Randy Pausch, one of the most inspirational figure to me, once said during his famous lecture, Achieving your Childhood Dreams: "Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress. When you're pissed off at someone and you're angry at them, you just haven't given them enough time. Just give them a little more time and they almost always will impress you." When I watched the lecture a few years ago, this quote didn't leave any mark in my brain at all. After a few years of "real life" working experience, I went back and watched the lecture again last year. The quote caught my attention then but it just didn't resonate with me - I even tried debating with him in my mind a few times (yup...). "There are some people who are just not worth the time." I thought.
I have been working on application materials in an effort to find myself a summer internship, and the process gives me the opportunity to think back on the experience I had with my teammates working on a semester long project. Maybe it's human nature, or maybe it's just my bad habit, I tend to pre-judge people before I actually get to know them. I had this negative attitude towards the team set-up and I solely based that on some third party comments I heard from here and there. Turned out Pausch was right! By the end of the semester I realized that those I had doubts in have become some of the greatest people I have worked with, and we wouldn't have achieved what we've done without one or another.
This week, while my team works on our quick 1-week design challenge, I started to think that this quote is even more true when it comes to design ideation. Being trained as a designers we all know that one of the most important rules of brainstorming is that no idea is bad idea, and to shut it down right away. However, it is easier said than done, and without proper moderator or facilitator, judging tends to happen all the time. I am fortunate to be working with two other very open-minded teammates, and I feel that the process we've gone through this week was a living example of the concept. I think that every single ideas that we came up with during our brainstorming sessions could be great innovation IF we give them enough time. All ideas have the potential to be great if we spend time on discovering the opportunities.
READING MATERIALS FOR THE WEEK
1. A Designer's Research Manual by Jenn + Ken Visocky O'grady
- Overview of research in graphic design (intro of different design research methods - which I thought can be applied to all design disciplines, not just to graphic design)
- Practicing research-driven design (design processes developed by different organizations & how to document research findings)
- Tailoring research methodology (How to conduct research with constraints when you're a student designer, a design educator or a practicing professional)
- Case studies
2. Universal Methods of Design by Bella Martin & Bruce Hanington
- A/B testing
- AEIOU (Activities, Environment, Interaction, Objects, Users)
- Affinity diagramming (Contextual inquiry & Usability tests)
- Artifact analysis
- Interviews
- Personas
3. The Era of Open Innovation by Henry W. Chesbrough
"Companies are increasingly rethinking the fundamental ways in which they generate ideas and bring them to market — harnessing external ideas while leveraging their in-house R&D outside their current operations." - Henry W. Chesbrough
(This reminds me of OpenIDEO - which wouldn't have achieved its success today without the idea of opensource)