How to Think Outside the Box

General Resources

These three books, each focusing on a different area, explain many views of the design process, beginning with and going beyond many of concepts I touched on. All three were written by designers involved with IDEO, a leading design and innovation firm, which has pioneered in developing and applying techniques for divergent thinking, user-centered design, and strategic design.

The Art of Innovation – Tom Kelley tells stories of past design projects at IDEO with a focus on product design, addressing topics such as creativity, brainstorming, prototyping, and understanding users. I haven't read this yet, but the book is very well-regarded.

Designing Interactions (see also the book website) – A book by Bill Moggridge, who designed the first laptop computer, about the history of interaction design, covering the development of computer and handheld software and hardware from a design perspective. Parts of the first two chapters discuss the invention and development of the computer mouse in detail, which is where I got most of the story and pictures about the mouse. The 10^th chapter gives a good overview of the discipline of interaction design (if you're interested in learning more about it) as well as a short discussion of techniques for learning about users and understanding their needs.

Change by Design – Recently published by Tim Brown, current CEO of IDEO, a book about using "design thinking" to guide change and innovation on the level of organizations and communities. Chapter 3 ("A Mental Matrix") discusses several ways of looking at the design process, including divergent/convergent thinking and synthesis/analytical thinking. Chapter 4 ("Building to Think") discusses prototyping.

On a humorous note: the design process as interpreted by Brandon Schauer and Damien Newman.

Creativity and Brainstorming

Tim Brown on Creativity and Play (TED Talk) – Tim Brown talks about the importance of play in ideation (idea generation) and development. He does much better justice to the idea of experimentation in brainstorming than I did. The video is 27 minutes long and highly recommended. (TED is also a great place to find really cool and stimulating talks about design, technology, and other fascinating topics.)

Better Ideas Faster: How to Brainstorm More Effectively (Slideshare) – A slide show by David Sherwin from the leading design firm frog design. It discusses a number of specific, highly effective strategies for idea generation.

Structured Ideation and Design Thinking (Slideshare) – A short slide show by Gayle Curtis outlining some basic rules for brainstorming. In the session, I mentioned these rules, but said I wouldn't go into detail about them—so here's a good start on those details that won't take much time to read.

A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von Oech – A classic book on how to think creatively and develop your ability to do so. The book isn't really about design methodology in particular, but about ways of thinking that will support flexible thinking. Each chapter focuses on a different "block" that prevents people from thinking this way—for example, the tendency to limit oneself to "logical" thinking or "practical" ideas, unwillingness to break rules, and avoidance of error or silliness. The book wraps up with suggestions for strategies and activities you can use while brainstorming.

I quoted Jared Spool during the session: "Once you eliminate Quality as a requirement, the entire design and development process becomes a whole lot easier."

Visual Thinking and Prototyping

How Marriott prototyped a hotel lobby in order to improve customer satisfaction: An interview with Brian King, VP and Global Brand Manager of Courtyard by Marriott.

Will Evans, a user experience designer and interaction designer (that is, he designs the experiences of websites and software) talks about how he uses wireframes as part of the concept exploration process and, in a later article, he writes about the role of sketching in his design process. The articles are written primarily for professionals, but he does a great job of verbalizing the relationships between design and visual thinking. Worthwhile reading.

In a five-minute talk, Dan Roam points out some of the psychology behind visual thinking and shows why it's so powerful. Roam maintains a blog on visual thinking, and he also wrote a book, The Back of the Napkin, on visual thinking and problem-solving. (I haven't read that one yet either, but my sources tell me it's excellent.)

Understanding Problems and Learning About Users

IDEO Human-Centered Design Toolkit – A comprehensive guide to human-centered design methodologies. It's aimed at organizations and it's fairly high-level, but it's still a rich resource for those interested in design.

The "5 Whys" or Root Cause Analysis: Pete Abilla tells the story about how the "5 Whys" were used to identify the cause of an injury at the Amazon.com Fulfillment Center and then goes into more detail about the method of Root Cause Analysis.

This is, of course, a huge topic, so I'll post more here over time.