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1 Cathy Brett [email protected] Reset and Reinvent Using Your Intuition and Design Principles Tapping into Your Inner Designer Playbook InStory Show, September 2020
1 Cathy Brett
Reset and Reinvent Using Your Intuition and Design PrinciplesTapping into Your Inner Designer Playbook
InStory Show, September 2020
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Your inner designer knows how to:Start where you are to define your problem
Navigate ambiguity with divergent and convergent thinking
Generate a lot of ideas to find a good solution
From idea to reality, it will take a few tries to find something that works
IDEATE
REFRAME
OBSERVE
TRY IT 4
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Cathy Brett [email protected]
Design Process Overview
Bias to action and iterate and repeat
Best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideasBased on your observations reframe
your statement to make sure you are solving the right thing
Get curious
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Defining the Problem StatementStart where you areTake a minute, be honest and think about who you are right now. Avoid thinking of your aspirational self or your historical self.
Cathy Brett [email protected]
Task: Write down the problem challenge are you trying to solve for. Start with something small to learn the process. For example: I need to get more sleep at night, so I feel more rested the next day
Check-in before moving on…Before moving on, ask yourself if this is something that you are willing to solve. If not, then this is what Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, authors of Designing Your Life refer to as ‘gravity’ or circumstances that just won’t change.
Pick a different problem to solve if it is gravity
Resource: Bill Burnett & Dave Evans, Designing Your Life https://designingyour.life/the-book/
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Defining the Problem StatementStart where you are
Cathy Brett [email protected]
If you are feeling stuck, try the below activity from ‘Designing Your Life’ to help you get unstuck to find out what is important to you and changes you may want to make.
Take 30 minutes to write two paragraphs max 250 words that describe your Life View and one that describes your Work View by answering some of the below:
Resource: Bill Burnett & Dave Evans, Designing Your Life https://designingyour.life/the-book/
Work Viewa. Why do I do the work I do?b. What defines good or worthwhile work?c. What does money have to do with work?
Life Viewa. Why am I here?b. What do I believe?c. Why does it matter?
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Once you have defined your problem statement it is time to make some observations. No judgment, purely make observations with your child’s mind. Get curious about interactions, behaviors, and patterns, things that are less obvious.
Task: For the next week, record your observations in a journal or on post-it notes
Observe.
Cathy Brett [email protected]
Sample problem statement: I need to get more sleep at night, so I feel more rested the next day
Sample observations:• 4 nights drank a calming tea 45min before going to bed• My phone is my alarm clock and is always next to my bed• I get cravings for something sweet around 7pm• I listen to podcast to fall asleep almost every night• Sometimes I play games on my phone before I got to sleep
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Reframe.
Task: Before brainstorming ideas for your problem statement. Reflect on your observations and reframe your statement.
Write you original problem statement
Write your new reframed problem statement
How your frame your problem statement both informs and limits how you will think about solutions. Mastering the skill of reframing will help you see things from different viewpoints and foster divergent thinking for an endless number of solutionideas. When reframing ask yourself what is this for? What behavior am I trying to encourage?
For Example: Original Problem Statement:I need to get more sleep at night, so I feel
more rested the next day
Reframe:Design a routine to disconnect from the day that fosters sleeping a full night in order to feel energized the next day
In this reframe, the highlighted words are behaviors my solution wants to
encourage.
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Ideate.
Cathy Brett [email protected]
Our brains like to have choices but not too many choices. Remember the best way to have a great idea is to have many ideas. Often your best idea is a combination of all your ideas. Use your intuition to guide you.
An idea in for your current situationFor example: Create a routine to write down distracting thoughts
from the day and place in a box before going to bed
An idea for if what you have today went away
For example: Only interact on the computer/phone a few hours a day
and float in a float tank every night before going to bed
A moonshot idea, if money was no issue or any barriers
For example: Bedroom ceiling is clear bubble with a great view of
the stars at night and relaxing music in surround sound
Task: Come up with three ideas to solve your reframed problem statement. Use the guidelines below to help generate unique ideas. Either sketch your ideas or write them down.
Reframed problem statement: Design a routine to disconnect from the day that fosters sleeping a full night in order to feel energized the next day
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Try it.Have a bias to actionYou won’t know if your choice of ideas is a good choice unless you experience it. Having a bias to action is the willingness to take meaningful steps to see your idea move forward.
Remember what makes you happy is what you choose and not what you didn’t choose. Use guiding principles such as permaculture design principles and ethics to guide you in designing a solution with confidence.
Cathy Brett [email protected]
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Cathy Brett [email protected]
Things to remember and to try
Be vuriousStart where you are
Generate many ideas
to find a great idea
Bias to action Just try
Trust your intuition see your reality to drive your
iterations
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Cathy Brett [email protected]
Design Thinking Methodology
Empathy
Define
IdeatePrototype
Test
Design thinking is really a way of working and a mindset. It’s a set of flexible guiding steps that are iterative and NOT necessarily sequential with humans or users at the center. Also referred to as human-centered design, meaning your designing experiences and driving behaviors. This methodology is used for change, processes and products both for personal challenges and business challenges
Synthesize empathy
findings: discover compelling
customer needs and insights
Generate ideas to meet
user needs: there are no
bad ideas!Build a Low
resolution for rapid
investigation
Try it out with users; see what is
working and not working. Refine
solutions based on interactions
and feedback
Observe users and behaviors
in context
Engage with customers
Immerse yourself in the user’s
experience
Resource: Get started now with Stanford’s open source materials from the d.school: https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/getting-started-with-design-thinking
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Cathy Brett [email protected]
Permaculture
Reference: https://medium.com/land-and-ladle/the-12-design-principles-of-permaculture-as-rules-of-living-e9fc0176dd16Join and learn permaculture from other women from all over the world: Permaculture Women’s Guild
Permaculture is a design system based on principles found in nature with a purpose to create harmonious and sustainable living environments.
Permaculture design is forward-thinking at the core by observing relationships and interaction to create closed loop systems that support the three-permaculture ethics:
1. Earth Care2. People Care3. Fair Share
Leverage the design principles to help you create a solution that fits your needs
12 Design Principles
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Resources
Podcast Article Book
Design ThinkingGood Project: Designing Your
LifeWhat is Design Thinking d.School Reading List
PermacultureHolistic Decision Making with
Permaculture
4 Ways to Incorporate
Permaculture into Your Life
Permaculture Women Reading
List
Cathy Brett [email protected]
I’d love to hear from you!Share your ideas, ask questions, request a workshop for your team or access additional resources. Contact me at [email protected]
