When first getting started working with youth on how to do design, I will show this video from ABC Nightline concerning the Silicon Valley design firm IDEO. It provides a summary of the design process starting with observation and synthesis through brainstorming and prototyping. It places a heavy emphasis on understanding the user or consumer, as well as the need to use prototyping early in the design process to identify shortcomings in the design and opportunities for improvement. The episode originally aired in 1999 and is available from a secondary source on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Dtrkrz0yoU

Unlike other body parts, the brain has no sensory receptors. Consequently, there is no direct mechanism to sense its operations. This can only be done through conscious attention to the workings of the mind. Meditation allows one to hone the skills needed to consciously focus attention onto the workings of the brain. By quietening the mind and reducing the interference from spurious activity, one can begin to sense the operations of the brain. The nucleus accumbens is an area that lies deep within the brain. It may be thought of as the brain's pleasure center because more than any other region of the brain, activity in this region corresponds to the experience of pleasure and liking. When receiving a reward of some kind the nucleus accumbens is active. Similarly, it is active during pleasurable experiences, such as listening to enjoyable music , or even thinking about pleasurable experiences. I have been exploring meditation techniques that target the nucleus accumbens as a means to trigger pleasant sensations. My experience has been that one must first reach a state of very deep relaxation in which the brain is quiet and there are few intrusive thoughts. The goal is to recognize pleasant sensations within the brain and learn to generate patterns of brain activity that produce these sensations. It should be noted that this does not involve recalling pleasant memories as this has the potential to generate patterns of brain activity that interfere with one's awareness of their brain. I have used a technique in which I imagine the brain is an empty vessel and deep within that empty vessel is the nucleus accumbens. Then, I imagine poking it and with each poke, waves of pleasant sensations emanate from the nucleus acumbens and spread throughout the rest of the brain. References regarding nucleus accumbens - Knutson, B., et al. (2001). Anticipation of Increasing Monetary Reward Selectively Recruits Nucleus Accumbens. J of Neuroscience - Sabatinelli, D., et al. (2007). Pleasure Rather Than Salience Activates Human Nucleus Accumbens and Medial Prefrontal Cortex. J of Neurophysiology - Salimpoor, V.N., et al. (2013). Interactions Between the Nucleus Accumbens and Auditory Cortices Predict Music Reward Value. Science

Why would someone want my product. Why am I creating my product. The designer should be able to truthfully answer these questions. The problem is that in design, whether for products or engineering aspects of our own lives, people are prone to fantasy. They assign motives to users that do not exist. They assume their interests will persists into the future. They are unrealistic about both themselves and others. Consequently, the Internet is littered with websites, Facebook pages, YouTube videos, etc. that are ignored and largely forgotten. In design, we must strive for clarity in answering the question of "Why"? Clarity can be difficult to achieve, but allows the designer to operate with a realistic understanding of "Why." This applies to the intended user or customer, and their needs and abilities. But, it also applies to ourselves and understanding the real reason for why we are inspired to create something new or do something different. There is a simple rule of thumb worth remembering. At its' essence, the human brain has been engineered to maximize the occurrence of pleasant experiences, while minimizing unpleasant experiences. This rule of thumb offers a good place to start when answering the "Why" questions for ourselves and others.