New Metaphors, New Models

Brief

This assignment aims at getting you to try and use different card decks and their prompts to generate ideas, including new metaphors and ways of framing or reframing things in the world! Using an idea generation card deck/toolkit, can you redesign an existing product or service? Identify a product, a service, or a platform that you feel strongly about (either in a positive or negative way), using different brainstorming and idea generating tools and methods? Come up with a totally different and new incarnation of what you’ve chosen (e.g. how might applying for a visa be different if it was more like ordering takeout, or living in cities that are temporary and ‘nomadic’?). This exercise is a way to think through, research and invent your own set of mental models and metaphors. 

Some examples of tools/methods here: 

• Card decks at Deckaholic (An extensive library of free and paid card sets)
• Dan Lockton’s Design With Intent Toolkit & New Metaphors Toolkit (Free)
• Board of Innovation Brainstorm Cards (Free)
• Design for Dynamic User Experiences (Free)
• Social Innovation Lab Method Deck (Free)
• Service Design Tools (Free)
• 75 Tools for Creative Thinking (Paid)
• Mural and Miro also offer some brainstorming templates
• SCAMPER method

If you don’t find any brainstorming techniques or can’t access any of the tools/card decks or feel particularly inspired to challenge yourself, you can use this opportunity to start designing your very own idea generating/brainstorming 5-card deck, which you can bring to the next class meeting to share with the rest of the class and play together!  

Tasks

1. Pick a card deck from one of the ones above or go through them and create your own.
2. Use the card deck to come up with a new and novel spin on your chosen product or service and reimagine it.
3. Create a sketch or prototype for how your new product or service might work.
4. Upload your process to the blog and write your reflections.

Assessment guidelines

These are a few general criteria to keep in mind for grading:

• Exploration: How thoroughly you’ve explored different frames, metaphors, and\or models through the card deck(s) you chose.
• Creativity: How creative you’ve been with your rethinking the product or service through the lens of the metaphor or model you used and how deeply you’ve thought on reframing how it works or what it does.
• Documentation: How well you’ve documented your process and updated your process blog.