Ideas & Concepts

At the start of the project we used different brainstorm strategies, but a bit chaotically: we hopped from fantasizing about a situation in 2050 to a strategy called ‘cubing’^a. What worked best was creating a mind map on a big sheet of paper. What helped for our idea creation was an observation, to get a better idea of our user in an early phase of the project. I’d like to do this in future projects as well.

On the other hand, the choice for one idea was done really structured. We made a list of requirements for the different stakeholders in the project and the idea ‘ekk Bounce’ matched these best.
During the project I learned about the usefulness of prototypes to test concepts and to redefine aspects of an idea. On paper it seemed entirely logical that users would hold our product at the squared side. In reality they holded it ‘upside down’, at the squared side. This is something we could only find out by creating an actual prototype.

To learn about new ideazation methods I bought the IDEO Method Cards app in the second quartile. I used it for the design of a power socket and plug for the assignment Basic Formgiving Skills, but I’d like to use it more intensively in a future project. I couldn’t use it in the project of the first semester, because we already passed the stadium of brainstorming and focused more on actually realizing our ideas.