Legrady
Design
Process: A
systematic problem-solving strategy, with criteria and constraints, used to
develop many possible solutions to solve a problem or satisfy human needs and
wants and to winnow (narrow) down the possible solutions to one final choice.
Steps (standard): (water fall
process)
-
Ideation/brainstorm
- identify possible solution
- prototype/model
- finalize design
(outside evaluators at every step)
My experience:
-
Ideation/brainstorm
- identify possible solution (start somewhere)
-
Research while doing (see who
else has addressed the topic and how)
- begin prototype/model
- return to brainstorm, research, possible solution
- produce prototype/model
- return to research, possible solution
- final design is always a Òwork-in-progressÓ
http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/curr_content/paasurvey/design/desproc/desproc.htm
Conceptual Blockbusting: (James Adams)
Have playful rules: Consider a problem from unexpected
perspectives:
- Take an existing thing, define its components, rearrange them in unusual ways to arrive at a new thing
- Some methods:
- Modify elements, magnifiy, exaggerate, subtract,
- condense, understate, rearrange components,
- transpose, reverse opposites, backwards, inside/out,
- substitute, combine, blend, distort
- assemble together components that do not normally go together
- Think of errors are resources
Sharpen the focus/ Good brainstorming sessions get off to a better start if you have a well-articulated description of the problem at the right level of specificity. For example, a topic like Òspill-proof coffee cup lidsÓ is too narrow a description and already presumes you know the answer. A better, more open-ended topic would be Òhelping bike commuters to drink coffee without spilling it or burning their tongues.Ó The best topic statements focus outward on a specific customer need or service enhancement, such as Òhow can we accelerate the time-to-first-result for customers searching via dial-up modem?Ó rather than inward on some organizational goal, such as ÒHow can we build a better search engine than Company Y?Ó
Number your ideas/ Numbering the ideas that bubble up in a brainstorming session helps in two ways. First, itÕs a tool to motivate the participants before and during the session or to gauge the fluency of a completed brainstorm. Second, itÕs a great way to jump back and forth from idea to idea without losing track of where you are.
Build and jump/ High-energy brainstormers tend to follow a series of steep power curves, in which momentum builds slowly, then intensely, then starts to plateau. In the coffee-drinking-while-bicycling example, a good ÒbuildingÓ suggestion to keep up the momentum might be: ÒShock absorbers are a great idea; now what are some other ways to reduce spillage when the bicycle hits a bump?Ó
The space remembers/ Spatial memory is a powerful tool. Have the facilitator write the flow of ideas down in a medium visible to the whole group. IDEO has had great success with extremely low-tech tools like Sharpie markers, giant Post-its for the wall, and rolls of old-fashioned butcher-shop paper on the tables and walls. You may find thereÕs a certain synergy in physically moving around the room writing down and sketching the ideas. When you return to the spot on the wall where an idea was captured, spatial memory will help you recapture the mindset you had when the idea first emerged.
Stretch your mental muscles/ Doing mental warm-up exercises will make your brainstormers more productive, especially if the group doesnÕt brainstorm frequently or when the group seems distracted by outside issues. One type of warm-up is a fast-paced word game used to clear the mind and get the team into a more outgoing mode. Another is to do content-related homework. Yet another is to bring show-and-tell items to help you visualize the wide variety of options and materials that could be applied to the sessionÕs topic.
Get physical/ Good brainstorms are extremely visual. They include sketching, mind mapping, diagrams, and stick figures. But they also extend to bringing in competitive products and elegant solutions from other fields, having materials on hand to build crude models of a concept, and even Òbodystorming,Ó in which people act out current behavior and usage patterns to see how they might be altered.
Hiroshi Ishii, Tangible Bits -- http://tangible.media.mit.edu/
Christian Moeller - http://www.christian-moeller.com/
Aegis Architecture - http://www.junction.co.uk/PublicArtVE/decoi.html
Block Jam - http://www.csl.sony.co.jp/IL/projects/blockjam/contents.html
Last - http://www.pixelache.ac/new2/mtl/artists.php?name=lastclock