Abducting design methods

Just came across this video of Jon Kolko, Associate Creative Director at Frog talking at a recent TEDx CreativeCoast about some of the design methodologies Frog use and how they can be implemented. It is an interesting presentation and has a lot of synergy with some of the methods I have been introducing at BBC Sport – I have just never seen them explained so well.

The Frog technique is based on 1 of the 3 types of applied logic, [roughly] according to Wikipedia, these are:
Deductive – ‘Arguments that attempt to show that a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of premises’
Inductive – ‘Arguments indicate some degree of support for the conclusion but do not entail it’.
Abductive – ‘Arguments that arrive at an explanatory hypothesis’

The [new] method Jon is championing is ‘Abductive’ and works on the premise that peoples life experiences and opinions are valid when looking for insight and innovation and not necessarily adversely biased [as deemed by the other two]. This hypothesis then becomes a simple formula: I saw this + I know this = Insight. In another stage of the process Frog then apply this insight against existing design patterns to quickly find innovative solutions.

I really like this as it allows for best use of available data and research but also includes expert opinion and the experience and wisdom of the design team. We have been employing a very similar method at BBC Sport recently where we have been mapping best practice design patterns against researched audience feedback and product aspirations resulting in the generation of some great insights and innovative solutions.

More about Jon’s talk here.