Idea Improv

IDEA IMPROV: TECHNIQUES FOR RAPIDLY GENERATING, EXPLORING, + REFINING NEW CONCEPTS

Song Hia, Variation On A Fall 2015 Workshop @ ITP

“The main difficulty of thinking is confusion.”

Edward de Bono

“We try to do too much at once. Emotions, information, logic, hope, and creativity all crowd in on us. It’s like juggling with too many balls.”Edward de Bono

DESIGN THINKING

* http://createdu.org/design-thinking/

6 THINKING HATS: FOCUSING GROUPS (USEFUL IN BIZ)

*smarttinker.com

LATERAL THINKING: INDIRECT AND CREATIVE APPROACHES TO IDEAS

*http://www.andyeklund.com/is-linear-thinking-bad/

LATERAL THINKING METHODS

• brainstorming • analogical thinking • random stimulation • challenging assumptions • generating alternatives • suspending judgement

*Edward de Bono

IMPROVISATIONAL COMEDY

FUZZY GOALS

“motivates the general direction of the work, without blinding the team to opportunities along the journey.”

*from Gamestormg

FUZZY GOALS

“motivates the general direction of the work, without blinding the team to opportunities along the journey.”

*from Gamestormg

SEPARATING BRAINSTORMING

OPEN

Let’s set the stage and develop prompts for ideas.

What are some elements of a [PCOMP] project?

Examples:

-Gesture

-User

-Emotional Response

Let’s write one example of each and collect them into

piles.

OPEN (90 seconds)

Let’s get some ideas out.

Grab a prompt from each of the piles of

elements.

You have pen, paper, and 90 seconds to

sketch or describe an idea.

OPEN (90 seconds)

Let’s share a few.

OPEN (90 seconds)

Let’s get some more ideas out and try this

again.

Grab a prompt from each of the piles of

elements.

You have pen, paper, and 90 seconds to

sketch or describe an idea.

EXPLORE (3 minutes)

Get in groups of 3.

Present ideas to each other.

DEFER judgement.

EXPERIMENT (3 minutes)

Now try building on these ideas.

“Yes, and…” each other.

Look at similarities, differences, and

connections.

Do any new ideas emerge?

CLOSE (3 minutes)

You’ve got 3 weeks to make this a reality.

What do you move forward with?

RINSE + REPEAT

*from Gamestormg

FURTHER RESEARCH + REFINEMENT

3 STAGES

RESOURCES

Gamestorming: http://gamestorming.com/

The Field Guide To Human-Centered Design (IDEO): http://www.designkit.org/resources/1

Collective Action Toolkit (FROG): http://www.frogdesign.com/work/frog-collective-action-toolkit.html

Design Sprint Methods (GOOGLE): https://developers.google.com/design-sprint/downloads/DesignSprintMethods.pdf

The User Experience Team Of One: http://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/the-user-experience-team-of-one/

RESOURCES