Dear Mr Andy,
Whilst we do not have the answer to your question, we have put together this lovely list of stimulus and comparisons for you to help inspire your quest.
Some are laughable but mostly we hope you enjoy them.
I think there is something quite lovely in the notion of foraging as applied to UX-ing the creative process.
1. Foraging
Foraging theory is a branch of ecology that studies foraging behaviour in response to where an animal lives. 2 types of foraging: solitary and group.
Both identify choices that maximise fitness.
Information Foraging describes information retrieval behaviour as coined by Pirolli and Card (1999)
Factors influencing foraging:
1. Learning – my application in the creative world = propensity to absorb and carry forward
2. Genetics = how an individual is programmed to analyse a problem
3. Predation = how far the individual is prepared to go to back their ideas
4. Parasitism – How an individual learns and progresses the ideas/inputs of others
2. Celestial navigation
Orientating to the North star (actually to the Plough first to identify the North Star – Polaris) to navigate and move forward. Constantly looking up and taking stock, including its height above the horizon, to make the decision of ‘where next to go’.
3. Polynesian Wayfinding
Takes it one step further and uses not only the stars, but the sea, the waves, currents (i.e. affects of the moon on the planet), wild life, bird flight paths not only to way find but also to help the make the decision of ‘how best’.
4. Divergent vs Convergent thinking – Osborn model
Need to honour both processes for problem solving. Divergent thinking is about perception and idea generation whilst Convergent thinking is about judgement and evaluation.
5. The Perfect Loaf with lots of good stuff baked in
– a thinking in bed moment
1. Mix – Info, people come together in a mixing bowl
2. Knead – Work at each other to get the yeast going
3. Prove – Validate the idea and double the quality
4. Bake – Stick it in the oven and consume with vigour
Academic Models of Creativity:
6. Wallas
1. Preparation – gather
2. Incubation – subconscious steps in
3. Illumination – spark/flash, makes sense – aka Einstein moment
4. Verification – evaluation
One of my favourite models BUT I would weave in ‘Inspiration’ all the way around and fed it in across all moments. Also, the above is typically described as a linear process – I don’t agree with this – they are moments that play with one another.
Like molecules…
7. Molecular theory
– tapping into my pharmacology lab based background
1. State 1 – what currently is
2. Proximity – differing view points come together
3. Interaction – shared
4. Reaction – repelled/attract
5. Consequence – ideas torn apart/built up
6. State 2 – resting state
7. Go again
8. Shneiderman’s personality types
Better since it starts to believe that the participants are Humans:
1. Inspirationalist
2. Structionalist
3. Situationlist
…as their names would suggest
9. Warr & O’ Neil
“Creativity is a dynamic blend of processes that co-occur in a recursive way through the work”
IR3
1. Problem Prep
2. Idea Evaluation
3. Idea Generation
…goes round and round with inspiration feeding in along the way
10. Vanessa’s Service Design Principles as check points: SDPs
1. Start with needs
2. Do less
3. Design with data
4. Do the hard work to make it simple
5. Iterate. Then iterate again
6. Build for inclusion
7. Understand context
8. Build digital services, not websites
9. Be consistent, not uniform
10. Make things open: it makes things better
http://www.pvs-hawaii.com/navigation/summary.htm
http://www.exploratorium.edu/neverlost/#/navigation/basics
https://wiki.engr.illinois.edu/download/attachments/113901579/critique.pdf?version=1
http://www.naturalnavigator.com/news/2014/01/polynesian-wayfinding?cat=stars
… your clues about position, direction, and distance come from the stars, sun, and moon; from patterns in the ocean, including currents, ocean swells, and localised wave characteristics; from clouds, and even from wildlife. Navigators must also keep a running mental log of their progress, always maintaining a sense of the distance covered and the present location.
The UX Tea Lady 