the creative process

a model of

The creative process is classically described (Wallas, 1926) as Sometimes the goal is not clear. Participants don’t always agree
preparation incubation illumination verification on how to define the problem. Such cases require a new frame,
a new generative metaphor (Schön, 1990), or a new articulation
Businesses often describe the process as of the essential question.
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; it’s not a recipe, script, or formula. (How could it be?)
In practice, the process is messy, iterative, and recursive.
Framed as a sequence, it’s a plan for achieving a goal
ready aim fire
Yet a first shot doesn’t 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 clear—if we have agreed on how we define a
problem, as in a math problem—then 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).
of frames + metaphors
drawing on a repertoire
with experience + values
through conversations
which must then be shared with other people.
And it frames the situation—or selects a metaphor to explain it—
It considers experience and values.
Reflection begins as a conversation with oneself.
Agreeing on goals may require iteration—may 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 + Schön, 1978).
The creative process is not just iterative; it’s also recursive.
It plays out “in the large” and “in the small”—in 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 conversations—about
goals and actions to achieve them—conversations 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 require—a 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:
- attention - understanding - searching
- openness - integration - envisioning
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 process—and the curiosity
and determination of the participants.
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The main task of evaluative research is to determine
Evaluative research intersects making + observing.

where prototypes fail to live up to expectations.

evaluative

The goal is to keep the process on course.

research

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 clinical process design process interaction loop
Forming a hypothesis is a special type of creative act. When physicians meet patients, they begin by taking The design process viewed as “problem solving” (Jones, 1976), Interaction (with computers or the wider world) answers three
Framing the creative process as “experimenting” shows a history and examining the patient; tests may be indicated, “problem seeking” (Peña, 1987) or “turning existing situations into questions: What do you sense? (feel?) How do you learn + plan?
the close tie it has with the domain of science. which contribute to a diagnosis, which indicates therapy. preferred” (Simon, 1969) is a variation on the creative process. (know?) How do you change things? (do?) (Verplank, 2000).
hypothesis

synthesize
diagnose
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Copyright © 2009 Dubberly Design Office Institute for the Creative Process Dubberly Design Office prepared this concept map as a project the nature of the creative process and design thinking. ACAD is Design and writing by Hugh Dubberly and Shelley Evenson
Printed in Canada 2501 Harrison Street, #7 at the Alberta College of Art+Design of the Institute for the Creative Process at the Alberta College of a leading centre for education and research, and a catalyst for Research by ACAD faculty Vera Gartley, Wayne Giles,
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415 648 9799 Calgary, AB Canada enterprises, and initiatives of ACAD with regard to the cultivation Creative direction by Jack Chung, Robin Bahr, and Paul Pangaro
T2N 4R3 of dialogue, research, and special projects that directly address Please send comments about this model to icp@acad.ca.
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