Design as Learning Process
Everyday in human life, people learning something new whether it is learning driving a car, cooking new recipe, or creating new design. Learning process is not about reading book only, it also could be included as experience seeker. Designer do learning process not only from lecturing and reading thick book, but also from experiencing new things, drawing, trial, and also error. From those activity designer will be able to understand more about their design. in design, there are three basic design learning method by some experts.
First if basic method of experimental learning theory by Kolb. It is about cycle process, which mean you will do it like a circle. First is thinking which is abstracting the concept, and then continued into doing or experimenting the thing you thought before. After doing the experimentation move into feeling, or concentrating on what we doing, after that is reviewing the whole work, if there is a mistake we can start over by looking which part was unclear and which part must be fix in order to make it function normally. As this process is about cycle, we can see easily which part is not right and directly fixed it. This method of learning will lead into infinite learning which means we keep learning until there is nothing wrong with our design.
The second one is about differentiation of in action and on action. In action learning means designer learn new things through other people who experience the event. Which mean the designer not the one who take the action, they are not the one who experience it directly. However, their friends are, they are the one who experience and then the designer try to understand by listening through those people experience, and then designer will figure out what it likes be. In other hands, on action means the designer experience the whole thing by their self. Whether they try it or experience it un occasionally, that called on action term. Hence designer will learn new things from both learning through in action and on action. Even though those are different, however they give experience and new lesson for designer.
The third one is about sense making. Sense making in term of design refer to giving clarity and understand of what is this design supposed to be. Sense making is also about constructing from unknown to become know by people. The way for understanding could be done by using logic and also all of five senses. Towards making sense of something new, there must be a progress to respond the sense. The scheme will be like this, forming the prediction of what the unknown thing will be. After than into surprise of the unknown shape, look, and fee. Therefore from unknown become known. After seeing the known thing it will come into explanation of what is this unknown and the attributing the meaning on it. Last one is revising the assumption, revising whether it is right or wrong so it will make new sense and meaning.
From all of the explanation about design as learning process. It is clear now how learning process could affect a designer as well as designing. Learning is a way of understanding from unknown into known, whether it is experience, life, or design. Every learning hold a process of leaning it. The process has been explained in the previous paragraph. Learning in design not only refers from book, but also experience, trial, and error. All of this aspect hold a big opportunity for designer to become a well known and also a professional designer in the future.
Reference :
Class material and class presentations
Putu Deny Pratama Saputra 
