Behavioral design in a new age realm
I recently stumbled across a post on a compellingly named site “Human Design Consulting & Certification”, expecting the pieces to be in the design and technology field, and was surprised the strong point of view leaned much closer to life-coaching of the spiritual kind. Despite this, thinking fondly of Adam’s client Ascend and all of the warm-feeling, thought provoking sessions emanating from our then shared-office battle-station. I found myself so compelled by one piece [INSERT LINK https://www.humandesignlifecoaching.com/blog/2022/3/9/the-science-of-differentiation-being-a-human-design-scientist-part-1 ]that I nearly picked up a pen to attempt redrafting the same prompt, expecting the outcome to be something next to plagiarized, with the economics bits changed to ux design and/or consulting.
Upon further reflection, I came to realize that the very formulas used with various opaque Official Metaphysical Names for Variables, is exactly how we write open ended questions for user research in behavioral design. Heck, even my professional career ‘focus track’ is in Human-Centered Design. [LINK TO LINKED IN CREDENTIAL]
This section about the LENS METAPHOR that I feel strongly about, tie it into the original google search seed around the human design system, and the science of differentiation https://www.humandesignlifecoaching.com/blog/2017/2/17/how-to-know-your-ideal-work-identity-and-direction
I had been stewing on this idea of “knowing my design story”, a concept I was well taught back in college but have lost practice in. Scrolling and clapping my way through medium articles [could link https://uxplanet.org/whats-your-design-story-2bc98c1620a0 ] and chewing on ideas like using myself as the metaphor of my own UX of me [LINK https://medium.com/mikewcurtis/introducing-the-you-design-system-design-the-ux-of-you-67f4f8e6b645 ]
A further argument/direction for this piece could be questioning the baseline of the question ‘what is practicing science’ and reminding of behavioral science and psychology, as well las design and visual literacy as an extension of the sciences. Hello! It’s STEAM! Using narratives and storytelling is even shown to be more effective in communicating with non-expert audiences than high-brow, logical explanations. [ SOURCE https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4183170/ ]
https://www.humandesignlifecoaching.com/
How to choose a metaphor for your brand
If your brand offers a complex product or a service that is difficult to explain (maybe because there’s nothing to compare it to), consider using a metaphor as the roadmap for how you talk about your brand or explain the complexities of what it offers. When leading clients down this path, we often ask:
What does your product represent to customers?
How does your brand deliver value?
Where does your brand fit into your customers’ lives?
How do you connect your offering to your brand’s promise?
If your brand offers a complex product or a service that is difficult to explain (maybe because there’s nothing to compare it to), consider using a metaphor as the roadmap for how you talk about your brand or explain the complexities of what it offers. When leading clients down this path, we often ask:
What does your product represent to customers?
How does your brand deliver value?
Where does your brand fit into your customers’ lives?
How do you connect your offering to your brand’s promise?
Interface mataphor
In user interface design, an interface metaphor is a set of user interface visuals, actions and procedures that exploit specific knowledge that users already have of other domains. The purpose of the interface metaphor is to give the user instantaneous knowledge about how to interact with the user interface
Used to define system in terms the user can intuit
Metaphors are a mapping process
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00198/full
Metaphors are widely used in HCI as a vehicle for representing and developing designs. A metaphor is a mapping process from a familiar object to an unfamiliar object, and it provides the framework to familiarize an unknown concept through a mapping process. The role of a metaphor in HCI is to facilitate developing, maintaining, and learning the conceptual foundation of the interactive design as well as orienting the user with it (Saffer, 2005). Using metaphors involves the exploration and expression of an idea that is integral to design generation and innovation (Brady, 2003). In this perspective, metaphors can be used as a tool in the design process to understand new topic areas or as a means to create new ideas about familiar subjects. They enhance our perception by transforming our sense of reality (Ricoeur, 1991), and new metaphors can create a comprehensive conceptual system (Lakoff, 1993)
Tokens and metaphor
