Click on the link below to view video on vimeo.com
Click on the link below to download the Pughsion Toolkit:
Pughsion (TM)
A Recontextualization and Idea Generation Tool
Developed by Rebecca Mahl
SCAD Design Management, Spring 2011
M.A. FINAL PROJECT DMGT_748
A study on the benefits yielded from synectic methods that aid in and promote changing perspectives, shifting paradigms, recontextualzing, and cross-pollinating to solve design problems.
Developed by Rebecca Mahl
SCAD Design Management, Spring 2011
M.A. FINAL PROJECT DMGT_748
A study on the benefits yielded from synectic methods that aid in and promote changing perspectives, shifting paradigms, recontextualzing, and cross-pollinating to solve design problems.
Isn’t there a better way?
The physical Pughsion toolkit with the instruction binder is very useful, and makes the method easy to understand without me there to explain it.
But I thought…
Only people I know locally or within the college can benefit.
How feasible is it to make several of these toolkits?
Would I mail them out?
Isn’t there an easier more efficient and effective way to diffuse Pughsion?
So…
I decided to create an instructional video that would be accompanied with a digital version of the toolkit for download, so it can reach and benefit more people globally.
Pughsion proved to be a success! …with me facilitating the session.
…so the question is:
“How can Pughsion be diffused and easily adopted to continue helping designers, without my presence in facilitating and providing instruction?”
And so I thought…
“I know!, I can develop a physical toolkit that has everything needed to conduct the exercise.”
And so I did…
The toolkit includes:
- a printed Pughsion Grid Poster (in a poster frame, for dry-erase writing)
- a binder with instructions for Pughsion and the concepts (columns B - G)
- a dry-erase marker and eraser
- a Sharpie for writing
- 3 different color post-its (including blue and green to aid in color coding)
- a dice
- six 3D objects that correspond with the provided concepts (column E)
Click on the link below to view video on vimeo.com
This video, “Facilitating Pughsion”, documents the facilitation and testing of the Pughsion method with the SCAD undergraduate Industrial Design Class IDUS 325_Emerging Manufacturing Materials.
This is the final concept of the Pughsion Grid Poster that was designed. I used color coding to make it easier to understand and use.
This was used for testing the method in hopes of successfully facilitating creative thinking.
Feedback was good, user’s found it easy to use and It was proved to be successful!
(Tested on Wednesday May 18th, 2011 with the undergraduate Industrial Design Class IDUS 325_Emerging Manufacturing Materials, see video,”Facilitating Pughsion.”)
When designing the layout of Pughsion, I needed to consider several different things.
I noticed when the student’s were using the Concept Selection Method that they were writing notes on side or on separate sheets of paper with arrows pointing to different boxes, and so I thought that it would be useful if the boxes were big enough to write notes inside of them. This idea eventually turned into the idea of using post-it notes because you could layer different ideas/notes and you could reuse the grid for other design problems.
The metaphor used to complete the grid need special attention because it was important that it was worded carefully so that it worked successfully, for example:
At first I was using the following metaphor:
”__________(base concept) is like _________(synectic concept) in relation to _________(need) because …”
I realized that this defeated the purpose of changing perspectives because it was forcing the user to relate to the base concept and stay in that mindset (i.e. footwear) which made it more difficult to diverge in brainstorming and think about other ways of satisfying the need.
The following metaphor worked much better:
”_________ addresses the need to _________ (need) by …”
What is interesting about the S.W.O.T. analysis of both Stuart Pugh’s Concept Selection Method and Synectics is that Pughsion (the merge of both) applies the strengths and opportunities from both methods and addresses or makes up for the weaknesses and threats of both.
Phase 1: Stuart Pugh’s Concept Selection Method
I introduced Stuart Pugh’s Concept Selection Method, and had the class use the method for their project, so I could better understand the pro’s and con’s of the method from their perspective.
Outcome:
The matrix format was easy to understand and it was beneficial to be constantly considering the user’s needs. The method did not help in changing perspectives and promoting “out-of-the-box” thinking.
IDUS 325_Emerging Manufacturing Materials
Being a Teacher’s Assistant for the undergraduate Industrial Design class, IDUS 325_Emerging Manufacturing Materials, served as the perfect opportunity to help with the development and testing of Pughsion.
I wrote the brief for the student’s final project, which was to design a new and innovative footwear concept for Reebok. The concept could be an addition to an existing product line or for a new product line.
I chose footwear because I feel that there is great opportunity for exploring new designs with respect to function, materials, and manufacturing. Shoes are still falling apart, user’s are still experiencing discomfort and getting blisters. Only recently does it seem that the boundaries are being pushed, with newer shoes like Reebok’s EasyTone, ZigTech, and RealFlex, or even in new approaches to packaging like Puma’s Clever Little Bag. This is why I felt footwear would be an appropriate topic to test Pughsion with, in hopes that it would help change perspectives, generate new ideas, and stimulate divergent thinking, *while still considering the user’s needs.
I chose Reebok because I think it is important for the student’s to practice designing with a brand in mind. Being able to incorporate a company’s brand, image, and values is a very important part of the design process.
…and so they received the following project brief and the fun began!
IDUS 325 Final Project Brief View more documents from beque2.
Synectics Class Exercise
The class (DMGT 732_Facilitating Creative Thinking) seemed to be very engaged in the synectic class exercise and came up with some interesting connections between recycling and their randomly selected concept.
An interesting finding or point that was raised was, “…ok now what?”
The exercise stimulated great ideas, and connections were made that otherwise wouldn’t have been made, but the class had trouble converging back to finding a solution to the problem.
On the other hand, the benefit was that the synectic exercise promoted divergent thinking and aided in changing perspectives and how we viewed, comprehended, and went about solving the problem.
Synectics Class Exercise View more presentations from beque2.
