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Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is a vital part of the design process. Good ideas don’t just appear the instant we are given a problem, but through a critical thinking process, which gets better over time. Graham Wallace, the author of The Art of Thought, said that the creative process had four stages to it. They are, Preparation, Incubation, Illumination, and Verification. First, we’ll examine Preparation.

The preparation stage is all about defining and closely inspecting your problem to get a better understanding of it. Try to obtain any information regarding the problem and try to examine it from all angles and point of views to learn as much about it as you can. You should try to fully immerse yourself in the situation so there won’t be any misunderstandings in your knowledge of the situation so that your solution will be the best answer to the problem. After we have gained a full understanding of the problem, we move on to the incubation stage.

The incubation stage is basically when you take a step back from the problem and begin to let your mind process all the information you took in in the preparation stage. This is the time that creative thinking really is in action. This is when we stop thinking about the problem and let our minds wander. When our subconscious takes over, we begin to form solutions, and as our minds continue to wander, we find even more, and better solutions. Sometimes they’ll come to us in times when we shut or minds off from the problem completely. We can try this approach by taking a walk or occupying our minds with other activities. This stage of incubation comes to an end when we reach the next stage, illumination.

The illumination stage is when all your wandering mind’s work pays off. This is the moment you find the solution to your problem. It feels as if everything makes sense again, and you’ve been given some sort of insight or knowledge that was previously unknown. It can be a very rewarding moment. The illumination stage is a pretty quick and short stage, where you’ll want to get this new great idea on paper as soon as possible so you won’t forget it. It leads to the next stage, verification. This is when you take your great new idea and evaluate it for any weaknesses and test it to see if it will work. After all of this testing, you may find that your idea will not actually work, so in this case you would unfortunately have to start the process over from the beginning. However, if it only needs to be slightly modified, or needs no changes at all, you are finished with the process, and have made yourself a great new idea.

Now after the process, with a new, creative idea, we can appreciate the fact that creativity is not something that people are born with, but more of a skill that is developed over time. It involves a great deal of work, planning, and critical thinking. With the understanding of the four step process of creative thinking, we can become aware of how our ideas are made, and try to work our mind and use some strategies to create more creative ideas.

Sources:

“Creative Thinking Process.” The Peak Performance Center, thepeakperformancecenter.com/educational-learning/thinking/types-of-thinking-2/creative-thinking-process/.

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The Importance of Human-Centered Design

In today’s society, art and design are scattered all throughout the world, making it nearly impossible to escape the sight of it. In fact, we view upwards of 4,000 advertisements on average each day. Advertisements, logos, posters, packaging, and much more are all responsibilities of graphic designers. Of the different types of design, human-centered design is the type that most intrigues me due to how much it influences our behavior.

Human-centered design is quite unique compared to creative thinking and design thinking. It is a “framework that considers human perspectives throughout the design process” (prototypr.io). These designers carefully study human behavior and interaction in order to understand human nature. This understanding of human nature gives the designers insight on how to make their products efficient and effective for their clients and customers to use. When I think of how products are made to fit the needs of others, I think of it almost as a science. We have to learn what people like and do not like, what their habits are, and how this product will affect their lives.

Like any form of art and creativity, there is a process that designers must follow in order to achieve their desired product. Within the human-centered design process, there are three main steps: inspiration, ideation, and implementation (IDEO, 11). With inspiration, the designer(s) develop a better understanding of people; they study behavior, desire, and people's daily lives. Next, we move into ideation, in which we generate innumerable ideas and designs, and test which work the best. Lastly, in the implementation stage, we “figure out how to get [our] idea to market and how to maximize its impact in the world” (IDEO, 11).

Failure: everyone experiences it, and it is possibly the most crucial step when creating art and designs. Human-centered designers are very much like inventors: they “tinker and test, [they] fail early and often, and [they] spend a surprising amount of time not knowing the answer to the challenge at hand. And yet, [they] forge ahead” (IDEO, 10). Much like inventors, designers experience a significant amount of failure. Without failure, we would not be able to make improvements to our work. More importantly, we would not be able to learn new techniques and methods to help with other projects. With this gained knowledge from failure, we are able to effectively refine our designs to better fit the needs of our clients.

Human-centered design is vastly unique compared to design thinking and creative thinking due to how much time goes into research and the development of a product catered to human action and behavior. Going through the design process and following the steps of inspiration, ideation, and implementation allows designers to gather adequate information about their target audience and test their theories out with others before the final product is released in the market. During this testing phase, failure makes itself known, allowing for us to correct our errors and to learn from our mistakes. Learning from mistakes is the best lesson a designer can learn so that they may not make those same mistakes on the next project.

Works Cited

Elisia, Francesca, and Francesca Elisia. “What's the Difference Between Human-Centred Design and User Experience Design?” Prototypr, Prototypr, 20 Aug. 2017, blog.prototypr.io/whats-the-difference-between-human-centred-design-and-user-experience-design-2f48e5c9be25.

IDEO. “The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design.” IDEO.org, bestgraz.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Field-Guide-to-Human-Centered-Design_IDEOorg.pdf.

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One Big Experiment

The design process is one big experiment. IDEO tells us that “Creative confidence will drive you to make things, to test them out, to get it wrong, and to keep on rolling, secure in the knowledge that you’ll get where you need to go and that you’re bound to innovate along the way.”The best creations are born out of trial/error and experimentation that can only be completed after accepting creative confidence.

Design thinking relies on noticing patterns and constructing emotional, meaningful, functional, and impressive ideas. The process is basically one big jumbled loop with ideas thrown around in the middle until the perfect one prevails. It is used to come up with solutions that might not be initially so obvious and encourages exploration through asking questions. The main idea is basically to just brainstorm and think out of the box which is the hardest and most frustrating part of the process for a creative individual. Sometimes it feels like a new idea is impossible to conceive so it’s important to remind yourself of your strengths and keep up your creative confidence.

Human Design is a different process than any other. When pursuing this type of project, one must really focus their research on humans and what they use and need every single day. Accessibility, usefulness, and convenience are the main goals when creating something in this category. IDEO came up with three main steps to help fellow designers with the process: Inspiration, Ideation, and Implementation. To be successful in any design you must first understand your subject, and when creating Human Centered Design, the first step is observing people’s lives, goals, desires, aspirations, and needs. This way of creating is unique and slightly uncomfortable to tackle at first because you shift between small tangible thoughts to wild abstract conceptual ideas. The outcome will surely be a creation of the process. In other words, don’t worry about trying to envision the final outcome until after the experimental phase is complete. Keep your ideas loose and open until a prototype is created to be tested. Only then will you be able to measure its success.

The imagination is a hard place to dig through sometimes. Luckily, there are plenty of tips to help whenever you are stuck. Sometimes, the process becomes all too overwhelming and taking a step back by going back to the basics can trigger different creative pathways in the mind. Changing just one basic design elements such as line, shape, texture, space, color, value, tension, proportion, etc. can create something entirely new. Believe it or not, not working can sometimes be the best work, taking breaks throughout the process but continuing to keep that idea in the back of your mind as you go through everyday tasks can help tremendously. Ideas can come to us when walking the dog, taking a shower, or cooking dinner and those are usually some of the best.

. The most important thing to remember about design thinking is that it isn’t just for designers. The process can help even the most traditional thinkers develop new solutions and force them to think outside their usual realm. Which reminds me, design thinking should not be a solo process. Collaboration and access to other minds and opinions is the most essential tool available. Nobody made it anywhere on their own and when brainstorming or experimenting, fresh eyes are crucial.

Works Cited –

· IDEO. “The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design.” Ideo.com, bestgraz.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Field-Guide-to-Human-Centered-Design_IDEOorg.pdf.

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The Importance of Preparation in Creative Thinking

Angelina Lodes

12.10.18

Imaging 1, Caleb Horn

Design Writing no.2

Creative thinking is a way of looking at problems from a different and unique perspective to develop innovative ideas. Creative thinking can be stimulated both by an unstructured process such as brainstorming, and by a structured process such as lateral thinking. Lateral thinking is the process of solving problems from an indirect and creative approach, and usually involves using nontraditional steps to solving a problem. There are four steps to the creative thinking process and out of those four I believe the most important one is preparation.

First, no good idea comes from just one brainstorming session. Great ideas come from multiple resources including your own mind, nature, other people’s thoughts and input, and observing the world around you. Noticing things that may have gone undetected in the past or looking at the problem from different perspectives help give the designer a more rounded collection of data to use. You don’t even have to start with an idea in the preparation phase, all you need is something to write down thoughts and information and you can start by going on a walk or checking out a new store. Even the grocery store can be an excellent place to do your creative thinking while grocery shopping. Start looking at the places you go to daily in new perspectives and the ideas will just start flowing. It doesn’t take a million places, only a million ideas.

Secondly, gathering information is just the beginning of the preparation stage. After all that can be possibly gathered from the resources around you, then comes the organizing phase. You read, sort, organize, and outline it all to help you in the next stage, incubation. The Peak Performing Arts Center had an interesting article on the creative process and emphasized that “you cannot just hope for inspiration to strike, you have to plan and prepare for creativity.” Preparation is the key for success for anything you do. Whether you are cooking, cleaning, or creating, you need to prepare for every one of those situations

Lastly, before coming to the incubation stage, a designer must make sure they have exhausted all their preparation resources, then start building ideas. While gathering information you may come across an unusual finding that may make for a good design product. It is important to note all thoughts while gathering information, so you can go back and expand them even further. What you thought was a silly idea could turn out to be the best idea you have, it’s all about changing your perspective.

In conclusion, all the steps of creative thinking are important, but preparation is what sets you up for success or failure in any circumstance. Gather as much information as possible and become acquainted with what it is you are trying to solve. Without preparation, creative thinking will not be successful.

Citation: “Creative Thinking Process.” The Peak Performance Center, thepeakperformancecenter.com/educational-learning/thinking/types-of-thinking-2/creative-thinking-process/.

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Exercising Your Creative Muscles.

The art of design can be categorized into three main topics. Creative thinking, Design thinking and Human centered Design. Without each of these processes, we would not have many of the things we use in our everyday lives. From the eye catching billboards on the highway to the kitchen table in your own house, all have been designed with a specific outcome. Creative thinking skills can be used in many forms for many situations. So, it is important to understand the purpose and outcomes of these creative process styles.

Creative thinking, like it sounds is the art of thinking creatively. Taking a problem/issue/task and creating a new solution. Creative thinking can be done several different ways, in several different steps with no particular order. Brainstorming, talking amongst peers, removing oneself from the problem, etc. Most people will associate creative thinking to artists and other designers, However, creative thinking can also be used to change your attitude, diffuse conflicts, and solve difficult situations. Some people are naturally creative thinkers, but everyone can exercise their creative muscles with simple tricks and routines. Some creative exercises include, phrase questions differently, avoid being practical, and avoid following rules. (Beethovensdream, 2012)

Design thinking is very similar to creative thinking. Both require that creative muscle to be strong and flexible. However, unlike creative thinking, design thinking has a fairly specific process. Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. (Stevens, 2018) In these steps the designers and problem solvers immerse themselves in the problem. They conduct research, they listen to concerns and engage with the users. The next step is to define the problem. Taking all that information and putting it into clear cut words. From this we can start to throw out some ideas, solutions and techniques. After we’ve come to an idea that might work, its time to experiment. The rough draft stage, if you will. Making the solution tangible and then testing a product or service out in the real situation. Often times, the test stage doesn’t work out perfectly well and will take you back to a previous stage until all the kinks are worked out.

Human centered Design, again, is almost identical to design thinking. They share many of the same steps but they are different in what they produce. The biggest difference is that while the outcome of design thinking is usually a new product or service, human centered design is about the usability and USER experience of that product.( F. 2016) Both implement the the demands of the user, conduct research, require prototypes, and field testing. Human centered design focuses more on WHO will be working the product rather than the solution the product offers.

These three creative processes are essential everywhere from big companies to small work offices. Expanding and practicing your creative thinking skills is important for all aspects of life. Creative thinking is not limited to just art and design. It can be used to create better attitudes, life styles, work places, and relationships. Don’t forget to exercise that creative muscle!

Work Cited

Beethovensdream. (2012, September 05). 10 Tips To Think More Creatively. Retrieved from http://beethovensdream.tumblr.com/post/30884844015/10-tips-to-think-more-creatively

F. (2016, September 29). Design thinking or human-centered design? Both! How to combine the benefits of both approaches. Retrieved from https://www.code-n.org/blog/design-thinking-human-centered-design-how-to-combine-benefits-both-approaches-product-innovation/

Stevens, E. (2018). What Is Design Thinking? A Comprehensive Beginner's Guide. Retrieved from https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/what-is-design-thinking-everything-you-need-to-know-to-get-started/#1-what-is-design-thinking

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Human-Centered Design

Well when I started looking up articles I thought I had found the perfect one and then to my surprise everyone else had also found the same article. So I decided to do a little more digging on some articles on human-centered design and I would this article by Nick Babich on the UXPlanet.org. He talks about the “4 Principles of Human-Centered Design”

Focus upon the people:

As the designer when need to remember that real people will be using this product and that it needs to best fit their needs now ours. He then talks about a few points to always remember to think about through out the process. “Who will using the product?” “And in what context”. I feel that is a really good thing to remember us about because I feel that it is very easy to lose track of the main point in making the product .

2.Find the right problem:

Babich talks about the designer or the design team needing to find the root of the problem. There are two types of problems and they are the fundamental problem, being the root problem and then the symptoms problem which is still a problem but it will not fix the bigger picture. But the find out what is the fundamental problem you must conduct research with the people this product is for. I like they he states the better your research is the more time you will same in the project as a whole.

3.Think of everything as a system:

Don’t only look at one part, to make a good design you have to think of the end product. They then give a really go example of why this is so important: think about using and app on your phone, everything is going great but if you have a problem with on part of the app over and over it will making the rating of the app go down on how well it works.

4.Always test your design decisions:

No matter how well you or your team may think the product works, you have to try it out with real people and get their real feedback on what is working and what isn’t working. So that you can go back and try to fix those problems.

I feel that this article does a great job of breaking down the basics behind human-centered design, so they they are easy to remember and also easy to apply.

https://uxplanet.org/top-4-principles-of-human-centered-design-5e02751e65b1

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Human Centered Design writing

Skylar Schexnayder

Imaging, 1302

12/10/2018

Caleb Horn

Human Centered Design

Human centered design deals with humans and the framework of design. The focus of this design type is to create solution to problems involving the human vision and mindset. All aspects of this design type are controlled by the human’s problem-solving skills. The main focus for human centered design is (according to Wikipedia) "methodologies and techniques for interacting with people in such a manner as to facilitate the detection of meanings, desires and needs, either by verbal or non-verbal means." The main points talked about in the articles I read had to deal with Observation, Ideation, Implementation, Iteration, User Feedback, Rapid Prototyping.

The observation aspect is the first step in the Human Centered Design process. This phase is about observing the end user’s response to what is created. Then after observing the end user you must be open to change, or creative diversity based on user feedback. The goal of this process is to understand what the people you are designing for are looking for. The last part of this step is putting yourself into the user’s shoes and seeing what you could have made better or different. Identifying what you could have changed to have a more successful product from the eyes of your buyer.

The second step of the Human Centered Design process is the ideation phase. In the ideation step you will focus on brainstorming the ideas and techniques that you learned from the observation phase. This step is focusing on getting as many ideas down as possible. The most important aspect of this step is keeping the user’s desires in mind when creating these ideas. Keeping the aspects that the user finds important when thinking of new ideas will allow you and your team to find the best solution for the problem at hand.

The third phase in the Human Centered Design process is the prototype step. In the prototype phase you will focused on building a simple but effective prototype. Having a prototype will allow you to have hands on test abilities and viewing what the user will be able to obtain. It is important that the prototype is done quickly and not overdone. The main reasoning for the quickest prototype is having the product being able to be consumed as quickly as possible. The quicker the product is able to be consumed the quicker the user feedback with come.

The fourth step in the Human Centered Design process is the feedback stage. The feedback step is the most important phase of this Design process. It is important to take into consideration every input that you receive from the end-users. You have to listen to your users to apply what they have suggested into the final solution.

The fifth step of the Human Centered Design process is the Iteration phase. In the feedback stage you must let the critique from users fuel the changes you will make on your design. It is important to keep iterating, integrating and testing user feedback until you have found your solution. This process might take longer than most of the phases before, but something will be learned through every iteration of the solution. After finding the solution you are ready to move onto the final step in the Human Centered Design process.

The sixth and final stage of the Human Centered Design process is the Implementation phase. The main goal of this step is to bring your idea out into the world. You have been able to take useful feedback and apply them to your designs to create the most optimal solution of the design for your end users. It is important to apply all of the steps from step one and repeat whenever you are working on a new project. With each new project or design keep the end user in mind, use feedback from every aspect to help your projects.

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Creative Thinking essay

Creative thinking is seen as a way of looking into problems or situations from a unbiased perspective. Creative thinking is also seen as being the companion of critical thinking. Which are both ways of getting your creative juices flowing. Some have a hard time getting those juices flowing and that can be because you are coming from a biased perspective and you need to clear your mind or simple because your not stimulating your creative thinking process. Fixing both of those things can help set you up to be successful in any situation and create wonderful things

In the college world creative thinking is very important because it helps us learn to think differently and not base our opinions on the past.

I believe college is a place where you learn about different creative thinking skills and build on top of those. LumenLearning.com goes into detail about different styles of creative thinking and why it is beneficial. They state that “As a creative thinker, you are curious, optimistic, and imaginative. You see problems as interesting opportunities, and you challenge assumptions and suspend judgment. You don’t give up easily. You work hard.

It is very important to grow on your creative thinking skills since it is crucial in everyday life, especially when you get a job. In the artificial “Creative Thinking Skills” they state that walking around with an open mind in a working environment will get you further in life. Since your working with so many different people, minds ,and cultures you will be force into situations that force you to act with a clear mind. I Personally agree, when trying to fix a problem, whether it is a art problem or medical problems, you cannot go into the fight thinking there is only one answer and one solution. You have to have the mindset that the goal is to just fix the problem not to make your solution fit the problem.

How do you stimulate creative thinking? For me to get my mind stimulated i have to put myself in nerve racking situations. I believe fear and confusion can bring up brain activity. The youtube video i found called “how to stimulate the creative process by HOWcast” explains that messing with the 5 senses can help the stimulating process. Especially for artists observing your surroundings, events, and nature around you can lead to stimulation. Mind-mapping is something artists do naturally that is actually a very common stimulant. Mind mapping can be done in different ways like:drawing images in different situations to view it from all perspectives, or making a visual word list. The key to stimulating your creative thought process is to find out what strategy works best for you.

In conclusion creative thinking is a technique or style that mental gets you ready for any situation. Instead of making the problem about right or wrong from the jump it sets you up to attack the problem with a clear mind so reaching the solution is smooth.

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-collegesuccess-lumen1/chapter/creative-thinking-skills/

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/creative-thinking.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPC8e-Jk5uw

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