Design thinking for every endeavour | Robyn Richardson | TEDxCreativeCoast
Summary
TLDRThe speaker, a former teacher turned designer, shares her journey of discovering design thinking and its transformative impact on her approach to problem-solving. She emphasizes the importance of representing ideas, arranging them to find connections, and reframing problems with a critical yet open mindset. The speaker encourages embracing design thinking as a collaborative, team-based practice to foster innovation, urging the audience to apply these principles to their own thinking processes.
Takeaways
- π The speaker began as a teacher with a BA in English, using teaching as a day job to support their passion for music.
- π€ They discovered their ability to connect with and influence students' thinking, which was also reflected in their music performances.
- π€ The speaker was intrigued by design thinking and its potential to change people's perspectives, leading them to pursue further education in the field.
- π Upon entering graduate school, the speaker was frustrated by the lack of a unified definition or framework for design thinking, which varied among educators and practitioners.
- π The speaker emphasizes the importance of representing ideas visually on a blank surface, as a way to externalize and organize thoughts.
- π§π¦ The act of representing ideas is likened to the natural creativity of children, who use various mediums to express their understanding of the world.
- 𧩠Arranging ideas helps in identifying patterns, anomalies, and connections that may not be apparent when ideas remain internal.
- π€ The process of design thinking involves stepping back, reframing the problem, and being cautious of personal biases that could cloud judgment.
- π₯ Collaboration and including diverse perspectives are crucial for innovation, as different viewpoints can offer new insights and solutions.
- π‘ Design thinking is presented as a team sport, where the inclusion of people with varying opinions can lead to more successful outcomes.
- π The speaker encourages the audience to practice design thinking by representing, arranging, and reframing their ideas, and to reach out with their experiences.
Q & A
What was the speaker's profession before becoming a designer?
-The speaker was a high school English teacher in Orlando, Florida.
Why did the speaker initially become a teacher?
-The speaker became a teacher because they needed a day job while pursuing their passion for playing music.
What was the speaker's reaction when their supervising principal asked about their teaching success?
-The speaker did not have a pedagogical answer but admitted to treating teaching like a gig, needing to connect with the students.
How did the students respond to the speaker's teaching style?
-Students appreciated the speaker's approach, stating they learned a lot from the speaker's talks without even looking at the textbook.
What did people call the speaker after their music shows?
-People called the speaker 'Purple Guitar Girl' due to the speaker's purple guitar.
What aspect of teaching did the speaker find they had a knack for?
-The speaker found they had a knack for affecting the way people thought.
Why did the speaker decide to study design thinking?
-The speaker wanted to change the way people think in a big, revolutionary way and saw design thinking as a means to innovate in various disciplines.
How did the speaker feel about the lack of a unified definition for design thinking?
-The speaker felt frustrated and confused because everyone had a different framework or language for design thinking.
What is the first step in design thinking according to the speaker?
-The first step is to have a blank surface to represent ideas, getting them out of one's head.
What does the speaker suggest doing with the ideas once they are represented?
-The speaker suggests rearranging the ideas to see how they fit together and identify patterns, anomalies, and consistencies.
What is the final step in the design thinking process mentioned by the speaker?
-The final step is to step back, reframe the problem with the new understanding, and be cautious of biases.
Why is it important to involve others in the design thinking process according to the speaker?
-Involving others, especially those with different perspectives, is crucial for innovation and can help identify aspects that might have been missed.
What does the speaker suggest doing to ensure a well-rounded approach to design thinking?
-The speaker suggests making thinking a practice and a team sport, inviting diverse opinions to enhance the process.
What advice does the speaker give for implementing design thinking?
-The speaker advises to go home, try representing ideas, arranging them, and reframing the problem, and to reach out if it works or doesn't work.
What does the speaker believe about the nature of thinking in relation to design thinking?
-The speaker believes that thinking is not magic but a practice that can be improved through design thinking.
Outlines
π From Teacher to Designer: Embracing Design Thinking
The speaker begins by sharing their journey from being a high school English teacher to becoming a designer. Initially, they taught to support their passion for music. Their teaching approach was likened to performing a gig, where they had to connect with their students to change their perspectives. They were successful, as evidenced by their students' test scores. When they discovered design thinking, they were eager to apply this innovative approach to various disciplines. However, they became frustrated with the lack of a unified definition or framework for design thinking. The speaker's goal is to clarify and evolve design thinking, making it accessible and applicable for everyone. They emphasize the importance of representing ideas, arranging them to find connections, and reframing problems to innovate.
π€ The Power of Collaboration in Design Thinking
In this paragraph, the speaker discusses the importance of collaboration in the design thinking process. They caution against forming a 'congratulation committee' that only reinforces existing ideas without challenging them. Instead, they suggest bringing in diverse perspectives, such as someone from a different department like accounting, to provide fresh insights. The speaker uses the example of Bob and Rob, who might think they have solved a problem, but Sally from accounting could offer a different viewpoint that leads to a better solution. The speaker emphasizes that innovation occurs when different minds come together, and they encourage the audience to make thinking a team sport. They conclude by urging the audience to try out the design thinking process, offering their support if they have any questions or need guidance.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Design Thinking
π‘Pedagogy
π‘Innovation
π‘Representation
π‘Reframing
π‘Collaboration
π‘Patterns
π‘Bias
π‘Engagement
π‘Visual Thinking
Highlights
Transitioned from a teacher to a designer, driven by a passion for music.
Began teaching high school English in Orlando while pursuing music gigs at night.
Received positive feedback on students' test scores without using traditional teaching methods.
Treated teaching like a performance, aiming to connect with students and change their perspectives.
Students learned effectively through her engaging teaching style, despite minimal textbook use.
Realized she had a talent for influencing how people think and connecting with them.
Discovered design thinking and pursued further education to formalize her understanding.
Became frustrated with the lack of consistent frameworks and clarity in design thinking literature.
Aimed to simplify and clarify design thinking to make it accessible and practical for everyone.
Emphasized the importance of representing ideas visually to facilitate understanding and innovation.
Encouraged using diverse mediums, like drawing and taking pictures, to represent and explore problems.
Highlighted human ability to see patterns and anomalies, aiding in problem-solving and innovation.
Stressed the need for critical self-assessment and avoiding confirmation bias when reframing ideas.
Advocated for team collaboration and valuing diverse perspectives to foster innovation.
Concluded with a call to action for audience members to practice and evolve their thinking and innovation skills.
Transcripts
so before I became a designer I was
actually a teacher and I was a teacher
because I needed a day job I really
wanted to play music so armed with a BA
in English I moved to Orlando Florida
and I became a teacher so during the day
I would teach high school English and at
night I would go play gigs so after my
first year of teaching my supervising
principal she called me in and she said
Robin what are you doing I was like oh I
don't know she said your students test
scores are fantastic she's like I want
to know what you're doing in the
classroom and the truth was I didn't I
don't have a pedagogical answer I didn't
have an official sounding answer because
I treated teaching like a gig at a
captive audience of a really tough crowd
for six hours every day and I had to
connect with them I had to go in and
change the way that they thought about
the world and sometimes after class
students would come up to me and they
would say miss I don't even look at the
textbook today but just from you
speaking I got it I know so much and
they leave and sometimes after shows
people come up see me and say purple
guitar girl cuz I had a purple guitar
that lyric that you wrote about Helios
in the sky is the sunset just changed my
perspective I love it you're the best
whoo
mister it turns out I kind of had a
knack for this affecting the way people
thought thing and I liked it I love to
connect with people so when I found out
about design thinking I was like I want
to sign up for this revolution I want to
change the way people think in this
really important big revolutionary way
so design thinking was about taking this
practice of thinking and applying it
everywhere applying it in any sphere or
discipline so that you could innovate
your products or your services or your
offerings so I signed up I signed up to
join the revolution I went to graduate
school to study this formerly like a
good student I got all the books and
read all the articles and I downloaded
the toolkits and you know what I got I
got mad I got so mad as an educator
I was like where's my lesson
I've read all these things I'm going
through all the literature offs call my
friends what is design thinking about
I'm so mad at it because everybody
talked about it a little bit differently
everybody had a different framework or a
different language and so as the
educator I'm going where's my lesson as
a musician I was like dude where's my
hook where's that thing that I can take
with me so I can walk down the street
and sing about it that's what I wanted I
wanted that hook to take away so I
thought about this and it really
bothered me but after becoming a
designer I realized it was my turn to
fill in the holes because I think that
in trying to be for everybody
design thinking kind of muddied the
waters so as your educator and is your
entertainer now as your designer today I
want to translate it to you because it's
time to evolve design thinking forward
so that you can take it home and you can
use it so get out your pens it's time
for a lesson and there might be a quiz
at the end so the first thing you need
for Design Thinking is a blank surface
it can be a table it could be a
whiteboard it can be a piece of paper
that's fine whatever you've got the
first thing you're going to do and this
is what all designers do is they
represent their ideas they get them out
of their head because chances are the
way you practice thinking is you think
and you drive around town and you think
about it you go to dinner and you think
about it and then you have a beer and
you think about it some more design
doesn't do that design says let's take
what's inside and put it outside and
you're probably thinking I don't know
how to do that but that's a lie because
your six-year-old self would be like
awesome sweet give me some crayons
give me some markers give me some clay
because when we're young we have every
medium we can think about to represent
the world around us and it gets smaller
and smaller and smaller until you're
left with a pencil and we say solve an
equation or write an essay I'm not
saying a problem solve so I'm giving you
permission to take back your mediums
pick up a pencil and draw a picture take
a take take a picture take a picture of
what you think the problem is and
represent it on your blank surface do it
as much as you can the next thing you're
going to do is start to rearrange these
things you're going to arrange your
ideas to see how they fit together
now one of the things that we all do
really well as human beings as a species
of living on this earth for thousands of
years
Cheers we're really great at seeing
patterns we're really good at seeing
anomalies and contrast and consistencies
so once you get this idea out of your
head and you have it in front of you you
can go oh that is not connected to that
the way I thought it was but it's
totally connected to this over here
you'll have a brain high-five like yes
I'm starting to get it the last thing
that you'll do is you'll step back and
you'll refrain you'll say I started with
this problem here and I represented it
and then I arranged it and now it's my
reframe what do I know now I'm going to
caution you beware of your biases at
this point beware of what you think you
know don't be the congratulation
committee and we know who those guys are
because we've worked with them before
we're bobs like Rob come in here I've
got this problem I laid it out this is
how it works what do you think and he
goes you are a genius sir yes an
absolute genius and everyone's like yes
and they think you know they're the
congratulation committee but you know
what bring in Sally from down the hall
who you don't always agree with because
she's in accounting and she's
persnickety if Bob and Rob I love
accountants my sister's an account so
bring them in and if Bob and Rob are
really smart and they've really done a
great job of solving this problem Sally
will be able to walk in and say you know
what you guys are right you did solve
that that's exactly how it works
Bob and Rob will give themselves
high-fives affirming their genius but
she might say actually guys I think you
missed a part I think you should include
this here and change it a little bit and
in a fit of maturity they might be like
what a Sally no Sally doesn't know
anything about engineering we're
brilliant
but if they're innovators they'll say
Sally you're right we totally missed
that we totally missed that stay with us
work on this problem with us because the
innovation and Design Thinking happens
when it's a team sport when you invite
other people into the room who don't
necessarily agree with you Steve Jobs
said get the most ordering person in
this room and we're going to make
something that pleases them and if you
do that if you make thinking a practice
and you make it a team sport that's when
you start to innovate and then Steve
Jobs goes will come bless you and what
you're making
so go home today go home this afternoon
and start to try this represent your
ideas arrange them around and reframe
what you think you know call me if it
works or doesn't work call me I want to
know because I am so sure and I've done
this so often that I know it will change
what you practice thinking because
thinking is not magic it's a practice
and if I can do design thinking then I
know you can too
let's evolve it forward thank you very
much
you
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