Creativity & Aesthetics

Creative Techniques

My interest in creative methods and techniques is evident, as I have dedicated a large part of my master’s to exploring and collecting a wide range of approaches. During my pre-master and first semesters, I explored creative methods from courses and by reviewing literature and methods databases, from which I collected hundreds of methods and experimented with many of them (Figure 8). To navigate them, I organized them into five stages of the end-to-end project cycle: (1) Planning, (2) Exploring, (3) Generation, (4) Evaluation, and (5) Launch & Monitor. Additionally, I segmented between behavioral/attitudinal, qualitative/quantitative, and explorative/generative/evaluative methods (Figure 7).

My main (squad) projects exposed me to the dualism between postmodernism (Transforming practices) and the highlighted need for scientifically validated methodology (ID&TT & Health). This was a major challenge, as this dualism had always troubled me. Failing my first M1.2 project hinged mostly on the balance between a scientifically grounded evaluation of my findings and utilizing the power of intuition in the design process. My key insight was that while intuitive approximation in design is appropriate for dealing with complexity (especially in a competitive business context), a strict analytical viewpoint is required for proper analysis and academic work. The challenge, however, is that this requires a narrower scope in the design phase, conflicting with creative freedom. Therefore, I think it is key to strategically consider the extent of creative freedom in the scope of a project. A skill that will require additional practice.

Aesthetics & Interaction

The main challenge regarding aesthetics has been visualizing complexity. In most projects, I encountered large volumes of complex, interconnected information and attempted to visually support sense-making. Examples are a visualized chart depicting the cyclical process of making sense of complexity (Figure X), visualizing future scenarios (Figure X), and displaying the research processes (Figure X & Y). For my FMP, I attempted to capture the difference between organizational services by thematic analysis and building a service blueprint based on project cycles to compare organizational differences (Figure X & Y). I also explored and experimented with participatory causal diagramming to support constructive, participatory sensemaking to derive concrete system changes on a well-grounded support base.