In my last post, I introduced design thinking—a method, model, and mindset for creative problem solving. Design thinking is most often thought of and applied in a business setting. Here, I want to suggest how it can help you grow as a creative.
The Mindset
Design thinking is a creative practice that benefits from these skills and traits. Even if you ignore the method of design thinking, applying this mindset will expand your creative capacity.
Be curious. Design thinkers question the status quo, challenge assumptions, and seek to understand the world around them better. With this kind of curiosity, you find new ideas and possibilities that lead to novel solutions and inspired art.
Be open-minded. Design thinkers are not tied to a single solution but are willing to entertain multiple viewpoints and solutions. So by entertaining more unique inputs, you allow more opportunity to foster creativity. Avoid premature judgment.
Embrace ambiguity. Rather than shying away from what's uncertain, design thinkers embrace it as an opportunity for creative exploration. Get comfortable and inspired by what's unknown and use it as a springboard for innovation and unique expression.
The Method
The five actions in the design thinking model are: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Here's how each action can build your creative mind and muscle.
Empathy as a Creative Catalyst
Use empathy, the heart and soul of design thinking, as a powerful driver of creativity.
Understanding Others: Empathy involves stepping into someone else's shoes, understanding their perspectives, and feeling what they feel. By doing so, you gain new insights and ideas that you might have otherwise missed.
Inspiration from Human Experiences: Empathy allows you to draw inspiration from real-life human experiences. It can lead to the discovery of unmet needs, desires, and pain points, which can serve as inspiration for creative solutions.
Connection and Collaboration: Empathy fosters connections with others, creating an environment conducive to collaboration and co-creation. Creative endeavors often benefit from diverse input and perspectives.
Defining Creative Challenges
Frame creative challenges as "How Might We" (HMW) questions. If you're working solo, you can think in terms of "How Might I" but you'll miss out on the benefit of creative collaboration. Either way, the purpose is to guide your creative thinking in defined direction.
Focus on Solutions: HMW questions define the problem in a way that shifts your focus from the problem to a solution. They can move you from feeling stuck to being productive.
Idea Generation: HMW questions suggest there are multiple approaches to explore. You want to set yourself up to get as many ideas as possible.
Collaboration: The "we" in HMW encourages collaboration. It acknowledges that creativity thrives with diversity. If you don't have someone to collaborate with in person, you can imagine what others might think or say. I like to collaborate with famous people (Mark Twain or Oprah, for example).
Ideation and Brainstorming
The ideation stage of design thinking is where you answer your HMW question. This is the really creative part.
Brainstorming Sessions: Give yourself dedicated time for brainstorming. Set yourself up with your favorite creative tools (pens, sketchbooks, post-it notes, etc.) and your favorite creative comforts (clothes, drinks, music, etc.)
Quantity Over Quality: In the ideation phase, quantity matters more than quality. Allow yourself to think of wild, out-of-the-box ideas. Don't censor yourself. Let the ideas flow. More is more.
Exploration: Step out of your comfort zone. Explore a wide range of possibilities, even those that seem unconventional. Creative breakthroughs often come from unexpected sources. (Fun fact: Steve Jobs was inspired by a Cuisinart he noticed while shopping in a department store. That appliance influenced the simple, iconic Apple computer designs.)
Prototyping and Experimentation
Think of prototyping as safety in making mistakes. You're not trying to create perfectly. You're trying out ideas to see which ones work. Failure is required in this stage.
Quick and Cheap Prototypes: Create rough representations of your creative ideas. These can be as simple as sketches, cardboard models, or digital mockups. They should be easy to create and easy to throw away.
Testing and Learning: People love to see your creative process. Take it a step further and invite others to see or use the protypes and give feedback. This is one good use for social media--post a picture of what you're working on and ask for comments.
Iterate and Refine: Keep playing with your prototypes and adjust based on feedback. The more you iterate, the closer you get to your solution, product, or art piece.
Testing and Feedback
This stage suggests an environment of continuous improvement, of continuing to refine a solution even after it's out in the world. If you're making a form of art, this stage allows you to use feedback to influence your next piece. Even creative minds like Leonardo da Vinci and Shakespeare sought feedback to refine their work. View feedback as a catalyst for your creative growth, not as criticism.
Refinement: Use feedback to make adjustments to what you're offering your customers. It might be as simple as a new color palette.
Diverse Perspectives: Different viewpoints can uncover blind spots and suggest improvements you might not have considered.
Growth Mindset: Embracing feedback as an opportunity for growth allows you to continually improve and evolve your creative skills.
Remember that everyone is creative and everyone can be a design thinker. Creativity is an innate human trait that will grow with practice. Design thinking is a skill and mindset that can also grow with practice. Use them both together and you'll have creative superpowers. Create like a design thinker, have fun, learn a lot, let me know how it goes.
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