Flip Your Assumptions

Sometimes our assumptions about the nature of a problem prevent us from coming up with creative solutions. Here’s an exercise to reverse your thinking to reach new ideas.

Don’t limit your thinking

When we define a problem, it’s natural to put boundaries around it. It helps us contain the issues and focus on what we think we need to solve. But as designers, we know that sometimes the most powerful part of a design is the “missing” elements—the lines your eyes fill in, the spaces that make a new shape, or the missing ingredient your mind expects to be included in an image.

To creatively solve a problem, it helps to look at things differently and take away the elements that you might normally assume to be truths. The following exercise has been adapted from a process that mathematicians and philosophers have been using for centuries to solve problems by removing previously assumed restraints.

1. List your assumptions

Start by listing all the assumptions you have about your problem. For example, if you were a furniture manufacturer trying to market a new type of chair, some of your assumptions might be:

a) Chairs are used for sitting.
b) Chairs are basic/utilitarian office furniture.
c) People who buy office chairs work in offices.

2. Reverse each assumption

Once you’ve defined the typical assumptions around your problem, reverse your thinking and define the opposite of each. In our example, the reverse list might look something like this:

a) Chairs are not used for sitting.
b) Chairs are not basic/utilitarian office furniture.
c) People who buy office chairs work anywhere (or may not work at all).

3. Solve the reversal

The last step in the process is to use your list of reversed assumptions to create answers that solve your original problem.

Using our example, your ideas might include a marketing campaign to promote your chair as something for the person on the go, (showing the chair in active environments like the edge of a cliff, on a yoga mat, or next to a train station); You might show your chair as a beautiful piece of art in lovely colors as a statement about your personality; You might market your chair to people who work at home (show it with the man who is working with five cats surrounding him or the mom, balancing a kid in her lap).

By using this process you’ll be able to discover new ideas that challenge existing conventions and are more innovative because of it. So go ahead, stop assuming norms and start solving your problems.