10 ways to break free and innovate.
As circumstances change, the challenges we face vary in severity, proportion, and impact. But haven’t humans always transcended their limitations! We always aspire to improve and become better- and design is just one of the many ways we do it.
Sometimes, however, we get too caught up in the pathways already paved. Just like the army ants, who keep following each other in a continuous loop when they lose their pheromone track (only to die of exhaustion!), we circle the endless loop of set paradigms.
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Go beyond the threshold,
Challenge the status quo,
Create more possibilities,
Innovate and inspire
1) From “user” centered design to “harmony” centered design:
The shift from user-centered design to harmony-centered design is a shift from a self-centered approach to design, to a much more holistic, encompassing approach to design- focusing not only on the users but also on the various social, cultural, ecological, and economic aspects concerning them. By opening up new possibilities and diverse intervention opportunities, it will have a far-reaching positive impact.
2) From “object” oriented design to “subject” oriented design:
Take the example of ceiling fans. Most often, an object-oriented design will end up in aesthetic modification or some bit of functional correction. It will never work upon its subject- to reduce the body core temperature (and not to reduce the temperature of the room or to throw air around). If we ask ourselves fundamental subject-oriented questions at the beginning and throughout our journey of creation, numerous possibilities and opportunities will open up for breakthrough innovation- possibly yielding greater market share and profits as well. The number of subject-oriented approaches to solving a problem is directly proportional to the number of innovation possibilities. So the next time you are designing a pen, ask yourself if you are designing merely an object (pen), or you’re designing for its subject (communication).
3) From “form follows function” to “function follows Purpose”:
A mother serves a thali, but a restaurant serves one too. The difference lies in the way the two are served and received- the Purpose underlying them. The mother serves to nourish, whereas the restaurant serves to earn loyalty. By understanding the Purpose of why something is done/ created, many opportunities open up. Function and form are intrinsic to Purpose, but it is not the case other way round.
4) From “correction” to “creation”:
By allowing the design to be subject-oriented and understanding the Purpose, we can shift our mode of operation from correction to creation. And this can open up a whole new set of opportunities for us. The more the number of opportunities, the more the innovation possibilities.
5) Design for collapse/ Entropy:
Even after the leaf withers and falls off, it replenishes the soil. Cut yourself or break a bone, and they will heal with no trace. But if your chair breaks, you won’t be so fortunate. If only the chair was designed to heal! Taking disorder and eventual destruction into account from the very beginning of the process of creation can present you with loads of design opportunities- recent innovation in the smart materials domain is a case in point. This could also help us move away from “throw if broken” culture.
6) Connect apparently distinct dots to identify a new or a unique pattern:
“Analysis”- the process of taking things apart to understand the components- is important to the innovation process. But “synthesis”- the process of reasoning whereby we put disparate parts together to gain an understanding of the whole- is even more critical to it. Synthesis looks at how parts are put together to form the whole and how the whole system interacts with other systems and operates within some environment. In this process, diverse elements interact, self-organize and combine to give rise to something novel and different.
7) From the Cartesian Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to a decision-making model based on the 6 fundamental human needs and 10 fundamental human values:
Given so many people with basic needs met are still bored, entitled, frustrated, despairing, and not necessarily seeking transcendence, perhaps there is a need for re-thinking Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. We need to understand that people behave and act in a particular way in certain situations or contexts, but behave and act differently in others. Human beings have 6 fundamental needs and each need (or the reason behind the need) comes into play in a certain situation/ context in a very dynamic manner. A person at the breakfast table, in public transport, or at a mall is very different and expects varied responses and outcomes. These expectations are based on which specific need is triggered and in what context. At the breakfast table, it could be Love and Connection with the family; in public transport, it could be Certainty; whereas in a mall it could be Significance. So the first step is whether the fundamental need is satisfied. Only then the person will be ready to go to the second step of selection.
8) Memory is a hindrance to innovation:
Think of a fan, or a book, or a table, and you will instantly have an image in your mind. Alien, however, is an absolutely unfamiliar form! Who knows what they really look like, but in movies, aliens typically resemble insects of some kind. Just like a yo-yo which is tethered to a string and can move only within limited space, our thoughts and understanding too are bound by our memories and set mental models. If only we could think and imagine free from the bounds of our memories- it’d open up massive possibilities for design innovation.
9) Definitions and archetypes create dogma:
Innovating/ imagining within the constraints of your memory is like throwing a ball confined within 4 walls. How much ever force you might throw the ball with, the walls will never allow the ball to venture beyond and explore in the truest sense. Definitions and archetypes limit our understanding just the way the walls limit our understanding of space. We must put down the walls of archetypes and definitions first if we wish to innovate. To design is to de-assign something from all that it already is and is expected to be.
10) Exaptation- creating adjacent possibilities:
At any moment the world is capable of extraordinary change, but only certain changes happen. It’s like you begin with a room with four doors, each leading to a new room that you haven’t visited yet. Good ideas are not conjured out of thin air; they are built out of a collection of existing parts, the composition of which expands over time. Some of these parts are conceptual: ways of solving problems or new definitions of what constitutes a problem. An organism develops a trait optimized for a specific use, but then the trait gets hijacked for a completely different function. A feather adapted for warmth is now exapted for flight. Mutation and error and serendipity unlock new doors in the biosphere’s adjacent possible, exaptation helps us explore the new possibilities that lurk behind those doors. Can a product or a device be designed for Exaptation? Can it evolve along with the user, increasing its life or usefulness rather than being rendered useless? A world where a diverse mix of distinct professions and passions overlap is a world where Exaptations thrive.
Go beyond the threshold,
Challenge the status quo,
Create more possibilities,
Innovate and inspire
