The first time i heard that word it was four years ago in the office of my first big client! At the end of the meeting he told me “Thank you Ben, we count on you to conceptualise this for us!”
At first i thought he meant “conception” but It took me just ten seconds to find out on google that a conceptualization is the ability to invent or formulate an idea or concept. It helps to predict if a project is worth trying.
The conceptualization phase of a project occurs in the initial design activity when the scope of the project is drafted and a list of the desired design features and requirements is created.
A good design begins with a good design concept.
You’re trying to solve a problem and your concept will lead the way and give you direction for your design decisions. How do you form a concept? What questions do you need to ask in order to develop one? How does your concept become the roadmap for your design?
On my side, i usually approach friends engaged in different kind of work, customers, suppliers, senior citizens, someone from a different culture; in essence anyone who might see things differently. But the biggest asset that helped me solve those questions more than once is my CREATIVITY!
Creativity has always been well-regarded in fields like the fine arts or inventing. Yet business and industry are embracing it as a way to improve quality, reduce costs, generate new products and services, and gain a competitive edge.
That’s what creativity helps us do — adapt to newness by creating new ideas or options that we can use. The definition we use for creativity is “novelty [or a new idea] that is useful,” I think that’s a good way to approach it, especially when thinking about how to handle problems or challenges that we face.
Let me know in the comments if i’m missing something here and I’ll add it in!
