Key Messages
Learn How To Be A Designer: Unlocking Creative Impact Through The Insights And Tools Of Stanford’S D
Do you want to boost your creativity and confidence while tackling complex challenges? Well, look no further than Stanford’s d.school!
They offer a creative approach to solving problems, ultimately with the goal of improving people’s lives.
You’ll learn tools and insights about design and creativity which can be applied in practically any situation.
Assignments from the school’s history will help refine your ability not only to address complex issues but also foster trust within teams.
By allowing yourself not to know what exactly you are trying to focus on – it can actually propel creative impact!
Plus, it has been found that dips in productivity aren’t bad for learning.
Who would have thought?!
So if you’re looking for something new and challenging with potential real-world applications, why not try out Stanford’s d.school? Even if you’re just looking for a new way to think creatively, their insight could be extremely beneficial – even during a zombie apocalypse!
The D.School: Harnessing Thinking, Observing, Feeling And Doing Together For Creative Problem-Solving
The d.school at Stanford University believes that design is a problem-solving approach involving observation, thinking, feeling and action.
This way of looking at the creative process is essential for developing fully new solutions to complex problems.
It requires an attitude of resourcefulness and inventiveness – something that was pioneered by Hungarian painter László Moholy-Nagy in the 1940s.
By blending learning with problem-solving, students can uncover graphic tool kits, curious mindsets and new perspectives for life today.
The goal of the d.school is to encourage participants to move beyond the traditional boundaries of education by combining all four skills: observing, thinking, feeling and doing.
When done individually or together, they create powerful resources when solving difficult problems.
In order to have a successful problem-solving experience with design, one has to be open to ideas that could come out on top any given day and open up their mind in terms of producing work which would appear improved in comparison with what was done previously.
Using these techniques also helps individuals become someone who can make positive impacts within society instead of just being passive viewers as they possess insight into how things need to operate based on observations and researches rather than impulsive answers from feelings alone.
Embrace Improvisation And Open-Mindedness To Drive Innovation
When you’re facing an unknown challenge, it can sometimes be tempting to stay focused on the problem in front of you.
But when it comes to design, being open-minded and agile is key.
This was the case for a group of graduate students at the d.school who were asked to find a way to improve patient flow at a Bangalore hospital.
Upon arriving at the hospital and seeing that no one was there to greet them, they also noticed many people lingering in the hallway who turned out to be family members of patients.
Through interviewing these individuals, the students realized that their primary concern was how their sick relatives would take care of themselves once discharged from hospital.
This insight diverged from their initial task but rather than fixate on this dilemma, the team chose to explore their new discovery by creating dramatized training videos which ultimately led to Noora Health, an organization devoted to improving patient wellbeing through education and practical support.
The Assignment Of Tether: Cultivating Patience To Perfect Your Observational Skills
Patience is the key to improving your observation skills.
In fact, being able to slow down and focus on observing the world around you is an essential part of design.
That’s why Natures Nutrition has created Creative Acts for curious people, a book that will help you learn how to cultivate this patience in order to be more open-minded and creative when observing your surroundings.
The book introduces “tethering,” an exercise designed to boost your observation abilities.
All you have to do is set aside three hours, find a spot (not necessarily busy), leave all distractions away from reach, and observe whatever happens around you for those three hours without becoming distracted or impatient.
Eventually, with practice, you’ll start seeing things within a new perspective and become able to draw more meaningful conclusions out of it; inevitably making your work as a designer even better!
The Key To Unlocking Creativity: Reflect On Your Research Through An Unpacking Exercise
It is essential to expand the focus of your research during data analysis in order to uncover unique findings and develop solutions.
To ensure that you’re able to gain the fullest possible understanding of your research, consider using an Unpacking Exercise.
This will help you review all of your data, identify any important pieces that stand out, and explore what those tell you about someone’s values or needs.
For example, let’s look at the story of Jill Vialet and her organization that supplied coaches to public schools.
After interviewing teachers, substitutes and principals, she did an Unpacking Exercise which enabled her to connect the dots between key findings – thereby bypassing the most simplistic way to frame the problem.
Through this exercise she was able to recognize that subs were only called up during last-minute emergencies and weren’t being trained accordingly – allowing her to develop an emergency pack of materials for them.
To get maximum value out of your data analysis, dedicate three or four times as much time for unpacking as you do for collecting information.
This procedure can help you see all the interconnected problems that exist in a situation so that you can develop solutions more effectively.
The Smartphone: A Multi-Layered Perspective On Design Projects
At d.school, they believe that to understand the full extent of any product or experience, you must look beyond its surface level components.
That’s why they suggest breaking down the project’s context in order to get a multi-layered perspective and improve abstract conceptualization.
To do this effectively, start by imagining you could work on anything, no matter how big or small.
Once you’ve chosen your project topic, draw a 6 sectioned circle on a larger piece of paper.
This will represent 6 layers- Implications, Systems, Experiences, Products, Technologies and Data.
Beginning at which ever layer is most appropriate for your project -Products or Experiences- jot down all the relevant information you can find about each layer as thoroughly as possible.
Through this exercise, it’ll help give visibility to not only the main problem that needs solving but also to potential solutions for future challenges too.
It’s what will really allow you to understand the full impact of any project!
Experiment To Tap Into Creativity And Engage In Active Learning
It has been said that adults have a tendency to lose the natural inquisitiveness that children so often possess.
As young people, we naturally take control of our learning through experiments and investigation, but when we get older, this is something that can become lost if not nurtured.
That’s why it is so important for everyone to engage in active experimentation – to have a taste of how we work.
One great way to do this is with the Monsoon Challenge.
Originally developed by the d.school with the aim of helping those in resource-poor settings collect water during monsoon season, you can recreate this experiment with a group of people using only $20 and a few days time.
To begin, you will need to set up your challenge with some rules and conditions, then run an actual competition using a hose and sprinkler as your ‘monsoon’!
Afterward, you can all come together to reflect on what made for success and use these insights when working on other projects in the future.
You don’t even need anyone else – try running this experiment solo and test your prototypes!
Active experimentation can be hugely beneficial because it will help you gain an understanding of what lies ahead when taking on new projects – invaluable insight indeed!
Creating Trust And Connection In Teams Through Warm-Up Activities
When it comes to building trust and connection in teams, warm-up sequences are key.
That’s why the d.school recommends using warm-up activities when launching a project as a team, in order to foster psychological safety and build productive relationships.
A good way to start is by pairing up with someone new, and then telling the story of your name.
But what if you want something a bit more creative? The next exercise suggested by the d.school involves forming quartets and discussing which skills you would bring to the team in the event of a zombie apocalypse!
This is a fun way to talk about your collective skills outside of the professional realm.
The third activity focuses on fostering an understanding of everyone’s personal motivations, legacy and public persona – giving room for creative answers from everyone participating!
These exercises encourage disclosure and intimacy between teammates who may have initially been complete strangers.
They help create an environment where teams can effectively work together.
Embrace Productive Struggle: The Low Points Of The Creative Process Are Where Breakthroughs Happen
The Creative Acts for Curious People book covers many aspects of creativity, but one of its key messages is that productive struggle usually happens right before a creative breakthrough.
In fact, this discomfort can benefit your creative abilities in the long run.
At the d.school, they often ask their students how a particular exploration or event felt so that the underlying thesis is that emotions should be explored because they’re an intrinsic part of all creative work.
Even though it may not feel great to encounter self-doubt and waning enthusiasm for a project during a creative process, it is actually common for creatives to experience difficulty during their projects as if something is trying to push them further than normal.
If we don’t give up in those moments and continue pushing through them, we are likely to achieve a breakthrough that results in immense satisfaction and joy.
Moreover, it’s possible to make deliberate adjustments or changes to our environments which can set the stage for greater creativity.
Examples would include standing while speaking (to get the full attention of your team), meditating before starting work, or even having certain items around us when we are in the middle of creating something – think headphones playing some inspirational music or your most comfy sweater keeping you cozy at your desk!
Wrap Up
Creative Acts for Curious People is a unique guide to improving your design skills.
It explains that design is all about problem-solving and creative action, and encourages readers to develop their competency in four key areas: thinking, learning, doing, and feeling in order to keep their curiosity and open mind alive.
The book offers practical advice by teaching readers how best to learn by exploring the conditions for learning.
It stresses the importance of reflecting on turning points in our lives where we gained new insight so that we can identify the settings where we learn the best in order to recreate them.
Finally, Creative Acts for Curious People urges readers not just to be creative but also to take action so they can get real results from their ideas.
