Analyze This
We really dove into our analysis process last week beginning in class by developing the framework of our morphological map. Still focusing on the topic of memory (so broad!) we found ourselves ideating in circles just a little bit as we tried to come up with the best way to categorize a problem relating to memory.
Taking this global perspective and allowing all kind of ideas to flow in from the various corners of our individual experiences was a little haphazard, but also extremely interesting. It brought to light some things that we hadn’t considered such as instead of focusing on memory in the positive, could we also look at it in terms of forgetting? It’s a two-sides-of-the-same-coin kind of thing.
So while we may at first have created more of a mess for ourselves, breadth of information allowed us access to possibilities we might not have seen had we tried to laser focus from the start.
The vastness of the morphological map did prove to be a bit of a challenge for our team because we got hung up on how we were going to present the information in terms of defining labels on our X and Y axis.
Other analysis methods that we employed individually and as a group included an Idea Dump, Attribute Listing, the Look It Up method and Sensitivity and Common Sense.
Our Idea Dump started during class last Thursday and this is where we were able to throw out everything from every which way. Allowing ourselves to ping-pong off one another helped us start to see crossover and similarities about potential topics.
This led us to Attribute Listing for the broad topic of memory and urged us to define subcategories and conceptual themes.
We also used the Sensitivity and Common Sense method, although I’m not sure I would identify this as a completely separate activity from the other above two methods. When we set team norms we all agreed that choosing a topic that we are passionate about or have some connection to is important to us. I think while conducting out analysis, Cameron, Austin and I all had a sensitivity to our emotions and existing experience with respect to certain subtopics connected to memory.
The most comfortable and useful method of analysis for me is the Look It Up technique. There is SO much information to synthesize about memory that I feel like the more you know, the more you know, you know? Not to mention, some aspects of memory are very technical, like, brain science technical, so “looking it up” is a very real requirement. Researching is a tactic of brainstorming and analysis that has led our team to circle back to certain salient points such as how culture (travel, experiences, upbringing, social media) affect memory recall. One article in particular that we liked was “How immersion and exploration will make you more creative,” by Tanner Christensen. He talks about how our brains are always firing. He says they are “processing signals and sorting, prioritizing, and carrying them through our neural networks automatically.”
He goes on to say later that “After a while of immersing yourself in a certain type of atmosphere (and after regularly providing certain stimulus to your brain) your own ideas will start to reflect the environments and inputs.”
Looking forward to more analysis as we move towards defining. Let’s go!