Week 7: Rapid Ideation Session 2 - kickoff

danielclarke1981
Apr 2, 2022
10 min read

Week 7 has arrived and it's another rapid ideation session! There was a nervous energy in the webinar this week as we all eagerly awaited the announcement of the theme. As it turned out we had a choice of two this time!

Theme 1 - COP-out

Securing a brighter future for our children and future generations requires countries to take urgent action at home and abroad to turn the tide on climate change. It is with ambition, courage, and collaboration as we approach the crucial COP26 summit in the UK that we can seize this moment together, so we can recover cleaner, rebuild greener and restore our planet.”

-Boris Johnson, COP26 speech.

Last year saw COP26, the 26th meetings of the Conference of Parties, hosted between the UK and Italy. The goal of which is to tackle climate change, though there has been much criticism of the conference in that it did not do enough to raise issues of climate change, agree actions to tackle climate change and many delegates are perceived to give hypocritical ecological messages whilst engaging in unsustainable personal activities.

Your mission is to create an intervention that can be used to raise climate related issues and/or provide meaningful positive change from social grass-roots.

Theme 2 - Re-make / Re-model

The previous rapid ideation saw everyone make really interesting prototypes from the crow vicar theme. From the end of prototype feedback, there were a lot of comments about being able to re-engage with aspects of the ideation.

So, this theme is the opportunity to re-make / re-model what you have done previously or look to create your own interpretations of other people’s prototypes.

This is an opportunity to experiment with other tools to create a similar outcome to what you have made before and/or to mash-up and SCAMPER.

If I'm honest, the reveal left me feeling a little cold. Having two choices of themes wasn't something I had anticipated, and faced with the choices I was both underwhelmed and torn. Unlike the previous reveal in week 4, I wasn't struck with an immediate spark of inspiration. This wasn't a bad thing per se, as I found out in the previous session that our first ideas aren't always our best. However, It did leave me with a dilemma on which route to take. The COP-out theme looked interesting and noble but I also wanted to explore new ways of ideating. SCAMPER was a technique I had identified I wanted to use this time around, but I would need a base application or game to base it on which would rule out the COP-out theme.

I wasn't feeling particularly inspired by the other theme either. The Remake/remodel theme would likely mean I would be revisiting the work I had just finished in session one and I was keen to explore something new. I could look at my peer's work and reformulate or reimagine one of theirs. Perhaps use one or more as a springboard for ideation or tweak an element? This would allow me to use the SCAMPER method but I still found it difficult to get excited about the idea, but reluctantly decided to progress with this theme.

For a rapid ideation session, I wasn't particularly rapid after the webinar. I felt a bit flat and despondent and spent several days avoiding the process. I had spoken to several of my peers in the break-out rooms about collaborating, especially cross-discipline, but I didn't get the impression this was actively encouraged when we mentioned it in the larger group, I may be wrong. At any rate, I couldn't see myself being engaged in a duo at this stage, but it might have allowed me to break the rut I found myself in. It wasn't something I ended up exploring which may prove to be a missed opportunity. I'll try not to dwell on this now, as I know I will have additional opportunities to collaborate in future modules.

Identify where to start

The first thing I needed to do was identify which of my peer's work to use from the previous ideation. There were some fantastic ideas and I was really spoilt for choice. My method wasn't necessarily scientific, I listed them all on a piece of paper and tried to boil each one down to their salient points, pulling out distinctive themes and features.

I loved the Leap of Faith(Hitchen, 2022) game by Adam Hitcher, as well as the board game by Ilia Ilin and his use of the Wheel of Emotion by Robert Plutchik(Plutchik, 2001). I was also drawn to Joe Casey's(Casey, 2022) disaster prevention simulator as it was quite a novel concept and I could see the themes from it were ripe for exploration.

I was surprised that all three of the artifacts I was drawn to were from indie games students. I began to wonder if the artifact I would produce would end up being a game of some kind. I'd promised myself in week 5 that I would be open to this idea but now it had arrived, I felt hesitant. I have zero experience with Unity or Unreal (or even HTML 5 gaming) and I worried I wouldn't be able to produce anything beyond grey boxing. I seem to have this need to produce a polished prototype and I know I need to embrace the experimentation and discovery part of the process but with the time constraints, I may have to revert to type. In any case, I decided to push on with the ideation and moved on to SCAMPER.

SCAMPER

I was hellbent on using SCAMPER this time around, I had previously used Cut-ups and Opposite Thinking in both weeks 3 and 4 and I wanted to ensure I had experienced SCAMPER before the end of this module. I decided to use A Leap of Faith as the basis of the SCAMPER and bring in the other two artifacts as a part of the "combine" column. I have no idea if this is the right way of using SCAMPER or if there is a "right" way per se.

I have to admit I was underwhelmed with my SCAMPER board as I wasn't happy with the results it produced. I found the process awkward, as I felt I was only altering the superficial rather than coming up with something new. Maybe I was expecting an out-of-the-box, ready-made solution to present itself but what I found instead was a tool to explore and extract elements of an artifact and riff on them. It allowed me to open up new avenues of inquiry in the same vein as Opposite Thinking but I found I needed to pair it with another ideation method to gain any value. This seems to be both a blessing and a curse for me, as in doing this I am able to move past the surface level but also means I move further away from the brief. This happened to me in session 1 and it's happened to me again. My concern is that doing this in a commercial environment would be dangerous as I start to stray off-topic. I'm finding it difficult to figure out how to avoid this pitfall, perhaps if it was a group ideation session, team members could keep each other on point? I'm also struggling to think about how I could create a SMART goal to rectify this. Perhaps I can revisit this next week after I evaluate the whole ideation?

Mind Map

I highlighted themes from SCAMPER and created a mindmap. I was beginning to feel like I wasn't any nearer to an idea for an artifact, I didn't even know if I was creating a game, an app, or a website at this stage. It wasn't until I lay all of the ideations out on the floor and looked through them as a whole that I was able to make some headway. This was a different approach than I used before, where I used each ideation tool as a filter for the next. This time it felt less structured and more chaotic but it did give me a way to push forward.

Some of the themes that resonated with me were recovery, children, and emotions and there seemed to be a nice synergy with each. I used this as the basis to come up with two different ideas for an artifact. Both were apps, and I'm finding this is where I seem to gravitate towards rather than games (which is a good thing seeing as I'm on the UX Design course):

Disaster Relief support app to help people get involved
An app to help children learn and process emotions.

I liked both ideas and I was really grateful to get to this position considering the struggle I had up to this point. Both were rich ideas to explore but I could also see some cross-over. As I highlighted in the "Combine" section of my SCAMPER, disaster could come in the form of personal disaster or trauma. This added an extra dimension to the child app and lead me to the following concept:

An app that helps children learn and process their emotions after a traumatic event

My initial thoughts were natural disasters or wars but this evolved into something quite different - domestic trauma and abuse. Sitting at my desk I had a sudden spark of realisation - there was an abundance of inspiration around me. My wife is an Advanced Practitioner Social Worker for Wolverhampton City Council who deals with vulnerable children and trains social workers in this capacity.

As it turns out, the council has developed a variety of tools based on the therapeutic life story work pioneered by Richard Rose (Rose, 2022)(About TLSWi - Therapeutic Life Story Work International (TLSWi), n.d.)(Therapeutic Life Story Work - Sharing Lives/Sharing Stories: Richard Rose, 2019). The practitioners each have a pack that they take to their visits with vulnerable children which has a variety of tools to help the social worker engage with the child and help build rapport as well as possibly elucidate issues surrounding the child's environment or history that may require further investigation. Many of the tools such as the book "You Choose" and the multiple dice blocks of "Conversation starters" are simple enough concepts to understand, but the way that the practitioners use them is crucial when engaging with the child.

This was it! This was what I wanted to develop further, an artifact that combines all of the tools the social workers use while interacting with a child into a single app. There could be a back end for the social worker to add notes and reflections on their visits and a front end for the child to interact. The application could be bright and engaging so the child would be more open to sharing their feelings.

Crazy 8's

Using the pack as inspiration, I did a round of Crazy 8's to see how these translated to an app. I also incorporated Plutchik's Wheel of Emotion as I really wanted to use it to explore the child's feelings and I thought it was an intuitive way to communicate this, especially utilising emojis instead of words.

Whether these ideas add value to the process social workers use is something I will need to explore next week. I need to tread carefully, I am delving into topics of children, emotions, abuse, communication, and trauma. If not developed appropriately, the applications could do more harm than good. Although I know this process won't go beyond the prototype stage I want to ensure I take the subject matter seriously. I am under no illusion that I am out of my depth, having no experience with child psychology, and I will need to research the topic further than simply borrowing concepts from the Life Story Work packs.

Reflections

This was a difficult week for me. I felt I may have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with the "Life story work app" but I can't help but feel that the concept is also just a digitisation of what was already there. If it wasn't for documenting the process, it could quite easily be assumed I had bypassed the ideation phase and simply jumped on this idea. I shan't lie, I was grateful when I decided to use the life story work tools as a basis but the ideas from the ideation did align before this decision. Was this luck though? I find myself not for the first time questioning my approach to ideation. Not in the tools I use, or my willingness to try something new, but in the way I use them. It's almost like the tools are guiding me not the other way around.

SCAMPER was another instance of a tool that I had high expectations of and that only partially delivered on them. I was expecting to generate a more fully formed idea and perhaps if I stuck to the game idea and continued to riff off "A leap of Faith" I would have come up with more ideas, but I felt that time was against me.

Technique	Pros	Cons
SCAMPER	Useful for combining ideas and extracting elements for further exploration	I found I needed to use it in combination with other tools to move past superficial changes to the original artifact.

I also highlighted in my last ideation that time management would be something I would focus on and this has again fallen flat. This may have less to do with organisation and more to do with motivation. I need to find ways. of engaging with the process better. I'm not always going to be enamored with a brief I am given but need to approach each with a level of enthusiasm I can carry forward through the process of ideation and iteration. In light of this I will add the following SMART goal:

SMART GOAL 1

I will ensure that during the ideation session I engage in the process no later than the day after the brief is set (circumstances permitting), regardless of my apathy towards the brief. This will force me to engage in the process. I will be able to record this by adding itemised dates in my posts if my entry spans more than one day.

I also recognise at this point I may be out of my depth with the subject matter and may need to employ the help of an expert in the field:

SMART GOAL 2

I will ensure I incorperate an expert in the field of social work to inform my design descisssion and provide me with an informed perspective on the practice. I should look to include the expert before I begin the itteration process.

In closing for this week, I am happy enough to move forward with the concept, I will just need to ensure I engage with the ideation and iteration processes earlier next time. Next week I'll ensure I hit the ground running with both research and iteration.

Reference

Casey, J., 2022. Storm: A Game Prototype Walkthrough by Joe Casey. [online] Youtube.com. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygv7Ia9nzj8&feature=youtu.be> [Accessed 11 March 2022].

Hitchen, A., 2022. Leap Of Faith - About the Game. [online] Youtube.com. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTTxSFZKu3I> [Accessed 11 March 2022].

Plutchik, R., 2001. The Nature of Emotions: Human Emotions Have Deep Evolutionary Roots, a Fact That May Explain Their Complexity and Provide Tools for Clinical Practice. American Scientist, [online] 89(4), p.349. Available at: <https://shibbolethsp.jstor.org/start?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fshibboleth.falmouth.ac.uk%2Fidp%2Fshibboleth&dest=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27857503&site=jstor> [Accessed 11 March 2022].

Rose, R., 2022. Making Sense of Fragmented Lives... Therapeutic Life Story Work. [online] Tlswi.com. Available at: <https://tlswi.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/tlsw-new-FOR-2018-without-illustrations.pdf> [Accessed 14 March 2022].

Therapeutic Life Story Work International (TLSWi). n.d. About TLSWi - Therapeutic Life Story Work International (TLSWi). [online] Available at: <https://tlswi.com/about-tlswi/> [Accessed 14 March 2022].

Therapeutic Life Story Work - Sharing Lives/Sharing Stories: Richard Rose. [online] Youtube.com. Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNNZpeduL0Q> [Accessed 14 March 2022].