for week 3 of creative technologies, we learnt about project framing and considering different ways we could go about solving a problem you may be stuck on.
an example of problem framing would be handling keyboards for phones. most people had originally considered the best solution for giving a phone the ability to write was to add a large keyboard or find some other ways to implement a full keyboard to the design. however, by simply framing the problem differently, phones no longer have direct keyboards, but instead a touch screen that opens a multi-layered keyboard on the screen.
the exercise had us taking already existing solutions, looking t it's opposite properties and then trying to use those properties to find a solution.
for my group, we were tasked with coming up with a unique solution like that of a raincoat. of the different properties we found, the primary properties we considered were that a raincoat is light, deflects water and sits around the body. looking to try to frame the problem in a different way, we considered their opposites.
the 4 different ideas we thought of were:
water-based heating coat.
umbrella hat which absorbs water
hydraulic exo-suit (absorbs rain for use in the system)
hamster wheel.
while most of these are rather nonsensical, they are unique possible ways to consider the problem. in particular, one thing I realized after considering the possibilities is that a water-based exo-suit could also be used for generating electricity, giving it possible use in powering personal devices.
overall, problem framing can be incredibly useful when other solutions are not working or helping. however, it is really only useful in considering multiple avenues of solutions. it may also leave people considering pathways that would not be realistically viable or possible. if done correctly, you may find a solution that could revolutionize a form of technology. if done incorrectly, you create a device that will act as a gimmick at best or be unusable at worst.
otherwise though, so long as you consider framing as a way to find new avenues and less a solution in itself, this way of finding solutions can be quite useful.