In Class Group Brainstorming
From CS 160 Fall 2010
Note: this class will be held in the CAL Design Lab
Readings
- The Work of Creativity. from Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
Video
- The Deep Dive. Episode of ABC Nightline, 7/13/99. This is a zip file (otherwise there are server file format problems). Download and unzip it to view the video.
Alex Aberle - 9/9/2010 21:23:11
1. I had a number of problems with this reading. I found it to be meandering and without a clear purpose. It was articulate, but mostly devoid of any real insight. I found the style of using numerous quotations to be especially dull. What am I to take from these anecdotes when the first paragraph seems to make the claim that there is no single universal creative process? The endless namedropping of scientists and engineers (sometimes even without context, just a list of names) was also irritating.
The only thing I really took from the chapter was that it is important to get away from the problem for a while, to let your ideas incubate. I have experienced that before and I agree with the sentiment.
Otherwise, though, I did not find much to like.
2. I enjoyed this clip. I think it illustrated well the principles we read about previously. I think it will help my group as an example of a good way to brainstorm.
Also, for all the talk of "titles don't matter", I noticed that it was the same two guys talking to the camera every time. Also, there is a clear dividing line between the designers and the machine shop crew, whom they worked to death but who only got three seconds of screen time. So I don't know how much they can really claim to be egalitarian and non-hierarchical.
And what was with calling the smaller group "the adults". Maybe I misunderstood, but it seems kind of demeaning to the other designers to imply that they are children/childish.
Calvin Wang - 9/11/2010 22:22:13
Interesting read. Now that I think about it, it's indeed true that when I attempt to solve a difficult problem, the "Aha" moment usually comes after I've done a fair amount of hard thinking, rather than during it. Our brain is doing the magic in the background, in our subconsciousness. Maybe that's why people need sleep - so that our brains can rewire the neurons and thereby organize the information in a more meaningful way.
The success of IDEO has shown us the reason why many tech companies in silicon valley are encouraging a playful corporate culture. When employees are immersed in a casual and custom-made environment, they are much more productive creatively than they would be in a generic, uniformly constructed office building. IDEO has set a perfect example.
Terrance Ng - 9/12/2010 0:34:15
It was pretty amazing to see IDEO's design process. Although it was rushed because of Nightline's time-frame, it was interesting to see how the design methodology played out in reality. Of course, like the 'clients' that Dave Kelley talked about in the middle of the program, we will need to get used to the concept of the 'Deep Dive', but it seems like it really would work in generating innovative ideas.
The article about creativity made a good point about life being a good source of problems that need to be solved. I think we already see this in our individual project proposals. Many people seem to have a particular problem, and many of the project proposals seem to reflect an attempt to solve that problem through a mobile application (whether the mobile platform is appropriate or not). Many of these problems require innovative solutions, because the existing solutions aren't adequate. It was also interesting to note that the author wrote that 'you cannot transform a domain unless you first thoroughly understand how it works,' and I think that is reflected in the research that IDEO did before it tackled the shopping cart problem.
Chao liu - 9/12/2010 10:12:02
We process information in a linear logical fashion But we can also solve problems nonlinear. Sometimes creative not means create new stuff. But maybe just combine some old ideas and make it more convenient for users. 1. Preparation: get information about the thesis. 2. Period of incubation: think about these issues of the thesis (Such as brainstorming). 3. Insight: break questions into small parts. And analyze them one by one. 4. Evaluation: give certain solutions and start to implement them. 5. Elaboration: refine the ideas.
this give us a way to think about the process of have new ideas.
Benjamin Carpenter - 9/12/2010 15:44:06
The video about IDEO's design process described how the company gives a team of people the discretion to come up with many ideas and eventually distill them into a working product that solves the problems of their clients. Interestingly, their design process is very different from that of a formal company. Instead of heavily managing the team and occasionally allowing for discretion, IDEO's manager Tom Kelly is flexible in what he allows his teams to do, and then he occasionally re-focuses them and requires them to finish up their creative processes. As a result, the teams come up with creative ideas much more easily than would happen in a traditional, formal design process, while at the same time eventually arriving at a finished product.
Sean Tai - 9/12/2010 16:14:01
The Work of Creativity: I enjoyed two points made in this article. First, that creativity and “a ha!” moments rely on basic knowledge of the field. So for UI design, familiarity with the tools and existing solutions used to solve problems are critical in creating a new, successful design. Second, the counter-intuitiveness of the “incubation” period leading up to the moment of realization and how being “idle” is a necessary part of the process.
The Deep Dive: It was interesting to see how the group immediately asked questions relating to the design and then went out into the field to see first-hand the issues the users of the carts (store owners, shoppers) had, making the acclimatization process much faster than reading books or papers about shopping carts. Also, I liked the idea of splitting up the group into teams focused on accomplishing different design goals and then combining the ideas of the different groups into one final design seemed efficient and focused. Finally, the long hours and unapologetic, substantial intellectual work showed how much effort good design requires.
Frank Chew - 9/12/2010 16:32:16
Mihaly describes 5 steps of the creative process as applying both to art and science. However, it seems that there is a difference between creativity for writing a work of art, and for the process of science. Evaluation comes much earlier in science, because the facts that have been found to evaluate theories with are already on the table. Plus in science you have to be right all the time, whereas a painter could get away with, say, painting the background a different color. Einstein couldn't be creative about notation for e=mc^2 for example.
Don Arboleda - 9/12/2010 17:26:07
As one who aspires to make video games for a living, I couldn't help but feel incensed by The Work of Creativity. There's a trend in game design that the best designers are not those who expected to make games but those who stumbled upon it. They know what has been done, but they have ideas about what could be done. Creativity blooms best when the creator benefits from a breadth of knowledge as Csikszentmihalyi says. While it is difficult to come up with something completely new, it becomes easier when we can draw from a wider range of experiences to do it.
The Deep Dive was interesting. Reading about the brainstorming/design process is one thing, but to see it in action is another story. It's hard to believe that the entire process took only five days. It must be so liberating to be able to throw out whatever idea you want without wondering if it will be good or bad. "Ask for forgiveness, not for permission", basically. I really want to feel how the process works.
Richard Laroue - 9/12/2010 18:15:42
This is not the first time I've read about Grazia Livi and the 5 'stages' of a creative process: preparation, incubation, insight, evaluation, and elaboration. I find incubation most interesting. Personally, several great ideas have come to me while not consciously searching for them. While there is some initial preparation during which you contemplate potential solutions to some problem, most of the real solution finding happens while you're not even aware, in the incubation stage. Some times, when I'm having a hard time figuring out a problem, I take a step back, clear my mind by doing something else, and let the ideas churn in my head. This usually works for me.
Evan Rosky - 9/12/2010 18:45:30
The book says to give creative ideas time to emerge and incubate; that many good ideas resulted from working on some problem and then taking a break from it. An A-ha moment occurs spontaneously and all the creator must do now is work on in it and evaluate it over another span of time. Additionally it talks about creative ideas generally coming from one's experiences. A little later, the book talks about the practice of actively trying to find ideas that are in differing fields -- looking for problems that others don't see is there. I'm not sure what to think about that one (makes me think of the "if a tree falls in the woods does it make a sound" question). It seems there are already too many problems that people do see to worry about problems that no one thinks is a problem yet. Applying one problem's solution to other problems makes sense, but actively adding to our collective problem pool is still an unnatural concept for me (though I can see where it can been helpful).
I found the shopping cart video as well as how Ideo works fairly refreshing. I really agree with encouraging creativity through a non-rigid environment and social structure.
Kyle Gorlick - 9/12/2010 18:58:41
In response to the IDEO video, one of the things that particularly interested me: The distinction between common and professional users. When to force conventions or styles of use on the user? The shopping cart encouraged leaving your cart when getting items, but some users may be uncomfortable leaving their cart alone, especially if their kid is in it. Although the cart allows for both styles of shopping, if the majority of users hold on to the cart, would it be better to tailor more to their needs?
Jonathan Look - 9/12/2010 19:03:33
I found both the Creativity reading and the Deep Dive video to mention a 'step out of bounds' you could say as a way towards creativity. If people didn't challenge accepted notions of acceptable physics to come up with a different approach, a solution would have been much more difficult for the jet engine example. Likewise, an employee at IDEO went and hung his bicycle off the ceiling, with others following suit soon after. I think these examples show that wild ideas and stepping outside of accepted truths truly can lead to innovations.
Simran Chaudhry - 9/12/2010 19:18:49
article main ideas: is there a single creative process? five-stage view: 1st phase preparation. 2nd incubation. 3rd insight. 4th evaluation. 5th elaboration. process is less linear than recursive
video main ideas: company called IDEO. generate ideas by talking to experts, view users in everyday life. prefer trial and error over lone genius. have to be playful to be innovative. try something and then ask for forgiveness, not the other way around.
James Yu - 9/12/2010 19:32:48
1) The reading gave me a bit of insight into creative people and the creative process. The main points that stuck to me was the importance of having a curiosity and interest in the field in order to innovate in it. Basic knowledge of the field is also important. The need for an incubation period is also something new I have learned from the reading.
2) The video gave me an good image into how IDEO implements the points mentioned in the previous reading on brainstorming. The thing the previous reading didn't describe was how to pull the ideas together after brainstorming. The approach of breaking into small teams that focused on particular areas seemed to work well. In the end, I was impressed with the prototype they put together.
Daniel Yoo - 9/12/2010 19:51:28
In this reading, I have learned that creative process has traditionally been described as taking five steps: period of preparation, incubation, insight, evaluation, and elaboration. The foundation of creativity can also built upon people having a curiosity. Campbell makes the point that the difference between a scholar who comes up with new ideas and one who does not is often a difference in curiosity. Sometimes, people learned from past can be helped or even trying out something helps. Overall, what is important is one’s perspiration.
Andy Lin - 9/12/2010 20:16:46
In my opinion, I think that come up with a creative idea is not easy. However, as the article points out that "Free from rational direction, ideas can combine and pursue each other every which way". As a result, having more fundamental knowledge and experience definitely help for being more creative. The video is a really good demonstration of how the design process should work. The skills that inspire me the most is putting short time constrain on a project. People tend to do things at the very last moment, and putting time constrain is really effective in increasing the efficiency. I also learned that interviewing people who actually use the produce is really important for design process since the things designed should be the things needed.
Theron Ji - 9/12/2010 20:48:46
I agree with the idea that says that creativity isn't just one big insight, but several smaller ones, iterated over a period of time and connected together. The statement about the necessary component of curiosity also makes a lot of sense. The video repeated a lot of material covered in a previously assigned reading from IDEO, but the final product that they produced was very impressive - it actually seems like a really great product with really great ideas well implemented.
Yue Chang Hu - 9/12/2010 20:53:08
I like the article, "The Word of Creativity" saying that "creativity consists of 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration". All people are born with certain talent and that to make those talent to come to use, it usually require a little inspirational push and then the rest would be a lot of handwork and thinking. Although, creativity consist of 99% of perspiration, however it can be fun too because if one is actually interested in the problem that they are doing then they would work hard and serious, and relaxes and have fun. The Deep Dive video is very interesting as well because I actually get to see a team of experts going through the process of designing a shopping cart. In this video, I see that a creative working environment is very important help to the team's creativity. I really like their working environment because there are so many things, so many ideas!
Steven Kisely - 9/12/2010 20:59:06
I have had the pleasure or possibly it should be displeasure of the fourth phase myself. Over a year ago I worked a summer internship at a start up. After coming up to speed on the product they were working towards and hearing some of the possible ideas I had the lovely “Aha!” moment. I spent a week thinking the idea over but had no real understanding of the market. Finally I purposed it to my boss and coworkers. They explained that ideas similar to mine had come before and failed. It turns out for reasons much like was discussed on the first day of class, about PDA's and other forms of technology being ahead of their time. However they did end up saying they liked my idea and thought it could work. It was later put on a list for items to be implemented after the first working version of the product went live.
Bernard Wong - 9/12/2010 22:12:22
I think that creativity can be a gift. Everyone has varying level of it, and some people have more than others. But whatever the level of creativity we possesses, we should be able to improve upon by having multiple revisions. However, whenever given the choice, it seems like plagiarism is a favorable option as well, even for school homework.
Christine Lu - 9/12/2010 23:14:42
I thought this reading brings up a point that people forget about when they are coming up with new ideas - letting ideas incubate. Sometimes we are working so intently on a project and under much stress to come up with good ideas, that we don't feel as though we have the time to do this step, or we simply forget about this step altogether. However, the reading gives many examples of this method working out, and I'm sure other people have experience with this as well. The point being that we should take the time to stop and not think in order to achieve our goal.
Avery Gee - 9/13/2010 0:04:37
The book on creativity agrees with Wallace's stages of creativity-preparation, incubation, illumination, verification and adds a further step of elaboration. I think the most interesting part of the process is the incubation stage. Personally, I agree with Smith and Blakenship (1991) who argued that the time in the incubation stage is necessary to lessen the effects of inappropriate approach blocks so that the appropriate knowledge can be reached. In our case that would mean that time not spent consciously pondering the problem will help us get around constraints that we unconsciously or consciously had that were blocking our path to the best solution. This is why we have been told to not over constrain ourselves when designing.
The idea behind the deep dive movie is that innovation doesn't happen in tightly controlled environments. Instead it happens in kind of a contained chaos. I like the idea that the way to really unrestrict a person's thinking is to let them have as many creative outlets (like designing their own workspace) as possible and still push for further creativity. It is far easier to be creative when there are no constraints. I also liked their idea of voting on the different designs on post its.
Chris Song - 9/13/2010 0:11:00
Could it be possible that some of the "bad design" cannot ever be change? Think about QWERTY keyboard. It's not the best but I can't think of typing any other way. I also think it's dangerous to innovate for the sake of innovation. You may be reinventing the wheel too many times. At certain point you've got to move on and let the design stay. How can one determine if a product has reached that point? Does every product design have such a peak point?
Tiago Bandeira - 9/13/2010 0:29:16
It is interesting how the creative process is virtually the same between seemingly opposite fields of study. The cases the author brought up about creative writing, physics discovery and the theory of evolution clearly demonstrate this. Furthermore, when the author commented on how conflict and struggle breeds creativity it made me think of the academy award winning German movie “The Lives of Others.” In this movie a very creative writer in soviet occupied Berlin is almost put in solitary confinement for ten years as opposed to a work camp because this was the way that the soviets would break writers. They would take them away from their audience and from any experiences that they could use.
I felt that the shopping cart they designed in the “Deep Dive” wasn’t very impressive although the process was. The shopping cart was aesthetically pleasing and futuristic looking but it couldn’t handle larger items. For instance, if I wanted to buy a 24-pack of water bottles or an 8-pack of paper towels where would I put them? In addition, the idea of hanging the plastic bags on the cart after check out is pretty bad. First of all, you can’t store as many groceries this way. Secondly, heavier items like milk or bottles of wine can easily break plastic bags already, and by hanging them you are only encouraging this. Lastly, having a scanner on each cart is not only expensive but can create serious problems. What if someone forgets to scan an item that they are putting in their cart? What if the cart get’s stolen? (Now you have lost an expensive piece of equipment)
Brian Maissy - 9/13/2010 0:33:52
"The Work of Creativity" raised many ideas that I found extremely interesting, especially the analysis of the context in which creative people develop. One thing I can't help but wonder is to what extend individual factors like intelligence, natural talent, predisposition toward a certain way of thinking, and personality traits affect one's ability to be creative.
The IDEO video was very inspiring. It makes me want to try their process. I wonder how much the design industry has changed because of them since this broadcast was made.
Alexander Bolotov - 9/13/2010 1:14:37
I have had the fortune to participate in a design process very similar to the one described in the nightline video several times, and that experience makes me wonder why the video did not emphasize the egalitarianism inherent in this technique even more. From what I've seen, even a slightest hint of authority and seniority is enough to subvert the entire process. In my particular case, such authority was exercised only during the idea filtering stage of the process, and even that led to some very unpleasant consequences, not the least being an inferior product.
Sara LaVigna - 9/13/2010 2:50:33
The Work of Creativity Creativity follows five stages: preparation, incubation, insight, evaluation, and elaboration but it is a recursive process that can have several tiny loops of these stages within each stage. Problems come from personal experience, requirements of the domain, and socials pressures and are presented or discovered problems, with discovered problems usually resulting in the most creative work. You need curiosity, a strong interest, knowledge of the domain, knowledge of what others have done before you, and a desire to improve on that in order to make the best contribution to the problem. Evaluation is the longest part with the most work and requires an open and flexible mind, attention to goals and feelings, keeping in touch with domain knowledge, and listening to colleagues to do right.
The Deep Dive The deep dive is a name IDEO uses to refer to their brainstorming sessions where they practice total immersion at the problem at hand. The philosophy at IDEO is that you need to have open minds, a boss who demands fresh ideas that are quirky, a boss that hires people who don't bow down to authority and who won't necessarily agree with him or her, a belief that chaos is structure, and strong teamwork. No one should be above anyone else and the idea of seniority and hierarchy hinders success and creativity. One of IDEO's phrases is that enlightened trial and error succeeds over the planning of the lone genius, and this attitude has produced over 90 products a year in a fun environment that fosters creativity.
Richard Nguyen - 9/13/2010 3:46:08
For the work of creativity, I really enjoyed thinking about how important it is just to come up with a problem. I feel like the general thought of design is just to tackle a problem and hope to solve it but there's also the very exciting part of coming up with the problems to begin with. Especially after doing the project proposals I realized that finding something to work on was a lot more difficult than trying to come up with a solution for it. So I definitely want to try to come up with more exciting problems to work on in the future.
For the Deep Dive video, I was very impressed with how the teams approached the design of the shopping cart. I particularly liked how the teams split up and talked to users and owners of the shopping carts to really get a feel for what the problems were instead of just hypothesizing in the office and running with that. Often times, it seems like ideas formed without a lot of field experience end up working less than ideal.
Aaron Loessberg-Zahl - 9/13/2010 4:08:34
The creativity piece is interesting, but I can't help but feel that I've learned nothing new. While the chapter may have put it more elegantly than I could have, it's still the same content. And some parts of it rub me the wrong way as well. I don't buy into the notion that creativity should or can be divided into a series of stages, and I find the Freudian incubation explanation completely absurd. So, has this piece changed my thoughts on creativity? In short, no.
As for the Deep Dive piece, I actually really enjoyed it. I got a better idea of how much work goes into a design than I did from the article about IDEO, and it provided me a lot of good ideas on how to brainstorm and consolidate. The process of having a given problem and trying to creatively, yet logically solve it is one I find great joy in, and I hope to be able to use it during the course of this class.
Tsung Han Tsai - 9/13/2010 6:32:04
The small part about motorola seems like coming up with new ideas to meet expectations is based on luck. How did he predict people were going to use walkie-talkies and that it was useful for war? It's interesting in Deep Dive how they have people from many different backgrounds tackle the same project, so lots of different views can be considered. Also its cool how they go out and interview people who use the shopping carts so they can get fast feedback and insight.
Bichen Wang - 9/13/2010 8:55:03
Creativity seems to be more about just doing something rather than an innovative idea creation entity. It seems creativity is a balance of time and pressure; they contradict one another, but there has to be both for creativity to properly occur. People simple need a reason to work (most of the time), and things like social pressures or bosses do quite a good job at putting that pressure on. At the same time, ideas need much time to cultivate. However, limited time is always a consequence of human involvement, so the balance of good creativity seems so rare.
Ideo's process in designing something like a shopping cart seems so fascinating and so much fun! They completely took a simple working idea and transformed it in a week. It's sad that shopping carts still are giant, boring baskets. These guys put so much effort into their work that it seems like they like what they do. The interesting workplace also adds quite a lot to the atmosphere.
Alan Choi - 9/13/2010 10:00:54
I had authentication/authorization problems for both readings, so I ended up reading nothing.
Robin Liu - 9/13/2010 10:38:13
This week's readings on creativity matched closely with my own experiences in research. While I was not working on design related projects, I noticed a lot of the same rules and methods for creativity that was mentioned in the Nightline video. The person I was working for was a smart and experienced researcher who's mind was agile enough to grasp any new ideas and instantly reformulate them in a clearer way. Nonetheless, he was always cautious inject as little of his own opinion as possible, even during breaks in the discussions. He genuinely wanted to know what other people where thinking, as it lead to the most productive discussions.
Derrick Tao - 9/13/2010 10:56:46
IDEO presents a very unique design process for innovating ideas. The people included in this process are not necessarily experts in the area of the product being designed but experts in the area of designing. They were able to demonstrate a fluid process in which everyone can brainstorm ideas and then build from those ideas to design a new or better product.
Sung Ma - 9/13/2010 11:12:05
The Work of Creativity talks about the procedures of creativity and how creativities are created. There exists some steps in creativity and many people have tried to put a formula to creative process. However, creativity is something that does not have a particular process and is something more instantaneous and out of control.
Melissa Lim - 9/13/2010 11:22:57
In "Creativity," it was interesting to view the creative process as a linear one; most people think that good ideas are formed on the spot and that's it- in reality, great ideas are developed and perfected over constant evaluation and elaboration; there is no limitation to improvement. In "Deep Dive," there was an emphasis on company culture and how important it is to surround yourself with people who challenge the way you think and who aren't afraid to propose new ideas that are better. Starting with wild ideas ("focused chaos", "enlightened trials and error") can bring you the best ones. In the video, the team had only 5 days, but how long does the design process usually take for companies like IDEO?
Samantha Paras - 9/13/2010 11:43:28
The article by Csikszentmihalyi is interesting because it contrasts a little with the idea of "brainstorming". Csikszentmihalyi has a "creative process" that helps you think of ideas, while a "brainstormer" is not linear at all. The creative process is also focused for a single person as opposed to a brainstormer, which thrives on the input of multiple people.
The "Deep Dive" video shows the company IDEO's brainstorming process and how they accomplished their task of redesigning the shopping cart in 5 days. The CEO mentions that they're not experts of whatever they're designing, the process allows them to think of these ideas despite that. It's also nice to see an actual brainstormer since it's hard to imagine how it works from just reading about it.
Courtney Wang - 9/13/2010 11:45:03
"The Work of Creativity" was a very insightful read into the structure of the creative process. I used to think that creativity in solving a problem or coming up with a brilliant idea was something purely spontaneous without any outside influence. It's quite clear now that there are many factors that determine the flow of creativity and how ideas are realized. One example of the migration of creativity can be seen in the recent introductions of Google Instant and Youtube Instant. In the case of Google Instant, the idea probably did not stem from a particular problem that needed to be addressed at that moment in time; like Motorola's creation of the walkie-talkie, Google engineers simply wanted to make a better product for performing a task. Youtube Instant came out a week or two later, influenced by the change in environment. The internet community's creativity is fueled by the progress of competitors and divisions, as this example clearly shows.
Seng Heng - 9/13/2010 11:51:01
The portions about immersing yourself into a problem area were interesting but mostly anecdotal. Creative solutions appear as responses to problems, but I already knew this - I was more interested in the section about creative incubation. Unfortunately, that section of the reading seemed to be mostly guesswork; I suppose, however, that the creative subconscious is poorly understood in general.
Albert Tseng - 9/13/2010 12:03:35
The article on creativity presented to me aspects about the notion of creativity that I had not previously considered. What I found especially noteworthy are the author's views on using problems and issues in life as a source of inspiration, and his preference for a more disciplinary approach to creative processes, such as not allowing external things to distract the mind as it "meanders" and runs through streams of ideas. These suggest that creativity can be trained, and that one can maximize his or her efficiency and skill in arriving at novel creations.
The IDEO design firm's design process showcased in the Deep Dive video was a valuable process to observe; seeing how the team efficiently followed through with design procedures made the theories we learned in class a lot more concrete. And the shopping cart, to say the least, is cooler than most others I've seen.
Sui Kun Guan - 9/13/2010 12:11:25
In any projects, the goal of the project is less important, and the designing process is most important. A good designing process can lead to any successful different design project. Also, in any design, it requires the work of creativity. The process of creativity is most likely a circle because the insight can happen anywhere. However, most of the work is done on elaboration, which is very similar to the example in the video. In the example of designing a shopping car, the design term first put down many any ideas they have, then evaluate which ideas is good.
Anthony Puccinelli - 9/13/2010 12:19:02
"The Work of Creativity" was a challenging read for me; not because it was long or dense or boring or overly complicated in its language, but because in my view, "creativity" is an abstract concept that loses much of it's value if too specifically defined (You can't quantize creativity, can you?!?). The article's efforts to document creativity itself, to split it into stages and analyze it's progression, seemed like an exercise counter-conducive to creativity.
However, I did find the example of Livi finding inspiration for her short story interesting, and the description and casting of creativity as an almost recursive process of inspiration, incubation, and elaboration is something I relate to very much.
It was also disturbingly fascinating when they brought Freud into the picture! Claiming passionate creation is a permissible way to satisfy the deep repressed curiosity we have from being children confused by our first conception of sex!
As far as the Dateline episode goes, I really liked the whole setup and design approach at IDEO. It reminded me of the walls and whiteboards plastered with crazy ideas at Telltale games. It was also pretty funny how proud they were of their weirdness.
Oh, and I really want to use that shopping cart!
Asa Zernik - 9/13/2010 12:21:03
Cziksentmihalyi's description of creativity, in both the recursive and linear narratives, emphasizes the work of the unconscious mind; after internalizing domain-specific knowledge - in UI design, things like the problem, a set of proposed solutions, knowledge of the platform and tools available - what is left is to let things sit, to find some way to put the mind in a state where it can make connections betweendifferent pieces of knowledge. For Dyson, this meant a complete disconnect from work; for Livi, it was about looking over a record of her assorted thoughts after a period of time to see what had become easier to see.
The ABC program studies this process as it occurs in groups, rather than in individuals as with Cziksentmihalyi. The process at the Deep Dive in some ways parallels the individual creative process; it starts out with an free-roaming exploration of the solution space, and when ideas start to emerge it becomes a focused and disciplined elaboration of proposed solutions. Another parallel is the iterative nature of the process; multiple insights in the individual creative process mirror the multiple iterations of group design.
Karl He - 9/13/2010 12:28:45
I think Ideo's way of encouraging creativity is great. By creating an environment where creativity is everywhere, they can produce products that for others would take many iterations of improvements to think of, if at all. They do seem to have an issue of feature overload, however. The cart they designed was a bit over-the-top, though the basic baskets idea was pretty neat.
The excerpt is a lot more analytical regarding creativity. It tries to analyze how people have been creative and what one could do to encourage creativity. A lot of it seems to come down to just studying and living life, however, and I feel that real creativity comes rather from a mind that is constantly questioning everything around him.
Robert Connick - 9/13/2010 12:28:56
The reading appears to give a solid formula for creativity, but within that formula is the "incubation" period, which still eludes quantification. I'm a bit skeptical about whether the Freudian interpretation is worth considering, but the cognitive theory sounds much more useful: that ideas in our subconscious continuously combine randomly, once in a while producing a connection that is significant enough to surface.
If we work with that theory, then it seems to be this subconscious process that the designers at Ideo (in the video) try to push into the open. By brainstorming and giving every idea consideration, they consciously form those connections that most of us would immediately dismiss, and that's the whole point. Now I wonder if "incubation" could be replaced entirely with brainstorming.
Danica Shei - 9/13/2010 12:30:20
The video was pretty awesome, it definitely demonstrated the structure of organized chaos and showed how you can let your imagination run wild without . The team was very impressive on how it addressed all major problems of the the old cart - the dangers for child, cart movability, and even how to prevent theft.
James Butkovic - 9/13/2010 12:34:28
1) In order to be successful in creating things, you must first attempt to get you're used to thinking about things in the same domain as the problem that you're trying to solve. Creative solutions to problems typically come to people who have intentionally went through this step. The next step is to let the ideas and the problem stew in your subconscious (incubation). Once the creative process has been completed, you're supposed to go back and try to iterate on your solution.
2) Designs should be constantly modified and iterated on. The leader of an innovation project should be good with groups, but there shouldn't be much of a hierarchy beyond that. The members of a (re)design should be of diverse backgrounds. Explicitly defining the parts of the problem such as the context and forces is essential.
Adam Vogt - 9/13/2010 12:43:32
In "The Work of Creativity" the part I found the most interesting was the section called "The Mysterious Time. It discussed how often people don't solve problems when they are just sitting down thinking about it, and how solutions often come at odd times. I found this especially interesting because during the first Individual Programming Assignment I was having some problems that I could not solve. Then Saturday night before the project was due I actually had a dream about the project and solved my problem while dreaming. I woke up, coded it and it worked!
The part I found most interesting about "The Deep Dive" Was the focus on if a workplace was playful or not. I don't normally think of work as being playful. It's a job that you go to, you get your work done, you go home, that's it. The idea that playfulness is essential to innovation makes sense, and I just hope that I end up with an employer who takes that as seriously as IDEO.
Alexander Wong - 9/13/2010 12:44:17
I was surprised by the effectiveness of IDEO's design process in the DeepDive video. I've taken a few business courses that actually teach that the way to make it up the corporate ladder is to be at your desk the most. I think IDEO's owner makes a great point when he says the ones in the field are really making the greatest contribution to the design process. To create a superior product you must have extensive knowledge about what it is you are designing and that can either be gained from viewing others and through personal experience.
The reading also brings up an interesting counter point. We're very much shaped form my personal experience but there is also a social content that determines what problems we tackle. Every day we live in a world of rules - of norms and taboos. How do you design beyond those limits? Looking back at IDEO the solution seems to be redefining norms and slashing taboos.
Arthur Huang - 9/13/2010 12:46:06
Creativity is something that every company wants for their products, but it is often hard to harness a good design that is both creative, practical, and easy to use. In the video, we are shown the creative process of a company trying to address the problems of child safety, stolen carts, and the pure bulkiness of the carts. In the end, the creative process is more about organized chaos than a hierarchy with a boss and a manager; the brainstorming process involves too many post-it notes to even count. I see this as a hint to what we will be doing with our project partners for the brainstorming parts of our project.
Geobio Boo - 9/13/2010 12:49:06
I enjoyed the reading, as it helped me realize how creativity comes to be. Creativity doesn't come from nowhere, but rather is influenced by what I see and how it subconsciously incubates and then becomes an idea. (That probably explains why it's worked better for me to brainstorm while wandering around, than by staring at a blank piece of paper). Additionally, I now better understand how my knowledge may restrict my creativity, and for creative projects or solutions, I'll try new things that are unfamiliar and uncertain. ... As for the video, I wouldn't play :/
Alan Choi - 9/13/2010 13:02:05
Ignore my previous response. Since I added the class late, I didn't realize that we were given the user/pass for authorization for the readings. And because I was just told about this from a classmate, I just don't have time to watch the video, so I will only respond to the chapter.
I think it's really interesting to look at all these separate cases of inspiration and how certain famous people found the creativity to make and write what they did despite the different circumstances. I particularly found the section "Mysterious Time" because I feel like that happens all the time. I will be stuck on something and then give up for the time being to go to sleep and then I'll randomly wake up in the middle of the night with the answer and it's just clear in my head for that time, so I have to write it down, or else I'll go back to sleep and then not remember it at all the morning after.
Karthik Jagadeesh - 9/13/2010 14:05:20
One interesting thing to note from "The Work of Creativity" article is that most people who come up with ideas do so because that is what they enjoy doing. They don't consider their work as actual work, and they are always doing it. This means that they are willing to put in a 1000% effort into everything that they do. Another interesting thing i read in the article, is that it is not useful to just sit and think about an idea.. You should try and do something else, and while you are doing this the idea might strike you. I'm not sure if I agree with this.
DeepDive the video talked about how the most successful workers were not those that listened directly to their bosses but the workers that challenged the bosses. This seems to make sense to me because it is the people that speak up and go against the norm that think out of the box and come up with creative ideas. The removable box cart is a cool simple new product that Ideo came up with, and process of coming up with this idea was pretty cool!
