Goal

The goal of the exer­cise is to explore, dis­cover and refine idea gen­er­a­tion tech­niques and strate­gies. 

Objective

Sim­u­lat­ing the dis­cov­ery process with abstract con­cepts will allow stu­dents to develop a diverse approach to a com­plex and com­pli­cated topic need­ing a design solution.

Background Reading

• Idea Gen­er­a­tion, Leonard and Ambrose, p 1–76. See PDF in D2L.
• https://​www​.the​un​com​mon​way​.com/​b​l​o​g​/​s​i​g​n​s​-​y​o​u​r​e​-​a​n​-​a​b​s​t​r​a​c​t​-​t​h​i​n​ker
• https://​www​.7pace​.com/​b​l​o​g​/​a​b​s​t​r​a​c​t​-​t​h​i​n​k​i​n​g​-​e​x​e​r​c​i​ses

Exercise

Choose abstract notion and cre­ate a series of idea ori­ented rep­re­sen­ta­tions cho­sen from the assigned read­ings by Leonard and Ambrose. 

Part One

Chose a topic from the fol­low­ing list to gen­er­ate ideas:

1. par­ent­hood
2. speed
3. hunger
4. joy
5. mar­riage
6. faith

Use at least two of the fol­low­ing techniques:

1. Spi­der Diagrams
2. Mind map­ping
3. Vision­ing
4. Provo­ca­tion 
5. Rephrase the Question
6. Ran­dom word association
7. Free asso­ci­a­tion
8. Word asso­ci­a­tion
9. Lat­eral thinking
10. Diver­gent and tan­gen­tial thinking
11. Rad­i­cal thinking
12. The­ory
13. Abstrac­tion
14. Avant-garde his­tor­i­cal methods
15. Art and design history

Part Two

Cre­ate a short pre­sen­ta­tion with your find­ings and what you learn from the exer­cise. The pre­sen­ta­tion should be 2–3 min­utes in length and may have up to 5 slides. Pre­sen­ta­tion for­mat is impor­tant, but no lim­i­ta­tions on media, author­ing soft­ware or design.

Assessment

• The fol­low­ing rubric posted on D2L will deter­mine assign­ment score: Exer­cise Grading

Techniques

cre­ative think­ing, exper­i­men­ta­tion, process, abstract thought

Supplies

com­puter, soft­ware, paper, pencil