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Future application

The final section of a studio knowledge object speculates about how you can transfer this new knowledge to future projects and professional practice. The aim is to develop your design expertise by applying lessons learned from this studio and from your structured reflection.

Planning

On the Reflecting on your learning page, we learnt about the DIEP framework for reflective writing. As part of DIEP, we need to write a Plan for each of our reflections. Now, in the future applications section of our studio knowledge object, we bring all of our Plan sections together and think of the future application of what we have learnt from our insight as a whole .

To write this section, it is helpful to ask yourself the following questions:

  • What aspect(s) of the learning in this studio will you draw on for future design practice?
  • What techniques will you transfer to your future practice?
  • What meaning and value does this have for your practice?
  • How might you apply this understanding to your future practice?

Now, let's explore how students have used their answers to these questions to write about the future application of their insights.

A critical incident for me was realising that, as a designer, I need to be thinking about strategies that have lasting impact. When we were first told about our task in the Design for Social Change studio, I was not optimistic that I would be able to develop a strategy for communicating the importance of climate change and food security to young people. This kind of pessimism prevented me from thinking clearly about how to make a change. Taking the time to actually look at successful projects and campaigns that promote sustainable and socially just ideals, made me realise that complex design tasks are achievable if we connect the right problem with the right audience in a way that hasn’t been tried before. This inspired my strategy of using personas and the six spheres approaches. Knowing that communicating anything is perfectly achievable as long as you understand who you’re talking to is probably the most important thing that I’ve learnt this semester. It has given me confidence that this field of practice is not futile and that I can continue to develop my skills in systems thinking for social innovation and sustainable design strategies.

I am motivated to continue exploring principles from the field of interpretation design in my future design practice, focusing on context and perspective. The interpretive environment brief allowed me to test different narratives and communication aims for the same exhibit at the Melbourne Museum. I now appreciate that a practitioner needs to look further afield than mere graphic identity and aesthetic integration, towards strategies and frameworks to achieve the aims of the exhibition. I have come to understand the benefit of creating different narratives that target specific ages and audiences for the same exhibit. Carefully designed environments and experiences use the principles of interpretation design to target an exhibition's narrative, its communication aims and its effectiveness, as well as its audience's needs, the degree of interaction and approach to learning. This strategy significantly improves final outcomes. I will continue to investigate interpretation design, specifically exhibition design in relation to child-centred design strategies. I will concentrate on being mindful of the context and perspective of the information being depicted to create more engaging, inspiring and educational outcomes.