CRITICAL & CREATIVE THINKING

BY DESIGN

Teri WagnerLiesl Baum

Phyllis Newbill

INSTITUTE FOR

CREATIVITY,

ARTS, AND

TECHNOLOGY

4 ASPECTS OF

CRITICAL AND

CREATIVE THINKING

PHASES OF

DESIGN

Critical and Creative Thinking• Brainstorm• Conceptualize• Explore• Use analogies• Use metaphors• Examine ideas in new and

varied ways• Observe• Elaborate• Infer• Extrapolate• Make remote associations

Critical and Creative Thinking• Question• Separate• Organize• Interpret• Summarize• Hypothesize• Compose• Judge resources• Judge logic• Judge value and worth• Generalize

Critical and Creative Thinking• Demonstrate autonomy• Persist• Maintain intrinsic motivation• Recognize relevance• Avoid impulsivity• Reject stereotypes and

prejudices• Embrace multiple points of

view• Judge assumptions• Remain sensitive• Remain open-minded• Tolerate ambiguity

Critical and Creative Thinking• Recognize a challenge• Assess knowledge• Understand ability• Allocate resources• Focus• Perform• Progress• Identify consequences• Revise• Cognitive restructuring• Evaluate the process• Evaluate the product

Design Phases:

Narrow/Focus

• Find meaningful/relevant problems to solve

• Ask, “How might we…”

Design Phases:

Empathize

• Identify target audience

• Observe, interact, ask questions

• Understand their perspective

Design Phases:

Define

• Reframe the problem based on users’ needs

• Identify and remove assumptions

• Solve the right problem

Design Phases:

Ideate

• Generate multiple ideas for potential solutions

• Ask, “What if…”• Outlandish ideas

welcome!

Design Phases:

Prototype & Test

• Build informal physical models of ideas

• Let target users test• Utilize feedback to

improve

What is design?

STOP, DROP,AND…

DESIGN

WHAT TO DO?

• EMPTY YOUR BAG

• READ YOUR CHALLENGE CARD

• FIND A NEW SOLUTION TO THE CHALLENGE USING ONLY THE ITEMS IN YOUR BAG

• CREATE A PROTOTYPE

in the next 15 minutes…

SHARE!

• WHAT WAS YOUR TEAM’S CHALLENGE?

• DESCRIBE YOUR SOLUTION.

• WHICH CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING

SKILLS DID YOU USE?

• Create a safe way to cook in a home with no electricity

• Keep a new born baby warm in a space with no electricity

• Collect and carry water

• Create a safe light source for a home with no electricity

• Carry groceries up several flights of steps

• Block sun and wind in the desert

• Create a system for sharing food

• Imagine a new communication system

• Imagine a way to drink on the go.

SAMPLE CHALLENGES

OTHER DESIGNED THINGS?

CLASSROOM APPLICATIONS

• ENGLISH?

• BIOLOGY?

• EDUCATION?

• SOCIOLOGY?

• HISTORY?

• OTHER?

RESOURCES

IDEA Studio:

http://www.icat.vt.edu/IDEAS/index.html

Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum:

http://www.cooperhewitt.org/learning/designcenter

Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford:

http://dschool.stanford.edu/