sources used:

Divergent Thinking - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmBf1fBRXms

https://airfocus.com/glossary/what-is-divergent-thinking/#:~:text=Definition%20of%20divergent%20thinking,different%20answers%20or%20routes%20forward.

Divergent thinking: Your toolkit for infinite creativity (getmarlee.com)

Briefly describe your chosen method:

For this piece of research, a photo study was used to provide insight for a shoe care brands advertising. Pictures of participants shoe collections as well as individual photos of specific shoes were taken. Questions were formulated and presented to the shoe owners to provide further insight into the significance and purpose of shoes in the lives of different individuals who took part in the study, as well as providing context to the images taken.

Outline how you applied the method:

At the start of the study, a series of questions were produced intended to encourage participants to provide answers that would reveal insights into themes regarding their shoe usage, preference and reasoning behind the ownership of specific shoes. These questions included:

1. Can you describe how different shoes make you feel when you wear them, and why those feelings matter to you?

2. Beyond function why are (those) shoes so important to you?

3. What does the way you care for and maintain your shoe collection say about what’s important to you?

4. Are there specific places/occasions when the shoes your wearing matter most and why?

5. How long have you had those shoes?

6. Favourite pair?

7. Most used and why?

8. What shoes do you not wear and why?

Pictures of the shoes spoken about in the answers to questions and pictures of whole shoe collections were taken.

Three Key Insights from research:

- Shoes hold a lot of emotional value for most people

- People tend to stick to one pair of shoes because of comfort and this leads them to wear the same pair of shoes until they are no longer usable.

- People pick their shoes carefully and are willing to invest more into a pair of shoes based on comfort and functionality over appearance and trends.

Advantages and disadvantages of this research method for future projects:

Conducting a photo study is advantageous in the context of advertising research because it can provide an alternative perspective and level of insight not offered by written findings alone. Visual stimuli can help spark ideas and inspire the creative process. The use of photos helps create a more well-rounded and personal understanding of the individuals being studied, making the data tailored and specific to each person, thereby providing deeper and potentially more unique insights into the research subject.

However, conducting a study in this way could be a lengthy and tedious process. Leaving participants to capture pictures introduces room for misinterpretation of the brief from the participants' perspective. Additionally, the interpretation of the pictures is subjective to the researcher. Participants may find it difficult to fully express a message through images, as they can be interpreted in various ways. That said, this scope of interpretation can also be seen as a positive tool to encourage a wide range of ideas and inspiration in the creative process.

Key points identified from my affinity map:

• Emotional attachment towards shoes and how shoes make people feel was a much more prevalent theme than the physical function and feel of shoes.

• The way shoes physically feel to wear can impact how someone feels emotionally in those shoes and how they act (e.g. how they walk).

• People don't want to clean their shoes because the dirt and marks hold memories and sentimental value.

Creative constraints - The idea of creativity being limitless and vastly open can be overwhelming and end up having the opposite effect by causing you to go blank. Creative constraints are limits, such as a specific theme, time limit or category that enable creatives to have more of a focus when making work. Creative constraints can help you to find a starting point for work and help you to avoid going blank from the overwhelming number of possibilities during the creative process.

What is a prototype?

A prototype is a mock-up/draft of a creative idea that allows the idea to be demonstrated, shown to, and tested by developers, so adjustments can be made before the final piece is created. A prototypes fidelity is a measure of how close the prototype is to the final product that will be produced.

Lo – fidelity prototypes are quick mock ups of an idea in the form of something like a sketch used to demonstrate a concept. They are useful as a quick and easy way that requires a low skillset to make and use to test an idea. They can help spark discussion around the design and practicality of a product concept. Although they are limiting in that they cannot demonstrate user interactivity and may be over simple when trying to visualise complex ideas or processes.

Hi-fidelity prototypes are more complex mock ups of a product usually used further down the line of a design process to demonstrate a finished product. They can be used to test product usability and help people such as stakeholders visualise a final product. However, they are much more costly and complicated to produce than lo-fidelity prototypes.

Link to interactive Hi-fidelity prototype - https://marvelapp.com/prototype/110e9cf1

Sources used:

https://www.protopie.io/blog/low-fidelity-vs-high-fidelity-prototyping

https://mailchimp.com/resources/low-fidelity-high-fidelity/?igaag=158635362227&igaat=&igacm=20775172526&igacr=687230856190&igakw=&igamt=&igant=g&ds_c=DEPT_AOC_Google_Search_UKI_EN_NB_Acquire_Broad_DSA-Rsrc_UKI&ds_kids=p78558712254&ds_a_lid=dsa-2227026702184&ds_cid=71700000115824356&ds_agid=58700008604599355&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADh1Fp2bFUeCQKuT92JvrxMlehoaa&gclid=Cj0KCQjwj4K5BhDYARIsAD1Ly2pmHb0w1YsMD1Mie9Qa2xAJWKoj9izfOlqql56hFAYkcuO8-33N29oaAijiEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://webflow.com/blog/low-vs-high-fidelity

Reframing perspective means instead of just looking at a creative solution from your own point of view, stepping into the shoes of another person and how they would see a creative problem – specifically in the creative/advertising industry can be useful for better understanding the perspective of the client so your outcome is accurately aimed at your target audience.

“The Disney technique” talks about a 6-step model using a shift of perspective to boost creativity, by putting yourself in the mindset of people with different outlooks such as an optimist or critic. Changing your perspective does not just have to mean that of another person - taking on other viewpoints such as that of a child, animal or object may seem obscure but can be a great way to force you to view a problem from alternative and interesting angles. These alternate perspectives force a diverse way of thinking and help you to create interesting and original outcomes by encouraging more out of the box ideas.

Another method of reframing perspective involves identifying the current beliefs you have. You then take those core beliefs and identify the current reasonings behind them. Then you can turn all those beliefs on their head as a way of imagining a completely. opposite and new outlook on a situation. The new core belief may seem extreme but can be incredibly useful for generating completely new and fresh ideas.

Sources used:

https://www.brainworkshops.co.uk/how-to-shift-your-perspective-to-become-more-creative/

https://medium.com/creative-enlightenment/switching-perspective-is-crucial-for-innovation-3b9934be6679