the creative process

The creative process is classically described (Wallas, 1926) as preparation incubation illumination verification Businesses often describe the process as research development execution These models suggest a tidy, linear structure beginning middle end Simple sequences sound manageable, even predictable. They promise tasks we can schedule and budget. That makes them appealing to people who run organizations and worry about minimizing uncertainty and risk. But the creative process resists planning; its not a recipe, script, or formula. (How could it be?) In practice, the process is messy, iterative, and recursive. Framed as a sequence, its a plan for achieving a goal ready aim fire Yet a first shot doesnt always hit the target. Achieving a goal may require a few tries; it may require iteration. Iteration is a looping process, using feedback from earlier attempts to converge on a goal. Iteration enables participants to calibrate, correct mistakes, build on accidents, add and remove detail, and improve skills through practice. The creative process is less like a line and more like a loop: observe reflect make observe reflect make The process need not begin with observing; it may begin with any step. Boundaries between the steps are not rigid. Each activity continues throughout the process, e.g., making also involves reflecting and observing. observe reflect make observe reflect make observe reflect make observe reflect make observe reflect make observe reflect make If the goal is clearif we have agreed on how we define a problem, as in a math problemthen solutions may be implied. And we know when to stop. If the goal is less clear, deciding when to stop requires judgment. But some problems are wicked (Rittel, 1969). Their definition depends on point of view; participants can always broaden or deepen their understanding and improve their solutions. For such problems, starting and stopping are arbitrary and external to the process. It ends only when we run out of time, money, or patience (energy, will, or gumption). Sometimes the goal is not clear. Participants dont always agree on how to define the problem. Such cases require a new frame, a new generative metaphor (Schn, 1990), or a new articulation of the essential question.

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through conversations with experience + values drawing on a repertoire of frames + metaphors

Reflection begins as a conversation with oneself. It considers experience and values. And it frames the situationor selects a metaphor to explain it which must then be shared with other people.

Agreeing on goals may require iterationmay involve a feedback loop. Several levels of loops may be nested: - a listing of assumptions and a first approximation of a solution - a primary process for refining the solution - a process for agreeing on the goal of the primary process - a process for improving the process of agreeing on the goal This boot-strapping process (Engelbart, 1962) is a sign of learning systems and organizations (Argyis + Schn, 1978). The creative process is not just iterative; its also recursive. It plays out in the large and in the smallin defining the broadest goals and concepts and refining the smallest details. It branches like a tree, and each choice has ramifications, which may not be known in advance. Recursion also suggests a procedure that calls or includes itself. Many engineers define the design process as a recursive function: discover define design develop deploy The creative process involves many conversationsabout goals and actions to achieve themconversations with co-creators and colleagues, conversations with oneself. The participants and their language, experience, and values affect the conversations. Conversations about wicked problems especially benefit from and may requirea variety of views. Some of these views form a habit of engaging (or observing, reflecting, and making) often called design thinking. It might be thought of more accurately as a set of lenses on design conversations or creative conversations. These lenses provide perspective beyond the immediate focus of the conversation or process: - searching - understanding - attention - envisioning - integration - openness The quality of the conversations is largely responsible for the outcome of the process. The quality of the resulting product reflects the quality of the creative processand the curiosity and determination of the participants.

...

to understand
what people want how culture is evolving by seeing patterns by building consensus

Some steps essential to the creative process lie outside its core. Accepting responsibility for the task and preparing tend to be one-time, upfront tasks.

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In the middle, the process as sequence may take a detour and iterate in a loop. Many creative people have said that their best ideas came (illumination) after putting aside a problem and letting it incubate.

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The creative process plays an important role in the arts, design, science, and the professions (medicine, engineering, law, and business). It has many analogues and synonyms.

quality cycle
The creative process is startlingly similar to the quality cycle (Shewart, 1939), popularized in business circles by the quality management movement (Deming, 1982).

self-regulating system
Like a self-regulating system, the creative process is a classic feedback loop. Measure an essential variable; compare it to a goal; and act to eliminate any difference.

scientific method
Forming a hypothesis is a special type of creative act. Framing the creative process as experimenting shows the close tie it has with the domain of science.

evaluative research

Evaluative research intersects making + observing. The main task of evaluative research is to determine where prototypes fail to live up to expectations. The goal is to keep the process on course.

clinical process
When physicians meet patients, they begin by taking a history and examining the patient; tests may be indicated, which contribute to a diagnosis, which indicates therapy.

design process
The design process viewed as problem solving (Jones, 1976), problem seeking (Pea, 1987) or turning existing situations into preferred (Simon, 1969) is a variation on the creative process.

interaction loop
Interaction (with computers or the wider world) answers three questions: What do you sense? (feel?) How do you learn + plan? (know?) How do you change things? (do?) (Verplank, 2000).

Copyright 2009 Printed in Canada

Dubberly Design Office 2501 Harrison Street, #7 San Francisco, CA 94110 415 648 9799

Institute for the Creative Process at the Alberta College of Art+Design 1407-14 Ave NW Calgary, AB Canada T2N 4R3 403 284 7670

Dubberly Design Office prepared this concept map as a project of the Institute for the Creative Process at the Alberta College of Art+Design. The Institute exists to focus and organize activities, enterprises, and initiatives of ACAD with regard to the cultivation of dialogue, research, and special projects that directly address

the nature of the creative process and design thinking. ACAD is a leading centre for education and research, and a catalyst for creative inquiry and cultural development. Please send comments about this model to icp@acad.ca.

Design and writing by Hugh Dubberly and Shelley Evenson Research by ACAD faculty Vera Gartley, Wayne Giles, Walter May, and Justin Waddell Creative direction by Jack Chung, Robin Bahr, and Paul Pangaro

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