make prototypes and test things; design to understand people; design in contexts of personal, social and environmental matters.
Moggridge also talks about three expanding contexts relating to design. This would be the Personal, Social and Environmental aspects, each a crucial part of any designers mentality. Personal design concentrates on the consumer themselves. Social refers to the design for impact, to change something for improvement. Environmental looks at how the materials the object is made up of affects our world.