ACTIVITY 7: THINKING TOOLS - I

deepikagupta20
Oct 10, 2020
3 min read

Updated: Nov 6, 2020

INTRODUCTION:

Thinking tools basically refer to the adapted knowledge that allows our minds to work in a systematic and effective manner. Being my first Think Lab activity, it made me understand the concept of critical thinking and definitely encouraged my brain to do some serious brainstorming. We were given a pre-task in which we had to read about the tools that we were going to use the next day.

WARM UP:

The day started with a warm up session where we all collectively did the 'Slice and Dice' activity.

We listed the various attributes of a pencil namely:

Descriptive
Functional
Emotional
Process
Social attributes.

MAIN ACTIVITY:

Even though we were divided in groups we all were required to do the tasks individually and then present them as a group. The members of my group were- Naseeb, Vaishnavi, and Siya. The main activity was divided into application of three tools:

TOOL 1 : Slice and Dice - In this we all had to choose a product and list its various attributes just like shown in the picture below. The product that I chose was Lip balm because it is something that I use everyday.

2. TOOL 2: Crossbreeding - The product chosen was I-pod and earring. This activity required a lot of brainstorming as we had to take two different objects and crossbreed them to make hybrids. This concept was made famous by a Japanese woman who created a novelty item 'a Key-chain plant' by crossbreeding a key and a sunflower together. So after a little thinking I created an 'I-Ring' by fusing the characteristics of an I-pod with an earring. During a wedding it becomes really difficult to talk over phone due to all the noise. So this will prove to be an effective solution as you can hear clearly and at the same time look glamorous.

3. TOOL 3: Idea Box - “Dr. Fritz Zwicky developed the concept of morphological box after which the Idea Box has been modeled. It is a way of organizing different characteristics of a product and combining them together to get a unique and much better outcome. In this activity we were asked to choose a product and make its two possible yet different outcomes. The product I chose was perfume. Below is the image of my idea box. It shows my outcome after randomly choosing the parameters that I listed.

GROUP WORKING:

Working in a group helped me communicate and make friends. Since we had to do the activity individually, there were no struggles while working in the group. In fact, all the group members were helping each other out.

REFLECTION:

According to me the idea of using the thinking tools in this activity was something very different. As my first activity it forced me to look for those options in my mind which I didn't even knew existed. The fact that we were asked to work individually but presenting the work as a group at the same time was quite an approach to test our individual as well as teamwork skills.

The activity which I enjoyed the most was Crossbreeding. Isn't it amazing how you get a whole new product by just fusing two different products? The Idea Box is a problem solver for those designers who are facing a backlog/ blockage of ideas in creating new designs. What I observed in this activity is how these tools can make a big difference in our life as designers.

LEARNING MANTRA:

There is always a possibility available even when you think there are none.