Reflection 4 — Class Reflection

I always consider myself a creative person, but this is my first time understanding creativity as a formal process. Here are some of the things I have learned that are different from how I approached creativity previously.

The design process
The different stages of design which start with problem discovery and research, then brainstorming and problem reframing, and finally prototyping, testing, and evaluation, established a framework for me to approach problems systematically rather than with random ideas in my mind. The activities introduced in this course, such as journey map and affinity mapping, supplemented the design process and allows me to address creative problems in a more thoughtful way.

Different ways to test an idea
My team’s project involves a mobile app and a physical device, which seems inevitable to do some coding for the prototype. It is time-consuming and the technical barrier may hinder the effectiveness of collecting feedback from the users. However, in this course, I am surprised to learn the different workarounds in testing an idea on users. In my team’s case, we used existing messaging software to simulate the interaction between the user and the app/device. This method is so effective which involves minimal technical difficulty and puts the focus on the solution itself.

Before this class, I had no idea how to include my team in the creative process. With the technique and skills learned in this course, I believe in future projects in both work and study, I can lead my team in conducting different design thinking activities. That being said, viability (mainly business) is a concept not mentioned at all in this class. According to the book The Ethics of Invention: Technology and the Human Future, which I read for reflection 3, the success of an invention often involves many sociopolitical forces. To make an impact on society with creative ideas, I will definitely need more work on learning how to turn ideas into viable businesses and how different stakeholders will be impacted by, hence support or reject, my ideas.