Irrational Design Reflection

Overall, I felt that this irrational design course exposed me to a new sect of industrial design I had not known before. This class delved into the realms of discursive and speculative design, going beyond the predefined notions and expectations of traditional products. The connection between cognitive biases and artistic decisions deepened my understanding of the human mind’s influence on seemingly uninhibited choices. Through the class’s continued implementation of rapid ideation and prototyping, I felt my industrial design brainstorming, as well as physical modeling skills improve. I also thoroughly enjoyed the writing aspect of the class. Being prompted to translate our thought process into a cohesive design article helped me to analyze and internalize my own decisions and considerations. I felt that I ended up gaining more from the projects with an accompanying article than those which were strictly in class.

I felt that the final project was an excellent summation of all the elements introduced in the class. Starting with an idea, which manifested a photoshop mockup, my partner and I were able to completely realize the final, working version of our speculative, irrational design. The Facilitated Interaction Chair takes the secure feeling of sitting in a chair, and spins it by forcing you into extremely close quarters with another individual, creating a situation of acute stress for both participants. Our goal was, through the shared experience, allow users to either work together, or against each other to reach a common point of comfortability. Creating an environment with designed objects within it, for the purpose of eliciting an action and emotion is, I feel, at the root of irrational design. Being presented with an object that combats an individual’s pre-established understanding of that objects puts people in a compromising spot. They’re forced to rely on their deepest decision-making skills as they can’t rely on what they already know to be true.

This second-take and need for further investigation, triggering a response from viewers is the quintessential goal for all of our irrational designs through the course. Irrational design seeks to target certain parts of the brain in order to force people to reconsider what they hold true about certain products, and take a moment to dig deeper. Hopefully gaining a new perspective from it.