#msidbt

[beaumesadieu]

Selection

When our team decided on which solution we should go with, we implemented a few techniques learned in the a-sync material. We first took into account the feedback given by the class. That helped us narrow down our train of thought. We went straight into analyzing our current solutions by ranking them against the criteria we would use for our radar graphs. During that process, it was interesting to see how our views differed. For example, I advocated for the recycling machine to produce garments that we could sell as a part of the inventory however other team members felt it contributed to the overall problem and we should operate on a demand model instead. We kept ranking our solutions and having thoughtful considerations that pushed us to really analyze our offerings strategically. After we chose the best parts of our original proposed ideas, we combined them into an idea potpourri. With the outcome, I believe it caters to all of our criteria and constraints and provides the most optimal results.

[beaumesadieu]

Definition

Our group has a very broad topic: sustainable fashion. In order to define our problem statement, we decided to each find different areas of exploration in the different segments we were assigned to research and discuss them in a meeting. Through the meeting, the majority was to focus on the end of the life process of sustainable fashion--the dumping of clothes. So our problem definition stemmed from how do we stop the waste of clothes and help consumers recycle.

We used Miro to flesh out all of our ideas and elaborated on our users, considerations, and constraints. Thus in the end we came up with this: How might we make it easier for consumers to recycle their clothing?

The characteristics of the problem we want to be addressed are accessibility, environmental impact, disruption of fast fashion overproduction, and fabric landfills.

I am excited to ideate and find solutions to solve this issue.

[beaumesadieu]

Creativity

As I ponder on creativity and its positioning in my life, I'm left with the conclusion that without creativity, a large part of who I am and my abilities would be void/innate. In essence, I nor this world would be in its whole self. Creativity to me means a few things, the first is the ability to constantly act, innovate, and push past the first original thought. The ability to restore the wonder that can be lost in the familiarity of a recurring thing and finding new ways for previous and set systems and processes is where the magic and phenomena of creativity come into play.

Creativity is creating. It is not solely inspiration or just talent but also the perspiration of formulating that idea and sticking to the processes we use to arrive at said conclusions. I like to also look at my outside surroundings as a perfect example of the power of creativity. I see creativity in just the framework of the world in itself. The way the sky changes color depending on the chemicals we have emitted into the atmosphere or how the light reflecting creates a differing masterpiece in the sky in various parts of the world. Another example, the wonder and pure genius of how our bodies function and other factors show me that creativity is not only a thing but an attribute of who we are and a part of our daily routines. Without creativity, who would be, and what would life be?

[ashleywolpertmiller]

On creativity

“True innovators, true entrepreneurs, are not puzzle-makers—they’re quilt-makers.”

- Tina Seelig

Creativity transcends the rote, prescribed, plug-and-play methodology that defines much of our daily lives. Undoubtedly, the constructs by which we live and move are beneficial and purposeful. For example, the systems we adopt for cooking our food, navigating city streets, trading in the marketplace—are valuable and necessary. But creativity pushes and pulls at normative ideas and actions to form new ways of operating within, perceiving, describing, and experiencing life. Whether for enjoyment, social progress, political engagement, connection, or some other end, creative enterprises hold the potential to enhance the human experience and push us toward new ways of relating to ourselves, one another, and our world. Creative enterprises call into question (at times controversially so) normative ways of being. They push us toward new ways of existing both collectively and individually. They may overturn established systems and long-held ideas and produce new processes, ideas, and products by which we experience life—and then, at times, this new experience becomes the norm, and the creative process begins anew. What a gift it is to contribute to the human experience in this way! What a gift to be a collaborator. A disrupter. A co-creator.

[ashleywolpertmiller]

It’s a good day

to start grad school.

[linnagriffin]

On Creativity as a Process

What Does Creativity Mean to You?

The universal experience of reaching epiphany in the shower is one that I believe is more common than believed. Where, after shutting down your laptop and transitioning home, you suddenly have the answer to a problem you were encountering at work or a retort to that off handed comment your coworker made while standing under running water. In that moment of mindfulness you have allowed your mental state to shift and for the influences and stray thoughts wash through you when all of a sudden, an answer to a question you had not asked appears to you. It is unannounced though not unwelcome. 

Creativity isn’t just the Eureka Moment that strikes you as you stand in your bathroom toweling off. It is only the illumination stage of problem solving process that you may or may not knowingly be working through. In this example your workday was the preparation and disciplined research, your commute and relaxation at home an incubation stage, before reaching this illumination wherein the answer to your question seems so clear. However, to assume that this is the extent of creativity is a fallacy. If ingenuity is the trait used reach your answer in the third stage of problem solving then creativity is the process by which you arrived there as well as the final step of verifying your ideas. This is because if you cannot execute your idea into something tangible you have no evidence of your creativity. Without such evidence you cannot be verified by a jury of peers as a creative.

In this manner of thinking, creativity is an endeavor that must be seen through to the end. It requires action to match the thought and a knowledge base suitable enough to give yourself the tools needed to fuel your innovation engine, a model of creativity created by Tina Seelig of Stanford University. From my own experience, this is part of the verification step in the process where I usually make the most mistakes. My knee jerk reaction in the past has been to doubt whether or not I am qualified enough to take this idea from the concept phase to the tangible through imposter syndrome. However, the desire of bringing an idea to term, whether or not it resolves the problem I started with, incentives me to cross the finish line. From this perspective, creativity as a process can be a powerful motivator as well.

Where the finish line is for the process is a matter of perspective and fulfillment. In some circumstances this can be upon the completion of a minimum viable project or in others a product that is ready to be stocked in shelves or launched online. This does not mean that there is nothing else to be improved upon once a deliverable is presented. The virtue of the problem solving process is that it is cyclical and the product may be improved as it matures with its audience. Through use, the solution you arrived at may be studied and prepared for the creative process to begin anew and a product, despite its rocky start, may be improved with new, innovative solutions.