There are a myriad of detailed creative methodologies that show you from A to Z how you should approach tasks that require creative solutions and walk your team through them.
It is important to realize that creative methodologies are not suitable for solving linear problems (e.g., solving a typical problem, planning a sprint). For them, there are more understandable methodologies that help to find a solution through understandable algorithms: weighing pros and cons, drawing up matrices and models, making calculations.
Creative sessions are needed when we realize that the solution lies beyond our vision, and template solutions will not lead to results (search for new solutions, products).
Main Types of Creative Methodologies
Lateral Thinking
thinking that seeks solutions to problems that are displaced from the standardized, generally accepted ones (a term coined by Edward de Bono, the creator of the concept of lateral thinking)
The concept is based on the idea that human thinking is tied to habits and patterns of behavior that lead people to standard, uniformly working solutions. To obtain new, creative solutions, all these habits and patterns must be "broken":
Therefore, the main goal of the concept is to provoke out-of-the-box thinking through the application of mechanics that disrupt the usual course of thought.
Steps of Lateral Thinking
1. Choice of focus
or a starting point for lateral thinking
Clearly articulating the question plays a key role in the successful search for new ideas and solutions to problems. A well-formulated question allows you to focus on the essential aspects of the problem and create a clear direction for your research.
Pick an existing idea in your professional field and focus on it
Some tips on how to clearly articulate the question and define the target problem:
Be specific —
phrase the question in a way that is as specific and clear as possible. Avoid general wording that can have different interpretations.
For example, instead of "How can we improve our product?" it's better to ask "How can we improve our product's battery life by 20%?"
Use open-ended questions —
pose open-ended questions, approach the idea/problem from different angles. Questions beginning with "how would", "what if", "why not" stimulate creative thinking.
For example, "What if we moved our product development process to a cloud services platform?”
Define the context —
identify the context or area in which the problem is occurring. This will help narrow the focus and improve understanding of the situation.
For example, "How can we improve the performance of our software development team over the next 6 months?”
Formulate questions through action —
"How can we make sure that..." or "How can we help..."
For example, "How can we make our product more popular than our competitors?", "How can we help our audience overcome a barrier?"
Specify the goal —
identify what you want to accomplish or what problem you want to solve. The goal should be specific and measurable.
For example, "How can we increase the number of users of our app by 20% over the next quarter?”
Consider the audience —
When formulating the question, consider who will be involved in the creative thinking process and to whom the results are intended. Specify which target audience should be involved in solving the problem.
2. Lateral breakdown
a break in the logic of an idea, provoking a departure from a formulaic understanding. This stage allows you to generate non-standard directions to solve the problem
How to achieve a lateral breakdown? Use the following methods:
- hyperbole (What if all the people in the world are already using our app?);
- substitution with a random word (What if the users are not using our app, but a cactus?);
- addition (What can we do to make sure that people not only use our app, but also read our blog?);
- exception (What if our app stops sending notifications?);
- inversion (How can we reduce the number of users of our app?);
- reordering (How can we get users to visit our app more often?).
3. Making connections
search for a common principle based on the proposed solutions and formulate a new idea
When formulating a new idea, it is necessary to bring back logic and connection to reality: to define the difference of a new idea from a template one, to highlight advantages and risks, to formulate potential results and benefits.
Is There an Example?
The target problem is to improve the experience of riding public transportation.
1. Focusing:
Ways to improve the public transportation travel experience to make it more comfortable and convenient for passengers.
2. Lateral breakdown:
- generating associations: key words: "convenience", "variety", "time", "passengers", "interactivity"
- drawing an analogy or metaphor: combine "convenience" and "interactivity". Ask yourself: "How can interactivity be used to improve the convenience of traveling by public transportation?"
3. Making connections:
New idea: creating a mobile app for public transportation that allows passengers to choose music or audiobooks to play on the bus or train during their trip. This will allow passengers to feel more comfortable and in a better mood while traveling.
Evaluate and develop the idea: check feasibility, demand and possible benefits for passengers. You can develop the idea by adding features that allow passengers to interact with each other or share travel recommendations.
Design Thinking
is a creative methodology that prioritizes people's needs over business objectives
Design thinking is based on building empathy with the target audience, as most of the work is tied to analyzing them, getting into the world of a particular group. Only after building empathy and understanding all the needs of the target audience does the team move on to storming.
Stages of Design Thinking
There are 5 steps to the process of finding ideas:
Empathy
putting ourselves in the shoes of the people for whom the product is being created in order to identify their concerns, needs and interests
The main task of this step is to set aside all preconceptions and stereotypes and scrutinize the audience.
How to analyze the audience? You can use different analysis techniques, for example:
- empathy map;
- rapid interview, in-depth interview;
- survey;
- following the user journey;
- studying various sources (survey results, trends, social media posts) to help build an understanding of the target audience.
As a result, the team will be in the target audience's infofield and will be able to derive insights based on the knowledge gained.
Analyzing and Identifying Problems
comprehension of the information received
The main task of the stage is to formulate hypotheses about the motivation and limitations of the target audience regarding the product.
What can help identify problems? Use a variety of tools to help simplify the process and get a deeper feel for the audience. For example:
- user journey;
- pictures of real people;
- charts, diagrams, graphs.
What's the result? The team will find real user problems that need to be solved. To make the process more efficient, it is worth choosing one key problem
Idea Generation
finding the greatest number of ways to solve the identified problem, based not on superficial knowledge but on an in-depth understanding of the audience
How do you look for ideas? There are many methods, for example:
- brainstorming — searching for ideas by discussing and finishing each other's ideas;
- six hats of ideas — searching for ideas from six different perspectives. "Hats" are used to indicate different views: blue is for the moderator, white is analytical view (relying on facts, looking for missing ones), red is emotional view (relying on emotions and intuition), black - pessimistic view (identifying and criticizing negative sides, consequences), yellow is optimistic view (looking for obvious and hidden pluses, opportunities, benefits), green is generating new and non-standard ideas. Hats can be swapped during the creative session;
- mental cards — search for ideas through association and visualization. Mark the identified problem in the center (for example, on the board in Miro) and draw branches from it, on which you fix your ideas. The more detailed and longer each branch is, the more ideas you will get.
What's the result? A set of ideas from which the most viable and effective should be selected.
Prototyping
creating a simple prototype that visualizes the desired result
How to do so? For example, draw an application interface on cardboard, glue a design part from paper, or make a design part from plasticine. Use any medium: games, programs and apps, stationery, storyboards.
What is the result? A clear understanding of what will be tested.
Testing
hypothesis (prototype) testing. This stage involves presenting the prototype to the user and collecting feedback to help improve it
What's the result? Identification of flaws that can be fixed before scaling. If the problems are unsolvable, it's worth going back a few steps and trying to do the work again.
Is There an Example?
A medical clinic wants to streamline the paperwork process for patients.
Step 1: Empathy
The team interviewed patients and medical clinic staff to understand current challenges in the paperwork process. They found that patients often face long waits, confusing forms, and limited communication with the clinic.
Step 2: Analyze and Identify Problems
Based on the data collected, the team formulated the central problem statement, "Patients experience difficulties in the paperwork process due to long waits and inconvenient forms."
Step 3: Idea Generation
The team brainstormed to come up with solutions to the problem.
Idea 1: develop a mobile application to pre-register patients and fill out the necessary forms before visiting the clinic.
Idea 2: create an electronic notification system that allows patients to keep track of their paperwork status and wait time in line.
Idea 3: installing interactive kiosks for self-service paperwork at the clinic.
Step 4: Prototyping
The team selected the most promising ideas and developed prototypes for each.
Prototype 1: created a prototype of a mobile application with forms for registration and pre-filling information.
Prototype 2: created a mockup of an interactive kiosk with an intuitive interface for self-registration of documents.
Step 5: Testing
The team tested the prototypes with patients and clinic staff. They received feedback and collected data on how effective the solutions were in improving the paperwork process.
In the end, the team determined that the mobile app for pre-registration and filling out paperwork received the best feedback from patients because it reduced wait times and simplified the process. The clinic decided to implement this solution, and the mobile app became part of their new onboarding process.
Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (or TRIZ)
is a technique that allows you to find a non-standard solution to a problem with minimal effort and expense
To utilize the technique, there are 4 key components to consider:
Contradictions
is "a struggle of opposing interests, desires, or demands when one excludes the other"
TRIZ methodology distinguishes 3 types of contradictions:
- administrative contradiction is an inability to improve the system due to lack of understanding of the methods or lack of authority. This contradiction is the simplest, as it can be solved by obtaining information, studying and making administrative decisions that expand the authority.
- technical contradiction is improvement of one indicator leads to deterioration of another. Complex contradiction requiring non-standard solutions
- physical contradiction is when "to improve the system, some part of it must be in different physical states at the same time, which is impossible". The most difficult contradiction, which is based on circumstances beyond human control (physical laws).
Resources
anything that can be used to solve the problem
Resources can be:
- material (money);
- tangible (premises, equipment);
- human (both physical, including perceptual and moral);
- informational (media, social networks);
- time;
- space;
- other (e.g. reputation, popular culture, etc.).
Ideal Outcome
an outcome achieved without loss, cost, complication, or external resources
The ideal outcome is a solution based on the use of resources already available.
At the heart of the ideal outcome is autonomy. For example:
- the app searches for and solves problems on its own;
- the app does not exist, but its functions are performed by already available resources.
Decision-making Principles
There are 40 of them. Here you can check them out and see examples.
How to Apply TRIZ?
Is There an Example?
The product delivery company faces the problem of delivery delays and inefficient organization of logistics operations, which affects the level of customer satisfaction.
Step 1: Contradiction
Technical contradiction: the company wants to reduce delivery time but is constrained by limited resources and the complexity of logistics processes.
Step 2: Resources
Human resources: logistics staff, couriers.
Material resources: vehicles, warehouses.
Informational resources: data on delivery routes, customer orders.
Step 3: The Ideal Outcome
Optimization of logistics operations to reduce product delivery time and improve customer satisfaction.
Step 4: Decision-making Principles
Segmentation: break down logistics operations into smaller steps and optimize each step. For example, use GPS technology to optimize delivery routes and reduce travel time.
Feedback: implement a customer feedback system to track delivery satisfaction and identify problem areas. This will allow you to respond quickly to customer dissatisfaction and implement improvements.
The Result: as a result of applying TRIZ, a grocery delivery company optimized logistics operations by using GPS technology to optimize delivery routes. They also implemented a customer feedback system to respond quickly to customer needs and concerns. These changes reduced delivery times and improved customer satisfaction, resulting in increased customer loyalty and business growth for the company.
