Lecture Oct 19, 2006 Creativity Can it be Engineered

1
LectureOct 19, 2006Creativity- Can it be
Engineered?
2
Present at all stages of the Process e.g.,
Consider Process front end Identifying
Customer Needs Establishing Target
Specs Analysis of Competitive products Concept
generation Concept selection Spec
Refinement Economic Analysis Project
PlanningHere we do the concept generation as
part of a seamless process after contextual
information has been generated.
Creativity
3
What is our problem level?
4
Where to look for Breakthroughs

• Developed World
• Rapidly evolving underlying or enabling
  technology (Computers, Biotech)
• Clearly recognizable problem with current
  products (e.g. air bags, traffic congestion,
  personal device profusion)
• Bottleneck products (clothes dryers)
• Bottleneck parts (e.g. batteries)
• Developing World
• Niche areas in developing countries which have
  not gotten attention
• Exploit diffusion lag of new technologies into
  developing countries
• Breakthrough in Product Development Process?
• Product which serve areas of rapid
  social/economic change (meet new needs)
• Other
• Involving NGOs effectively
• 100 barrier

5

• How would you classify Micro-lending?

6

• The formulation of a problem is far more
  essential than its solution which may be merely a
  matter of mathematical or experimental skill
• - Albert Einstein
• Ask what problem you are trying to solve!

7
(No Transcript)
8
Trial and Error

• What major industry still roughly depends on
  Trial and Error?
• Is Trial and Error appropriate for Developing
  World Products?

9

• Creativity- The Idea Generation Process

10
What drives your A hah Process

• Association?
• Necessity?
• Showers, commutes?
• Explaining the problem to others?
• Conversation?
• Random?
• Other

11
Can this be structured? Can you organize the
generation of new ideas?

• Clarify the problem
• What are you trying to solve?
• Study
• Previous attempts
• What went wrong
• What went right
• published literature
• People who have been there/done that
• Benchmark related products
• Look for what they solve
• What they dont solve
• Brainstorm
• Explore systematically
• Choose most likely paths
• Keep track of paths not chosen

12
Brainstorming

• Organize virtually
• Led by a Facilitator
• Introduce the need clearly
• No bad ideas no judgement
• Include even apparently infeasible ideas
• Go around table and generate the maximum number
  of new ideas
• Announce them
• Post them (on computer)
• Categorize them
• Pareto them

13
Generating solution concepts

• Break into constituent problems
• Make analogies
• Wish and wonder to the extremities
• Related stimuli
• each generates his/her own and then shares
• Set quantitative targets for number of new ideas
• Display ideas and observe on line

14
Pruning and Classification

• Prune the idea matrix of unpromising directions
• Look for distinguishable approaches
• Refinement of ideas of selected branches
• Pareto (list in order of priority) through matrix

15
Voting and Decision Making

• Kepner Tregoe Matrix

16
Examplevoting and decision making

• Kepner Tregoe Matrix for UV/Ozone systems Mary
  Ollenburger, Jess Reynolds, Hesper Rego, Gustavo
  Olm, Ross Losher

17
voting and decision making

• Kepner Tregoe Matrix for Chemical Treatment

18
voting and decision making

• Kepner Tregoe Matrix for Slow Sand Filtration

19
why slow sand filtration?

• It is a low energy consuming process
• Maintenance is minimal
• Systems are easy to build and install
• Costs of building and running significantly lower
  than other purification methods

We choose slow sand filtration.
20
Alternative methodDecision Making by Voting to
get the optimum choice

• For n people to choose the best of m alternatives
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• m
• Each selects their 1,2 and 3 choice
• Award 3 points for each first choice, 2 points
  for each second choice and 1 point for each third
  place. Sum scores for each alternative.

21
Brainstorming Exercise

• Tele-Vugraph machine
• What is the best method for presenting material
  for the purpose of communication from a distance
  in the most convenient way?
• A quiet way to remove leaves from the driveway
• A simple methodology for stabilizing a hillside
• A new way of generating clean energy for the home
• One of your projects

22
Brainstorming Exercise

• Remember
• No constraints
• Little (preferably none) giggling, snorting, eyes
  rolling
• Everybody contributes
• Process
• Everybody writes down ideas on paper
• We go around the room and you read off your idea
• Jeff records

23

• Big Stroller
• Wheelbarrow
• Room-to-Room Pulley System
• Adult Wound Spring System, Child Activated
• 360-degree skateboard
• Hand operated tricycle
• Lying on Stomach, grab objects around you to move
• Child-Seat
• Much lighter than adult version, should not
  require strain on hands for braking
• 3-wheel footprint w/ castor
• Chair suspended by hot-air balloon
• Tray attached to vehicle to restrain/entertain
  the user
• Stretch cloth over rigid metal of wheelbarrow,
  provides comfortable hammock-seat
• Sell a bunch of 360-degree castors to attach to
  vehicles
• 3-wheel scooter, front wheel turnable, back two
  connected to a hand-crank
• Modeled after a shopping carts child seat
• Side-car that could be attached to a bike
• Cart that trails behind a bike

24

• Motorized baby-walker
• Wheelbarrow that is accessible to a child
• Harness that makes them easier to carry, or
  system of hitch-hiking that allows coordinated
  rides
• Baby-Tank (Conveyer belt) Fun for a child
• Motorized shopping carts
• Safety Helmet
• Grid of rails throughout house, allows user to
  pull themselves around
• Ski-pole propulsion
• Detachable Net allows for wheelbarrow to be used
  for two purposes
• Bright Colors
• School Considerations, include place on device
  for books, lunch, etc.
• Human-sized Hamster Ball (With Seat on a gimble)
• Storage Bin attached to device so that the person
  moving the end-user around can carry additional
  things
• Stretcher
• Hammock that could be carried by two people
• Toboggan
• System of zip-lines
• Crutches
• Easily Washable

25
Categories

• Free vs. Fixed Mobility Path
• Parent Free, Restricted?
• Child Free
• Sitting up vs. Lying down
• Parent Sitting up
• Child Sitting up
• Self vs. Outside Propelled (or both?)
• Parent Self is preferable, but outside may be
  necessary.
• Child
• Multi-Functional vs. Specific Purpose
• Specific Purpose with modular add-ons?
• Stroller-Type
• Pushed from behind, on wheels

26
Next Weeks lecture subject

• Architecture!

27
(No Transcript)
28
HW The Creative Process

• Write the problem statement. Best you can do!
• Brainstorm! Come up with 5 new concepts for your
  product
• 4 Ps but emphasize the first P (product)
• Pare the list down to the best using Kepner
  Tregoe or voting
• Describe how you think the creative process
  worked in your team. (and/or didnt work)