I Thought Design Thinking Would Limit My Creativity
How a personal experiment with Action filled my head with ideas instead
When I started exploring design thinking, I was not sure what to make of it. I wanted to become better at releasing my wilder, bigger ideas. Free association first, unexpected connections next, and only then shaping those thoughts into hypothetical concepts. Design thinking, with its steps, frameworks and user evidence, seemed more likely to restrict my creativity than strengthen it.
That doubt became the experiment. I did not have to accept the method in advance, I could test it.
Brainstorming about a New Roller-Skating Sport
While cycling home after doing some grocery shopping, I passed a couple of girls on roller skates. It made me wonder: why do I rarely see roller-skating sports on television?
I rarely watch television and follow even fewer sports, yet football seems to be everywhere. As a Dutch person, I also hear about speed skating throughout the winter, but competitive roller skating receives far less attention. That passing observation left me with a question:
Could I develop a roller-skating sport that people would want to watch?
Two Tools from My Optical Practice
Looking back at how I tried to create structure in my work
I recently started learning about creative-thinking techniques. This made me look again at two tools I had developed earlier in my career: one for analyzing complaints about new glasses and another for assessing scleral lens fitting cases.
I did not create them as innovation projects. They were personal work aids, made in response to situations in which I found it difficult to keep all the relevant information together.