Compared to the beginning of the semester, my thinking process has changed for sure. It is hard for me to explain how though. But let’s give it a try.
My first reflection was about the importance I grant to writing down my messy thoughts to make them clearer, but also to remember important ideas, to plan things I had to do, or to contain and manage my emotions. Well, I can say that writing things is still essential for me (I have a to-do list on my computer desktop, sticky notes on my room’s walls, notepads on my desk or in my phone), however I have managed to maximize its use.
A few months ago, my thinking process was much disorganized, even chaotic, compared to now. There was no real starting or ending point, whereas now, I try to organize my thoughts as much as possible:
– I separate observations and insights: after a few in-class exercises and especially after taking the Design Thinker workshop, I have realized how easy it can be to include judgment when making observations. So now, I find myself automatically trying to separate a fact from its interpretation in my daily life.
– I brainstorm much more: I am a bit ashamed of that, but I have to admit that before taking the Design Studio class, I had always thought that brainstorming was a waste of time. I have never really done it, probably because I have never been encouraged to do it. I don’t know about the other courses at UBC, but it is just not a commonly used tool in my home university. Now I think whenever I have to come up with some ideas or solutions to solve an issue, I would say “let’s quickly brainstorm about that”. If I have time, I would draw or write whatever comes to my mind. If I don’t, I would just do it in my head, asking questions like “what if?” or “how might I?”. Basically, you can brainstorm about anything: a creative idea for a presentation, what gift to offer for someone’s birthday, how to creatively announce good news…
To summarize, I would simply say that the Design Thinking Studio, more than changing my thinking process, has helped me organize and manage it, making it more efficient that it was. Adding my exchange experience at UBC to that, I would say that my perspective of the world has definitely broadened. I had the opportunity to realize how different people think differently because they see the world and observe it from different perspectives, and, in the business world, how tremendous it is to consider every single person involved in a process, not only the end-user.
Great post – and cute picture! I am the same way about the design process; it is difficult to truly pinpoint how the design process has altered your thinking…but you know somehow it has. I wish that this course could have been offered earlier in the degree, and that way we would be able to translate more of the concepts into more of what we do. I enjoyed seeing how the design process affected students from different backgrounds (ie. Finance, Marketing, Accounting) and how this came into play during our group meetings and project deliverables.
It seems like a lot of us had similar yet different experiences in DStudio. We all learned new techniques or tools that encouraged and taught us to do things differently and as a result, our thinking process were affected, in different ways for everyone. Well, I guess not all of them are necessarily ‘new’ because some were ones that we were already familiar with but just didn’t see the value in – ie. brainstorming for you. It’s cool that D Studio made you see how it can really work for you and for your specific way of thinking. 🙂
Hi Anfal,
I definitely agree with you that the Design Studio has helped me organize and manage my thoughts. Like you, I used have very messy thoughts, and needed to write everything down so I could “visualize” my thinking. I still find it incredibly useful to visual my thoughts, but the visualization process is less messy, more methodical and also broader. I find it interesting how you use sticky notes so often– me too! Glad to know I’m not the only sticky notes-obsessed person, haha.
I enjoyed working with you this term, and I’ll miss you when you return to France!
– Charlotte