Page 94 - The Design Thinking Playbook

EXPERT TIP

Creativity techniques

Problem reversal technique

The problem reversal technique is Lilly’s favorite method when she asks students to generate ideas for
something but they don’t really have any desire to join in. Lilly reverses the question and asks, for example,
“How would you prevent creativity on your team?” The problem reversal technique stimulates creativity
and gives participants the opportunity to have fun with a topic. In a second step, every negative statement
is reversed into a positive one.
We must emphasize, though, that this method is less suitable for finding new product ideas. The reversed
question, “What would something have to be like?” often results in a requirements list instead of ideas.
We have nonetheless had good experience with the problem reversal technique; for example, for the
revision and/or improvement of service processes.

Requirements versus ideas

Lilly learns that students in the technical area in particular have great difficulties finding “real ideas.”
They have a hard time differentiating between requirements and ideas. In a brainstorming session for a
new headset, participants wrote “ergonomic,” “lightweight,” and “user-friendly” on their Post-its. Those
participants coming from business administration wrote down words such as “cheaper” or “cutting-edge
design.” At this point, Lilly interrupts and explains that these things are not actually ideas but requirements
for the product. Of course, we must also be clear about the problem for which we want to generate ideas.
In this case: How might we communicate in the future without cell phones? The terms “ergonomic” and
“cutting edge” do not entail a solution to the problem. An idea would be that, in the future, the electronics
would be implanted under the skin to communicate worldwide. A somewhat less abstract idea would be to
integrate the communication in accessories and clothing, such as with Google Glass.

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