stop, look and listen v2

DIRECTED RESEARCH:

Disruptive Hypotheses: Pre-empt Assumptions

Ron ZismanDirected ResearchInstructor: Prof. Tom KlinkowsteinSummer 2011

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Creativity is radical discontinuity in a pattern of thought.

— David Bohm


PROBLEM:

Current design work is pragmatic, but lacks ‘wow’ factor.

Find or develop a (design) methodology that encourages unexpected or untried approaches to problem solving leading to more interesting solutions and providing insight into a personal ‘signature’ or ‘voice’.


HYPOTHESIS:

This thesis presents the hypothesis that applying disruptive strategies to problem solving interrupts habitual thinking and creates space for fresh interpretations.

People tend to classify a situation quickly leading to predictable responses. By forcing a ‘stop’ to the process at prescribed intervals, space is created for interrogation, analysis and new understandings. As this exploration is authentic, solutions are more interesting and reveal the creators point-of-view. The addition of intention—to see anew—provides an anchor to make the process more wakeful, informed and personal.

This thesis suggests that creativity can be cultivated and enhanced through a set of systematic techniques for changing concepts and perceptions and generating new ideas. The benefit to designers is a tool set to help transcend creative blockages, stimulate project engagement and deliver original (and meaningful) solutions.


REFERENCE I: Tibor Kalman—M&Co.

It is the deviated form that draws attention and produces something memorable.

“By definition, when you make something no one hates, no one loves it. I’m interested in imperfections, quirkiness, insanity, unpredictability. That’s what we really pay attention to anyway. We don’t talk about planes flying; we talk about them crashing.”

www.aiga.org/medalist-tiborkalman/


http://www.aiga.org/medalist-tiborkalman/

http://www.aiga.org/medalist-tiborkalman/

REFERENCE II: Luke Williams—Frog Design

Disruptive hypotheses are designed to upset comfortable equilibrium and bring about an accelerated change in thinking.

A disruptive hypothesis is an intentionally unreasonable statement that gets your thinking flowing in a different direction. The process hinges on three steps: Defining the situation; searching for cliches; and twisting those cliches to find new ways of seeing them. Its thinking about what is usually ignored, and paying attention to what’s not obvious.

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663970/innovation-starts-with-disruptive-hypotheses-heres-how-to-create-one




REFERENCE III: Pablo Picasso

I used to draw like Raphael, but it has taken me a whole lifetime to learn to draw like a child.

For me, creation first starts by contemplation, and I need long, idle hours of meditation. It is then that I work most. I look at flies, at flowers, at leaves and trees around me. I let my mind drift at ease, just like a boat in the current. Sooner or later, it is caught by something. It gets precise. It takes shape … my next painting motif is decided.

http://www.pablopicasso.org/


http://www.pablopicasso.org

http://www.pablopicasso.org

OUTLINE:

Problem

Hypothesis

MethodologyDisruption

• self-remembering, applying resistance, looking for patterns, gathering facts Identifying & Interrogating Cliches

• creating distance, searching for patterns, reframing the problemDeviation

• idea generation, assessing value, divergent and convergent thinking, visualizationAnalysis & Synthesis

• the role of play, blocks and barriers, seeing relationships, verificationProcess

• tools, models, methodologies and case studies Goals A set of systematic techniques for changing concepts and perceptions

and generating new ones.


CONTENT SOURCES:

Luke Williams, Frog Design—Disruptive StrategiesDavid Kelly, Frog Design—Design ThinkingRobert McKim, Stanford d-School—Visual ThinkingEdward De Bono—Lateral ThinkingClayton Christensen, Harvard b-School—Process InnovationWalter Diethelm—Visual TransformationAlan Fletcher, Pentagram—The Art of Looking SidewaysMichael Michalko—Creative Thinking

designmind.frogdesign.com

disrupt.com

designthinking.com

POPTECH.com

TED.com

creativethinking.net

theawakenedeye.com

fastcodesign.com

designobserver.com

kerzweil.net

futurelab.com

bx.businessweek.com/design-thinking/


VALORISED DESIGNER I:

The valorised designer should see design for its major potential contribution to making the quality of life richer and more sustainable.

This thesis embraces the idea that by bringing rigorous attention and critical examination to the design process,

outcomes will be richer and more considered.


VALORISED DESIGNER II:

The essential, unifying factor underlyng work done across the spectrum of practice to theory would be a rigorous and and critical awareness of values.

Designers need to fuse the practical aspects of design theory and practice with a sense of responsibility for the sociological and ecological implications of their work.


VALORISED DESIGNER III:

A sophisticated society needs sophisticated designers who need to be informed and critical as well as practically creative.

The intent of this thesis is to integrate a persistent critical inquiry within the design process to promote creative approaches to problem solving.


ADJACENT POSSIBILTIES:

Fear, lack of confidence, poor self-image—we are what we think, right? How will I be creative if I don’t see myself as a particularly creative person? Can I learn to set all of this aside, lighten up, and play?


stop, look and listen v2

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