Creative Thinking Tools and Their Application to UX Design
Archives of Design Research · 2013
Background : Root-Bernstein & Root-Bernstein (2007) summarized the 13 thinking tools of the worlds most creative people in science and art as follows: observing, imaging, abstracting, recognizing patterns, forming patterns, analogizing, body thinking, empathizing, dimensional thinking, modeling, playing, transforming and synthesizing. Methods : This researcher selected playing, abstracting, and analogizing among the 13 thinking tools, which can be directly related with the methods for UX design, and applied them to a UX design project titled ‘The inconvenient truth of smartphones’. Results : Playing is a thinking tool which helps us derive creative ideas in the process of playing with a problem. Bodystorming is a method for UX design which is related with playing. This researcher applied bodystorming to the project and explained how the bodystorming was planned so that the participants could play with and experience the real problems. Abstracting is a thinking tool which uncovers the invisible core, which is set apart from the visible elements. Card sorting is a method for UX design which is related with abstracting. This article explained the process of uncovering the invisible core hidden beneath the surface by showing the process of sorting approximately 600 cards obtained from the bodystorming. Analogizing is a thinking tool which helps us find the functional similarity between two things which are quite different from each other. Metaphor is a method for UX design which is related with analogizing. This article explained how the reasons for the problems the users experienced while they were using a smartphone were found by using the metaphor of the relationship between a pair of lovers. Conclusion : Playing, abstracting, and analogizing are thinking tools which help UX designers because it will be helpful for them to know how scientists or artists developed creative ideas. For further research it will be necessary to study how the remaining 10 thinking tools can be applied to UX design.