Four Heads Are Better Than One

Introduction:

This week’s focus was on narrowing down a potential problem that we wanted to focus on for the rest of our time. Although this seems like an easy task, we faced a few challenges. First of all, addressing a problem to a room full of designers is going to incite suggestions for solutions, which was the one thing we wanted to avoid in the beginning. We had to stay more focused on our problem, in order to ensure that we did not pigeon-hole ourselves. Second, considering our diverse backgrounds, we took different approaches to each problem and saw them in different lights (although this is in no way a bad thing, it was simply another challenge to overcome). We were able to flesh out one potential workflow for one potential problem, and decided to go our separate ways to address other problems and potential solutions. This enabled us to flesh out our own individual creative juices in full-form, and bring them back to each other for the happy marriage of all of the best ideas. Below you will see each of our group member’s thoughts on the brainstorming and ideation process..

What each of us thought:

“The brainstorming process proved to be more difficult than originally anticipated. When presented with such a vast array of potential problems that we can spend our time to solve, we had a difficult time narrowing down our choices. However, the brainstorming process ended up being more successful as we became more comfortable throwing around ideas, whether they be valid in and of themselves, or mere starting points for something that is easier to implement. The most difficult thing about building a brainstorming log ended up being the most useful thing, once we started to move forward, and this was keeping everything written down. Our process of Post-Its and markers over-simplified our workspace and allowed us to make changes that were not irreparable.”

Cheers,

Ocelot

“To me, the ideation process is always the hardest. What problem do we want to tackle? Where do we start? With such an open-ended project, there are countless possibilities. We came up with several issues underneath different topics such as transportation, environment, education, etc. It soon became difficult to choose what project we particularly wanted to pursue, but having to deal with several Post-It notes and pieces of paper with all of our ideas written down surely helped us get the ball rolling. At this point, it’s a matter of: what are we most passionate about? And I’m extremely excited to see where the answer to that question takes us.”

Regards,
Lion

“Brainstorming and ideation is always an exciting process to me, as you really get to branch out from your own creative thinking to encompass that of others too — it’s like having a database with not just your knowledge as input but also the knowledge of your peers. What I found especially interesting about this was the things I got to learn about my groupmates. We all discovered a shared passion for student orgs and the issues we experienced and observed from our own experiences in them. We shared about our backgrounds regarding student orgs, and to me, this was a powerfully informative session as I learned more about my group mate’s backgrounds and the student orgs they’re in.”

Take it easy,

Whale

“For me, this week was about immersing myself in new waters. I’m used to the language you hear from scientists and engineers, and a very linear approach to problems, where there is not only a ‘right’ answer but often a ‘right’ approach as well. This week was about changing that mindset and learning new vocabulary, at least a little, and it was harder than I expected. Ideation, (part of the aforementioned new vocabulary) involves expelling so many ideas you don’t have time to judge them and I found it refreshing, but it was difficult to keep coming up with ideas as the time wore on. Once we had those ideas, it was tough to narrow down a topic we all felt passionate about. The post-it notes helped us group our ideas and see the ones with similarities, and once we settled down to focus on one topic, we found connections and experience we could contribute, I know I hadn’t anticipated. The brainstorming process was generally exhilarating, and I’m looking forward to seeing what our group can do as the quarter progresses”

Best,

Turtle