MelissaWebb

In chapter ten, Shneiderman explains that there are many methods for user-centered design, development, and deployment. He starts by reminding us of the four activities of collect, relate, create, and donate. This is truly a user-centered method and a framework for Mega-Creativity.

Daniel Couger expands upon this framework and calls this “creative problem solving methodologies.” He has three lists of these methodologies. The first one is:
 Preparation
 Incubation
 Illumination
 Verification

Then Couger simplifies this list further to:
 Intelligence: recognize and analyze the problem
 Design: generate solutions
 Choice: select and implement

Then Couger puts this into his own plan of:
 Opportunity, delineation, problem definition
 Compiling relevant information
 Generating ideas
 Evaluating, prioritizing ideas
 Developing an implementation plan

One of the things that we must keep in mind as we do our own research is not spend our time re-creating the wheel but making a better wheel. Leonardo thought that it was important to collect the previous work as a basis for new work. He made it a habit to learn the works of others. He would then sometimes reject the accepted principles and offer his own suggestion and ideas.

Shneiderman combines the basic framework with the three perspectives of inspirationalist, structuralist, and situationalist. He suggests eight specific tasks in order to be more creative, more of the time. These tasks are:
 Searching and browsing digital libraries, the Web and other resources
 Visualizing data and processes to understand and discover relationship
 Consulting with peers and mentors for intellectual and emotional support
 Thinking by free association to make new combinations of ideas
 Exploring solutions – what-if tools and simulation models
 Composing artifacts and performances step by step
 Reviewing and replaying session histories to support reflection
 Disseminating results to gain recognition and add to the searchable resources.

He explains that the four tasks are directly related by free association, exploring, composing, and reviewing.

Edward deBono calls free association, also called brainstorming, lateral thinking. He defines this term as “exploring multiple possibilities and approaches instead of pursuing a single approach.”

I hope these tools will assist you in preparing your theories. Good Luck.