Brainstorming Description: Brainstorming is the name I have chosen to use to describe techniques aimed at generating new ideas (e.g. game concepts, features, game mechanics, play mechanics, etc.) or solving design problems (e.g. imbalances, loopholes, control schemes, etc.) through spontaneity. As a game design tool, brainstorming is not isolated to the beginning of the game design process but recurs throughout the entire process. While these techniques can sometimes seem a waste of time and non-organic, their primary advantage comes from structuring ideation and problem-solving (in a group or alone), which can save a game designer(s) a lot of time and energy. · Escape old convictions and assumptions. · Find new and unique solutions. Use: To use brainstorming effectively, there are several questions that you should ask yourself before using it as a tool. (1) How innovative do the results need to be? Is the brainstorm about new ideas or solutions to problems? · Game Concepts · Game Mechanics · Play Mechanics
6 Powerful Tools for Generating Ideas Have you ever experienced having no idea come to your mind when you need them? Such moments can be frustrating, especially if you have spent quite a lot of time to think and still get nothing. In such situations, getting external inputs to stimulate your mind is a good solution. They can break down your idea brick walls and make your creative juice flow again. Of course, not all kinds of external inputs are useful. There are tools that can help you get these diverse inputs and I will describe six such tools. Create connection between an input you get and the problem at hand. Without further ado, here are six tools you can use to break down your idea brick walls and generate ideas: 1. This is the only offline tool in this list. 2. StumbleUpon allows you to get random pages whenever you press the Stumble button in the toolbar. 3. TDBSpecialProjects Idea Generator is a three wheel tool that gives you random three-word phrases. 4. Another good inputs to feed your mind with are quotes. 5. 6.
An Easy Way to Increase Creativity Creativity is commonly thought of as a personality trait that resides within the individual. We count on creative people to produce the songs, movies, and books we love; to invent the new gadgets that can change our lives; and to discover the new scientific theories and philosophies that can change the way we view the world. Over the past several years, however, social psychologists have discovered that creativity is not only a characteristic of the individual, but may also change depending on the situation and context. One answer is psychological distance. Why does psychological distance increase creativity? In this most recent set of studies, Jia and colleagues examined the effect of spatial distance on creativity. Similar results were obtained in the second study, in which performance on three insight problems was gauged. A prisoner was attempting to escape from a tower. This pair of studies suggests that even minimal cues of psychological distance can make us more creative.
Reverse Brainstorming - Brainstorming techniques from MindTools A Different Approach to Brainstorming © iStockphoto/Diva_Nir4a Reverse brainstorming helps you solve problems by combining brainstorming and reversal techniques. By combining these, you can extend your use of brainstorming to draw out even more creative ideas. To use this technique, you start with one of two "reverse" questions: Instead of asking, "How do I solve or prevent this problem?" Instead of asking "How do I achieve these results?" How to Use the Tool Clearly identify the problem or challenge, and write it down.Reverse the problem or challenge by asking, "How could I possibly cause the problem?" Tip: Reverse brainstorming is a good technique to try when it is difficult to identify solutions to the problem directly. Example Luciana is the manager of a health clinic and she has the task of improving patient satisfaction. There have been various improvement initiatives in the past and the team members have become rather skeptical about another meeting on the subject. And so it went on.
Category:Creativity Techniques This A to Z of Creativity and Innovation Techniques, provides an introduction to a range of tools and techniques for both idea generation (Creativity) and converting those ideas into reality (Innovation). Like most tools these techniques all have their good and bad points. I like to think of these creativity and innovation techniques as tools in a toolbox in much the same way as my toolbox at home for DIY. It has a saw, spanner, hammer, knife and all sorts of other things in it, they are all very useful, but you have to pick the right tool (creativity / Innovation technique) for each job. This site will try and provide a little guidance along with each tool to let you know whether it's best used for cutting paper or putting in nails. For the future, the aim is to also have sub-categories which will identify Techniques for; Problem Definition - including problem analysis, redifinition, and all aspects associated with defining the problem clearly. Subcategories
Developing Your Creative Practice: Tips from Brian Eno Current neuroscience research confirms what creatives intuitively know about being innovative: that it usually happens in the shower. After focusing intently on a project or problem, the brain needs to fully disengage and relax in order for a “Eureka!” moment to arise. It’s often the mundane activities like taking a shower, driving, or taking a walk that lure great ideas to the surface. Composer Steve Reich, for instance, would ride the subway around New York when he was stuck. Science journalist Jonah Lehrer, referencing a landmark neuroscience study on brain activity during innovation, writes: “The relaxation phase is crucial. The ebb and flow of concentrated focus and total disengagement has been a subject of particular interest to the composer, musician, and producer Brian Eno (U2, Talking Heads, Roxy Music). …a practice of some kind … It quite frequently happens that you’re just treading water for quite a long time. 1. Grab from a range of sources without editorializing. 2. 3. 4.
Creativity/Innovation quotes and quotations from the wise on all matters creative Change happens, that is for sure, and not just in our modern, 21st century era. It seems that the stress of the new affects most people in every age. So the trick is not to resist it, but to go with it. The real problem for the creative person is getting over the resistance of those who don’t want to change. See also action, business, the future, managing, progress*, resistance*, time, vision Quotes ‘If you don't like something, change it. — Maya Angelou ‘Change is in all things sweet.’ — Aristotle ‘Loss is nothing else but change, and change is nature’s delight.’ — Marcus Aurelius ‘Keep constantly in mind in how many things you yourself have witnessed changes already. ‘Observe constantly that all things take place by change.’ ‘We must change in order to survive.’ — Pearl Bailey ‘To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.’ — Henri Bergson ‘If the people don’t want to come out of the park, nobody’s going to stop them.’ — Yogi Berra — William Bryant
Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way The three dumbest guys I can think of: Charles Lindbergh, Steve Jobs, Winston Churchill. Why? Because any smart person who understood how impossibly arduous were the tasks they had set themselves would have pulled the plug before he even began. Ignorance and arrogance are the artist and entrepreneur’s indispensable allies. By staying stupid. A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Don’t think. We can always revise and revisit once we’ve acted. Be Stubborn Once we commit to action, the worst thing we can do is to stop.What will keep us from stopping? We’re in till the finish. We will sink our junkyard-dog teeth into Resistance’s ass and not let go, no matter how hard he kicks. Blind Faith Is there a spiritual element to creativity? Resistance wants to rattle that faith. Here’s the exercise: Imagine a box with a lid. It might be a frog, a silk scarf, a gold coin of Persia. Ask me my religion. Passion
Think.com, Oracle Education Foundation, Projects | Competition | Library Creative Idea Generator How to be Creative Looking for the last piece of the puzzle? Try these 7 research-based techniques for increasing creativity. Everyone is creative: we can all innovate given time, freedom, autonomy, experience to draw on, perhaps a role model to emulate and the motivation to get on with it. But there are times when even the most creative person gets bored, starts going round in circles, or hits a cul-de-sac. So here are 7 unusual creativity boosters that research has shown will increase creativity: 1. People often recommend physical separation from creative impasses by taking a break, but psychological distance can be just as useful. Participants in one study who were primed to think about the source of a task as distant, solved twice as many insight problems as those primed with proximity to the task (Jia et al., 2009). ◊ For insight: Try imagining your creative task as distant and disconnected from your current location. 2. Like psychological distance, chronological distance can also boost creativity. 3. 4.
John Cleese on the 5 Factors to Make Your Life More Creative by Maria Popova “Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.” Much has been said about how creativity works, its secrets, its origins, and what we can do to optimize ourselves for it. Space (“You can’t become playful, and therefore creative, if you’re under your usual pressures.”)Time (“It’s not enough to create space; you have to create your space for a specific period of time.”)Time (“Giving your mind as long as possible to come up with something original,” and learning to tolerate the discomfort of pondering time and indecision.)Confidence (“Nothing will stop you being creative so effectively as the fear of making a mistake.”)Humor (“The main evolutionary significance of humor is that it gets us from the closed mode to the open mode quicker than anything else.”) A few more quotable nuggets of insight excerpted below the video. Creativity is not a talent. We need to be in the open mode when pondering a problem — but! Thanks, Simon Donating = Loving Share on Tumblr