GROUP EXERCISE
Part 1: Challenge assumptions
Q1.
Relatives - A doctor in London had a brother in Manchester, who was a lawyer –
but the lawyer in Manchester did not have a brother in London who was a doctor.
Why?
- The lawyer
was a brother of the doctor and the doctor was his sister.
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Q2.
Bottled Money - If you put a small coin piece in an empty bottle and replaced
the cork, how would you get the coin out of the bottle without taking out the
cork or breaking the bottle?
- Push the
cork in
Q3. The
Restaurant Meal - Three women each have two daughters, and they all go into a restaurant
for a meal. There are only seven vacant seats in the restaurant, but each has a
seat for herself. How do they manage it?
- It’s a grandmother daughter thing
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Part 2: Challenge assumptions
MIKE’S
AUDITION
Have you
ever been in Los Angeles freeway traffic? We were once in bumper‐to‐bumper
traffic, trying to get to the airport at 10:30 at night. I didn't know that
there were traffic jams until late in the evening. In any case, if you have had
a similar experience, you can relate to the following problem, which will show
us how challenging assumptions leads to more creative solutions.
Mike had
an audition for a movie role at eight the next morning. But it was in
Hollywood, and he lived on the other side of Los Angeles. He was notified of
the audition late, and now it was one in the morning. This was a problem,
because it could take as much as four hours to get through the morning traffic,
and he needed time to shower and get ready. He would have to get up by a little
after three that morning.
He thought
about this. Just two hours of sleep, followed by hours on the freeway ‐ this
might affect his performance. This would be his first important role if he was
hired, so his mind started scrambling for solutions. Taking the bus might be
faster than driving his van, but he didn't know the bus schedules, and it was too
late to find out. He looked at a map of the city, hoping for a better route,
and he might have found one, but it seemed dangerous to guess about routes he
wasn't familiar with at this point.
He
suddenly recalled a problem solving technique his friend Steve had told him
about, and decided to try it. He did the assumption‐challenging exercise,
starting with a pen and piece of paper and writing a list of assumptions.
1. What
would be on your list of assumptions - if you were Mike?
- He can’t be late for the audition
- He has to drive to the other side of his place
- There will be a traffic jam at 3 in the morning.
- It could take 4 hours to get through the morning traffic.
- He needs at least 4 hour driving.
- He needs time to shower and get ready.
- He would have to get up by a little after three.
- Just two hours of sleep and hours on freeway might affect his performance.
- Taking a bus might be faster.
- He needs the bus schedules.
- He might possibly go on a better route.
2. Challenge each
item in the list and find a solution to Mike’s problem
- He can’t be late for the audition – leave at 1 o’clock then he will not be late for the audition.
- There will be a traffic jam at 3 in the morning. – leave early or take the subway or helicopter
- It could take 4 hours to get through the morning traffic. – leave early when the traffic is not busy
- He needs at least 4 hour driving. – leaving at 1 o’clock will take shorter time.
- He needs time to shower and get ready. – prepare the stuffs and get ready on the van
- He would have to get up by a little after three. – leave early and get a sleep when arrive
- Just two hours of sleep and hours on freeway might affect his performance. – leave at 1 o’clock or take the bus and have a sleep there or have some coffee
- He might possibly go on a better route. – find the short cut
Because the traffic in the morning
will be busy he should leave then at one o’clock. When arrive he can have a
sleep in his van then get up and have a shower there.
The bus is
normally frequent so he could take a bus and have extra sleep on the bus. (This
might be too dangerous because he didn’t know the bus timetable)
PRACTICAL
Design challenge / reflect & refine
Choose your most recent 2D design concept from all your
current works
• In your blog make a list of 2 assumptions about your
design
• Challenge both of these assumptions (100 words minimum)
• Suggest 2 refinements to solve these challenges (100
words minimum)
• Illustrate your thoughts with sketches / diagrams
My design is Google doodle for Picnic day that I did in
Illustration class. This is an incomplete work of mine. I actually wanted to
draw the teddy bear family having a picnic together but I don’t have enough
skill of drawing. I tried to make it as I imagined but it didn’t look so good
so I decided just to draw some items instead of the teddy bears.
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Assumptions
-
I want to show the “Google” alphabets in the
image and keep the picnic concept.
-
I have to add colors on it and make it look
good.
Challenge the assumptions
-
It might be hard to see the “Google” alphabets,
people might not get the concept of Picnic day, they might not understand what
the image represents and what each item in the image is for, they might think
the image is not good enough to represent the Picnic day.
-
When I add colors on the picture it might be not
good as I expect because of the lack of skills, after finish the drawing on the
paper I could make it better by using Photoshop to help with coloring and editing
to achieve the final result.
Refinements
From the work it’s hard to see the
alphabets because each item does not represent very well, people might not know
what each item stands for and the items in this work are not enough to tell the
story of picnic and family concept. To
finish this work I’m going to edit some of my drawing in the picture to make it
more obvious to see the “Google” alphabets. Then I’m going to add colors by using watercolor and then use black drawing pen line the picture to make it more obvious.
I want to use Photoshop with this work so I will scan the picture then edit
color and might add something to make it look better. Anyway I have to learn
more about using watercolor and Photoshop to achieve a good and better work.
Video
Today video I wanted to put a video about painting because I really enjoy watching this kind of videos. I don't expect to do so , I know I definitely can't do it as good as in the video. I like drawing and painting but I don't really have time to practice and improve my skills but watching people drawing makes me see many techniques and many great works. I think drawing and painting are very important for design work, good skills of drawing and painting can help a lot to achieve good works. This video is not a tutorial but shows how she created the portrait work by using watercolor.
Video
Today video I wanted to put a video about painting because I really enjoy watching this kind of videos. I don't expect to do so , I know I definitely can't do it as good as in the video. I like drawing and painting but I don't really have time to practice and improve my skills but watching people drawing makes me see many techniques and many great works. I think drawing and painting are very important for design work, good skills of drawing and painting can help a lot to achieve good works. This video is not a tutorial but shows how she created the portrait work by using watercolor.
Reference
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g857UNIKQsM&feature=related
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