Blog Assignment 5 - Due 29-Oct

I came across this creativity exercise a few years ago and then again just a couple of weeks ago and thought it would be fun for us to try. (BTW, the above images are supposed to be a stone, a camera, and a camera made out of stone... my photo-posting skills a blog are not that great.) I haven't done this with a class before so we'll see how this goes. Here are your instructions:

Send the following text message to two different friends:

Working on a class project. Need you to send me the word of a random inanimate object/thing.

Do not cheat on this step (i.e., do not pick the words yourself). You can put it into your own text speak – I’m not sure how you all abbreviate things these days, but try to not to change the content of the message.

If one of your friends sends you a word that is too difficult, like maybe “sky” or “ground,” then feel fee to text a third or fourth friend. If they send a word like “bird,” just point out that it needs to be inanimate (and then point them to a dictionary if they don’t know that word). J

Once you get the words, here is how you should structure your blog:

First word: (insert first word here in all caps)

Write out a few lines of your thoughts about this word. Just brainstorm here – a mind dump. You can write down any thoughts that come into your head as you think about the word, maybe synonyms, uses of the object, memories or whatever comes to mind.

Second word: (insert second word here in all caps)

Same instructions as above: Write out a few lines of your thoughts about this word. Just brainstorm here – a mind dump. You can write down any thoughts that come into your head as you think about the word, maybe synonyms, uses of the object, memories or whatever comes to mind.

Now, start listing and describing ways that you can combine the two objects. I would shoot for 10-20 ideas here. Keep pushing yourself. If you get stuck, leave the task and come back to it later. Do not filter your ideas, put them all out there.

Lastly, do any of the ideas seem like they might be viable products or services? Are there any that could be with minor alterations to your original idea?

Blog Assignment 4 - Due 11-Oct

As we've been discussing in class, this next blog is an opportunity for you to explore your paper topic. Here's what I want to see:

- Idea for the topic, fleshed out as much as possible - this can also include all the questions you have about the topic at this point. Use the blog as a brainstorming session for yourself to get your ideas out there and make this a first attempt at organizing your thoughts around the topic.

- Why is this topic interesting to you (remember: this is a big goal for the assignment)?

- What is the connection to the gathering and identification of customer insights and/or the design of valuable customer experiences? (at least, as you see it right now)

- Cite and briefly describe at least one article that is related to your topic (this can be either an academic article or trade article, at this point). Do your best to find an article that might be a central source or guidepost for your paper.

Have fun with it. And don't forget the length guidelines. Also, try NOT to write in sentence fragments, although a list here and there is fine.