6 Thinking Hats and 10 Principles for Good Design

Time always passes so fast, the second semester already start and the lessons are more specific and detailed. My first lesson is Creative Thinking.

Creative Thinking:

1) To think differently or distinctly
2) Think out of the box
3) Think of alternative way of solution

So, why we need to think creatively? In the past, people just answer yes or no. But, nowadays people want different answers, want variety of options and alternative way of solutions. This is when the creative thinking kicks in.

Can we learn to think creatively? Of course! There are some structure for it, one of those is ' 6 Thinking Hats ', by Edward De Bono. Those hats are represented by colors.

White hat    - collect data and information.
Yellow hat  - Analyze the data and information,  find out all the advantages and benefits or strength.
Black hat     - Know the disadvantages and the weakness.
Red  hat       - Emotional kicks in.
Green  hat    - Creative thinking comes in.
Blue  hat      - Make decision.

Creative thinking is very important for a designer, because a designer is mean to think of solutions. Design is always about solving the problems. However, beside of creative thinking, there is also has a check list for it, named ' 10 principles for good design ' by Dieter Rams:

1) Design is innovative
2) Design is honest
3) Design is functional
4) Design is environmental friendly
5) Design is simple
6) Design is unobtrusive
7) Design is aesthetics
8) Design is long lasting
9) Design is minimum
10) Design is detailed


However, I created one more list for myself - 5 principle of good design :

1) Design is free
2) Design is stylish
3) Design is leading
4) Design is alive
5) Design is comfortable