I recently visited a class of “Micro: bit programming” for elementary school students. It’s a visual programming language that enables people to complete various tasks simply by combining blocks. I was impressed to see how elementary school children were proactively working on block building.

　I started learning visual programing several years ago. Despite the difference of software types used for it, they are built on the same logic. Users don’t need to remember all kinds of blocks one by one. The most important thing is to have a clear image of what they want to achieve and then build a flow of programing to reach the goal. I used to think it was okay to pick up blocks each time as needed according to the flow. However, as I kept watching how those children were working, I began to notice something that I hadn’t been aware of in my mind.

　It’s not always necessary to develop a clear image in your mind before working on a programming process. We can start programming even with an unclear target image. In fact, those children enjoyed new findings while freely trying to combine different variants and blocks. I was reminded that programming is not only about streamlining tasks. It also plays an important role in developing new ideas.  

　Our DXD Unit has introduced this method in designing. If you are interested in it, please take a moment to visit this website: https://www.gk-design .co.jp/dxd/index.html.

Chihlin Chiang

Context Design Dept. DXD Unit

Unit Leader