Techniques for Stimulating Creativity

1. TechniquesforStimulating Creativity references: Voland, Gerard, Engineering by Design, Pearson Prentice Hall, Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2004. Panitz, Beth, "BrainStorms," ASEE Prism, March 1998, pgs 25–29.

2. Creativity Stimulation Techniques • Brainstorming • Brainwriting • Bionics • Checklisting • Analogy and Adaptation • Obtaining a fresh perspective • Inversion • Idea diagrams

3. Brainstorming • Generate as many ideas as possible in a given amount of time • The more ideas generated, the greater the likelihood some promising ones will emerge • Four brainstorming rules to follow as recommended by Osborn in Applied Imagination • Defer all criticism of ideas • Encourage a "free-wheeling" approach (the wilder the idea, the better) • Go for quantity • Combine and improve on others' suggestions, when possible • Hitchhiking

4. Additional Brainstorming Guidelines • As described by Beth Panitz in Brainstorms • Carefully define the problem upfront • Allow individuals to consider the problem before the group tackles it • Create a comfortable environment • Record all suggestions • Appoint a group member to serve as a facilitator • Keep brainstorming groups small (6 to 12 members is ideal)

5. Brainwriting • A variation on the standard brainstorming technique • Each member of the group records his or her ideas on a sheet of paper • After some time, the sheets are passed to the next person in the group • Each individual builds on the ideas that were generated previously • Allows process to move forward without any premature criticism of the ideas • However, the positive interaction and reinforcement that may occur in a regular brainstorming session will not be present

6. Bionics • Search for an existing solution within nature that can be adapted to solve the problem under consideration • Velcro , vortex noise

7. Checklisting • The use of words and questions to trigger creative thoughts • The triggers often focus on possible changes to an existing product, concept, or system • Toaster

9. Analogy • Four different types of analogies • Direct analogy - current problem is directly related to a similar problem which has been solved (satellites and yo-yos ) • Fantasy analogy - when confronted with a problem that cannot be solved, imagine that a solution already exists ("stratium" solder ) • Symbolic analogy - use a poetic or literary analogy to generate ideas when confronted by a problem that cannot be easily solved ("clings like a barnacle" ) • Personal analogy - imagine being part of the system to view the problem from a different perspective (new shampoo )

10. Adaptation • Adaptation • look for ways existing designs can generate new solutions to unrelated problems (running shoe ) • old (and rejected) concepts can be revamped into useful forms

11. A Fresh Perspective • Describe the problem that is being solved to someone else who is not involved in the design process (they may be able to provide new insights and a new perspective) • Elevator • Sometimes just the task of explaining the problem helps to more clearly understand the objectives of the design

12. Inversion • Concentrate on ways to make a product or system less effective and then invert these ideas to form ways in which the product can be improved (energy savings in building ) • Invert the problem statement (trash in a Holland city ) • Invert an existing product or system (recycling )

13. Idea Diagrams • Allow the organization and correlation of ideas as they are generated • Divide solutions into different categories and subcategories that become increasingly more well defined • Transporting people (soldiers) from one location to another