- The document discusses using bad ideas as a way to practice idea generation and critique without judgment, allowing for larger jumps in the design space. It also talks about developing "personality prostheses" as tools to help people leverage their natural strengths rather than trying to change their inherent personalities. The key points are that we should celebrate individual differences and look for ways to help people achieve goals given who they are, not try to change who they are.

1. Alan Dix
http://alandix.com/academic/talks/ECCE2019/
@alanjohndix @CompFoundry
Cognition as Material
personality prostheses and other stories

2. Tiree
Tiree Tech Wave
3-7 October
https://tireetechwave.org/
Tiree Ultramarathon
http://www.tireefitness.co.uk/tiree-ultramarathon/

3. the foundry
building
mission
community

6. today I am not talking about …
• physicality and product design
• Inteligent internet interfaces
• the long tail of small data
• algorithmic bias
• deep digitality
• now
• digital light
• digital humanities
• long term interaction
• virtual crackers and slow time
• statistics and Bayes considered harmful
• modeling dreams, regret and the emergence of self

7. bad ideas
an exercise in madness

8. find it hard to think of a good idea?
think of an idea … any idea
… but make it a
bad / silly idea

9. Heath Robinson
or oxymoron
Rev Stan CC-by-2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/revstan/3805288148

10. Rev Stan CC-by-2.0 https://www.flickr.com/photos/revstan/3805288148

11. prompts …
THE BAD
1 what is bad about this idea?
2 why is this a bad thing?
3 are there any other things that
share this feature but are not
bad?
4 if so what is the difference?
try different contexts
used car salesman – how would
you sell it to someone?
THE GOOD
1 what is good about this idea?
2 why is this a good thing?
3 anything that shares this
feature but is not good?
4 if so what is the difference?

12. https://www.flickr.com/photos/funkdooby/9269246310
Funky Dooby CC-by-2.0

13. make it a good idea
What is good - keep it
What is bad - change it
Change context
Learn from aspects

15. why bad ideas
commitment and understanding

16. training
brainstorming …
they always say no judgement … but really?
critique …
that’s my pet idea, no way!
bad ideas …
judgement no problem – it’s meant to be bad!
low commitment => easier to critique

17. Good Ideas
design
‘good ideas’ encourage conservatism
(ant steps)
?
?

18. design
bad ideas…
large jumps through the design space
explore new parts
Bad Ideas

19. understanding
critique exposes structure of the design space
Bad Ideas
Meta-level
dimensions
criteria
properties

20. chicken and egg
understanding (or re-defining) the problem
the first step to finding a solution
how to understand the problem?
bad ideas as strawfolk solutions

22. personality prostheses
working with you

23. a designer is …
a user experience researcher is …

24. a designer is …
a user experience researcher is …
• interested
• active
• confused
• geek
• optimist
• organised
• diligent
• insightful
• fluent
• creative

25. if only I were
more organised …
better at time management …
more creative …
more analytic …
then I could …

26. who you are
physical capabilities
strength, dexterity, …
cognitive capabilities
arithmetic, memory, …
personality and cognitive style
time management, tidiness, divergent,
convergent thinking

27. changing who you are ?
physical capabilities
maybe go to the gym
cognitive capabilities
maybe take evening classes
personality and cognitive style
slow/hard to change if possible
... and do you want to?
often treated as moral failure

28. as a designer
is this
how you would treat
your users?

29. imagine …

30. selling cars …
you make pink cars
so make people like pink
thnx 2 flickr: zwierz, foxp2, texassadie, lightpainter

31. online shopping
your app requires:
plan a week’s food in advance
so make people organised
thnx: http://www.carolyn.topmum.net/tutbury/church/church.htm
DAY TIME FOOD QTY
Mon 7:45 grapefruit 1/2 tin
Mon 7:45 tea cup
Mon 10:30 choc. bsct 3
Mon 10:30 coffee 2 cups

32. why do it to yourself!
your work ...
the goal/outcome may be fixed (sort of)
the process involves you
GOAL

33. never apologise for
who you are
only for
what you do

34. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakerome/2241606732/

35. tools to help you given who you are
(NOT to change who you are)
physical prosthesis
forklift
cognitive prosthesis
calculator
personality prosthesis
N.B. Csíkszentmihályi – creative thinkers extreme at both ends of
personality traits
convergent thinker – bad idea helps divergence
divergent thinker – prompts help convergence

36. don’t say:
if only I were like X
I could reach my goals
do ask:
given the way I am
how do I do things

38. one morning
a short creativity story

40. video here

42. waking up

43. key points: waking up
Incubation
sleep and relaxation
take ideas when they come

44. taking a shower

45. key points: shower
unoccupied mind allows ideas to form
no pressure to produce …
often lets it happen!
also washing dishes.
walking, etc.

46. writing notes, …

47. key points: writing notes
• before you forget
• as fast and easy as possible to catch what
you’ve already thought of
• beware premature elaboration
– you may forget half your ideas!
• paper may be better than screen
• images, lines, etc.,
not just words

48. cutting out, …

49. key points: cutting out
making things concrete and physical
small enough that you can see a lot at once
(overview)
… but can still read details

50. … and sort

51. key points: sorting
using 2D space to help sort
physical form makes it
easy to annotate
also easy to add new topics
loose piles into labelled bundles
structure and overview

52. overall process
make the most of fluid creativity
capture easily – low barriers
– ease of writing, and low commitment
structure later
bottom up process
creating constructive ‘busy work’
– transcription, cutting out
different physical spaces and activities

54. in summary
practice
– bad ideas make good ideas
– celebrating individual differences
– deconstructing the creative process
process and theory
– constant interplay
experience -> reflection -> theory
theory -> tools & techniques -> practice