Day 2 Creativity and idea generation

Objectives  Learn about obstacles to creativity and how to break them  Learn and practice useful techniques for generating new ideas  Apply these techniques to solve interface problems and add value to software  Learn how to conduct and participate in group brainstorming sessions

Obstacles to Creativity  We are taught to conform  We look for a single best solution  We try to take the most direct route  Fear of failure  Thinking you were born uncreative

Some quotes worth keeping in mind  “You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper.” Edward de Bono  “A problem well stated is half solved.” John Dewey  “If at first you don’t succeed …”

Some quotes worth keeping in mind  “You cannot dig a hole in a different place by digging the same hole deeper.” Edward de Bono  “A problem well stated is half solved.” John Dewey  “If at first you don’t succeed try again a different way” The nun who taught Marilyn in grade 5

The first step  Define your problem  Define your problem as specifically as possible  State the problem in terms of how you want some situation to be better Some examples  I want each potential client who views our portfolio to see the projects we’ve worked on that are most like their needs  I need a more intuitive way to allow users to select portion size of foods so they can see nutritional content  I need a way to provide context-sensitivity information to my users without them having to search through an entire Help file

Choose some creativity techniques  no constraints  break the rules  reversal  adopt and adapt  random word  incubation

No constraints  An example Imagine you have a website that sells gourmet foods. How could you get more people to buy more gourmet food items if there were no constraints limiting you?  As you think up ideas, don’t judge them  Record your answers

An idea from the no constraints technique  Each time a shopper looks at an item, another customer magically appears to tell them how good it is This could lead to the use of testimonials

Break the rules  An example You are redesigning a website for a company that manufactures printers for small businesses and consumers  Pose a question that would “break the rules” … for example, “What is the worse thing you could do if you want to help customers select the printer that matches their needs”  One idea … show customers printers that don’t meet their needs

Reversal  An example Imagine you are designing interactive maths tools  You might think of this reversal: What if instead of selecting Help from within the maths tools, users instead select tools from within Help?  Lead to a system where, after a lesson, you could choose from tools to help you

Adopt and adapt  An example You need to design a toolbar but there are too many for each to be displayed at once  Think of how this kind of problem is solved elsewhere  You might think of a cupboard that has a lazy susan … and then you might adapt this idea to an interface

Random word  An example You want to create software to teach people to play the guitar You use the word “skip” as your random word One idea might be to record an audio that “skips” the guitar part … students could use it to practice playing the guitar part Children like to skip during breaks at school, maybe you could add some kind of play time between lessons

Incubation  State the problem  Do some homework on it  Tell your brain to go seek  Forget about it  Wait while continuing on doing other things  … sometimes a solution will just pop into your brain

Group Brainstorming  Guidelines Groups of people, no more than 15 if possible A secretary, who keeps track of each idea A facilitator, who tracks the time and keeps the session moving along A white board, blackboard, or large notepad Markers or chalk to write ideas A large conference table Notepads and pencils for each participant

Running the session  State the problem. Take as much time as necessary to state the problem clearly  Write down the problem to be solved prominently and display it where everyone can see it  Set a time limit of minutes for idea generation  Encourage the group to come up with both wild and normal ideas

Evaluate the ideas  Sort the ideas and determine which are best  Erase duplicated ideas first or those obviously impractical  Rate each remaining idea as excellent, promising, and presently unworkable  Resolve disagreements by voting

About today’s lab  Applying the techniques  A 2 mark exercise on the required reading (you can use your textbook)  Make sure you read the suggestions on the website regarding things you could do by the next class