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Process Journal #9: Process Reflection

I don’t believe that any stages of the creative problem solving process should be removed or added. In accepting the problem, I believe that great research skills are necessary. Accept, analyze, and define all kind of worked together for me. As I came across more research, the problem would be redefined. For example, my group’s initial problem was food deserts. We believed that the main cause of food deserts was a lack of access. As we discovered more and more researched we learned to redefine our problem as a lack of education surrounding food deserts rather than a lack of access to food. Ideate and select stages went together as well. In my opinion, this was the most time consuming part of the creative process. We used a lot of rating systems and pro/con lists to select a final solution. Once we selected our solution, implement and evaluate came easily since we had done the research and had enough discussions about the content we wanted to cover.

Process Journal #8: Evaluation

If the outcome of various phases of creative problem solving that my group has gone through during this project is an effective solution than we’ve achieved the outcome we’re hoping for. The question presented for this process journal is a bit confusing to me. I don’t believe we’ll be able to measure the impact of our implementation until we’ve built out more of our solution. Once we are able to build out our solution, the effectiveness of our implementation will be able to be evaluated by certain topics such as design and functionality.

Conceptualize It

Process Journal #7: Implementation

The best way to effectively pitch our idea to various stakeholders is to explain our concept as a health movement. There are a number of similar “movements” that we could compare ours too (i.e. Got Milk, My Plate, etc.). With the speed at which information is spread over the internet and social media, we believe that strategic partnerships and a solid marketing plan will be the most effective way to spread the word about our project. The environments, systems, processes, and interactions can be visually communicated through our webpage that will expand on food desert statistics, partnerships, and our mission statement. My group has already begun working on a presentation in order to visually communicate the ideas we have been working on so far. I think it will be a trial and error process in designing our presentation.

Business Model Canvas

Process Journal #6: Selection

My group used a voting system, a rating system, the Pugh Matrix technique, and pros and cons in order to select the most appropriate idea to address the problem we have defined. As mentioned in my “Choosing a Solution” entry, our process began with individual voting on our favorite solutions. After having an idea of each person’s favorites, we rated the top solutions to further narrow our options. After identifying three of the most popular solutions, we drafted out the pros and cons of each solution. We had a discussion as a group on each idea and contributed articles that supported our arguments. This selection process helped my group come to a unanimous consensus on the best idea to select. We discussed the feasibility and potential for implementation for each top idea. There weren’t any debates as it was somewhat easy to come to a group agreement.

Choosing a Solution

Using the ideas generated during the ideation phase, my team used a few methods to select an appropriate solution. We began with the goal of identifying a solution closest to solving the problem statement. We used a rating system on our ideas and discussed the feasibility of the top ideas as a team. We used the Pugh Matrix technique in our selection and weighed the pros and cons of each top idea. Implementation was important in selecting our solution since some of our ideas were a bit too broad. Coming to a consensus was particularly easy for my team because all of the members seemed to agree on the same top ideas. Our process began with individual voting on our favorite solutions then we rated the top solutions to further narrow our selection. After identifying three of the most popular solutions, we drafted out the pros and cons of each solution. We had a discussion as a group on each idea and contributed articles that supported our arguments. The group came to a unanimous consensus on one idea.

Process Journal #5: Ideation

In order to come up with ideas, my group did quick 5-10-minute brainstorming sessions. We began with reworking our problem question then moved onto brainstorming ideation questions. These techniques helped us analyze broad and narrow perspectives of our topic. The ideas that came out of the brainstorming exercise focused on a few categories: financial, experience, service, and recognition. We each highlighted the ideas that we liked the most out of all of the ideas presented. The standout ideas involved incentives, education, and politics. We decided to focus on the incentives that would motivate people to pay attention to nutrition and diet because of the research we found on food deserts. When the issue of access was solved in certain food deserts, there wasn’t a substantial change in diet. Being aware of this fact led our group to focus more on education and incentives.

Group Brainstorming and Debriefing Session

Our brainstorming process happened during our weekly team call where we get together to discuss the assignments for the week. We use Google Docs to collaborate and mind maps to organize our ideas. We’re often writing our ideas on the shared document or writing/drawing our ideas on a mind map. Every one of the team works well together and we’re able to work through ideas fairly quickly. For this assignment, I believe that everyone was a little stressed over a lack of clarity in the assignment descriptions. For our brainstorming, we stuck to 5-10-minute intervals. We had to rework our problem statement before starting this week’s assignment so most of the work we did this week was similar to what we had completed in the last class. Our ideas were organized into a mind map separated into categories. We completed a short brainstorming session to contribute ideation questions. We worked through combining ideas and seemed to all agree on the celebrity aspect being useful for our solution. The final definition we came up with was: Lack of education about the importance of making healthy food choices is a major cause of the proliferation of food deserts. The final ideation question we came up with was: What incentives can we provide for people to get educated about eating healthy?

Process Journal #4: Definition

My group began by identifying the most important themes in our morphological analysis. We did this independently and then came together to share the problem definitions that we each came up with. Our individual problem definitions were very similar to one another and we agreed that each person’s definition could be combined into our final problem definition. We came to a consensus on which characteristics of the problem needed to be addressed through analyzing each of our individual problem definitions. We talked through what was important and what could be removed from the definition in order to create a concise sentence. The final problem definition was also revised multiple times before we settled on something we all agreed on.

Problem Definition

My definition of the problem was: Despite technological advancements that have popularized grocery/meal delivery, the cost of, access to, and education surrounding nutrition in food deserts remains. My group members agreed with my definition and thought it covered a large amount of what we wanted to include in our definition. Each member in the group had a similar definition. They were only different because each person was only addressing a part of the problem in their definition. The group consensus was that we would incorporate everyone’s definition into the final problem definition.

The final problem definition we decided on was: Lack of education about the importance of making healthy food choices is a major cause of the proliferation of food deserts.

Conjunction Junction

1. My iPhone AND – My iPhone is black and silver. It is metal and glass. It makes noise and can be silent. It can use up a lot of my time and can also save me a lot of time. It can be easy to use and very difficult to navigate. It has a camera on the front and a camera on the back. It works while dry and while wet. BUT – My iPhone is black on the front, but it is silver on the sides and back. It is made up of metal, but it’s also made of glass. It can make noise, but it can also be silent. A lot of my time is spent using it, but a lot of time is saved by using it. It’s easy to use but can also be difficult to use at times. It has a camera on the front but also a camera on the back. It can work while dry, but it can also work while wet.

2. The Beach AND – The beach is made up of sand and water. It is dry and wet. It can be hot, and it can be cold. There can be many people on the shore and there can be many people in the water. It can be sunny, and it can be overcast. It can be a nice place to spend alone time and it can be a nice place to spend time with family and friends. BUT – The beach has sand, but it also has water. It is dry sometimes, but it is wet other times. It can be hot, but it can also be cold. There can be lots of people on the sand, but there can also be lots of people in the water. It can be sunny, but it can also be overcast. It can be great to spend alone time at, but it can also be great to spend time with family and friends at.

3. My Dog AND – Louie is a chihuahua and a terrier. He is orange and black. He is active and lazy. He loves playing fetch and hates fireworks. He enjoys sunbathing and sitting on the couch. He can sit and shake. BUT – Louie is a chihuahua but also a terrier. He is orange but he’s also black. He can be active, but he can be lazy too. He loves playing fetch but hates fireworks. He enjoys sunbathing but also enjoys sitting on the couch. He can sit but he can also shake.

4. My Friend AND – My friend is smart and funny. She is successful and has big aspirations. She is from San Francisco and lives in LA. We spend time together at work and outside of work. She has brown hair and green eyes. She enjoys reading and drinking wine. BUT – My friend is smart but also funny. She is successful but also has big aspirations. She is from San Francisco but lives in LA now. We spend time together at work but also outside of work. She has brown hair but green eyes. She enjoys reading but also drinking wine.

5. My Apartment AND – My apartment is located on the west side of LA and is in a nice neighborhood. It is managed by a nice landlord and a property management company. It has a large kitchen and a large bathroom. It is filled with art and photography. BUT – My apartment is located on the west side of LA but is in a nice neighborhood. It is managed by a nice landlord but also a property management company. It has a large kitchen but also a large bathroom. It is filled with art but also with photography.

Process Journal #3: Analysis

My group began our brainstorming with a mind map of topics associated with food deserts. From the mind map, we identified themes that we then used in our morphological analysis chart. The morphological analysis chart was divided into sections and each team member covered one section. The research material I found is from reputable websites and academic journals. Something interesting I’ve discovered through my research is that unhealthy eating is not necessarily solved by a healthy grocery store being added to a food desert. People who live in food deserts do not have access or education. Therefore, solving the issue of access is only one part of the problem. Through our research so far, I’ve learned a lot about food deserts but still need to identify a more specific and feasible problem to solve.

Morphological Analysis

Process Journal #2: Acceptance

What would accomplishing your goal be like? Accomplishing my goal would be completing the assignment to the best of my ability and having everyone on the team happy with the final result.

What would be the immediately expected results of the best case scenario? The best case scenario would be completing the project on time and receiving full credit for the team’s work.

Who will be benefiting from your success? Me and my team would benefit from my success as well as the success of each team member.

What positive impact will you be making locally and globally through your success? I think that my team could have a positive impact on communities that are affected by food deserts. Solutions that we come up with could ultimately be implemented on a global level. Our impact would be providing solutions for food deserts and reducing the amount of food deserts that exist.

What kind of rewards could come from the success of your undertaking? The biggest reward would be increasing the well-being of underserved communities.

Do you expect to get a product back from this undertaking? I am not expecting to get a product back from this undertaking.

Will there be some monetary reward? I am not expecting a monetary reward from this project.

How will this aid in furthering your career? I think research in any area aids in personal progress which influences the trajectory of a person’s career.

What are your motivating factors for succeeding? I take pride in being a good student and submitting quality work. These are the things that motivate me to succeed.

What makes you interested in the problem in the first place? I spent two years of my undergraduate degree studying nutritional science and the topic of food and nutrition still interests me very much.

What do you think is compelling about seeing the problem-solving endeavor to its end result? I think it will be good practice for a creative career.

What level of investment do you have in the solution succeeding? I will be as invested as my time for school allows me to be. To develop a successful solution would be very fulfilling.

How will you and others benefit along all of these different measurements of success? I’m not entirely sure what this question is asking.

What’s in it for Me?

An increased knowledge of food deserts and the impact they have on the economy.

Practice in working with a team where each member comes from a different discipline.

Experience in working on a subject matter that I am not particularly familiar with.

The skills to communicate and coordinate with team members that are working from different locations.

A project that can contribute to a portfolio of design work.

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