Constraints - Let's get real

This post is outside off-topic from my recent posts about our cohort class which you can read here if you like. This is related, just out of sequence with the class, and I thought it was important enough to write about separately. Today I am exploring constraints, and how they actually help, not hinder, the creative process.

If you want to warm the heart of your favorite graphic designer, tell them you need a new logo and have no budget limitations. Their eyes will get big, and you will be able to actually see the wheels turning as they start to think through all the possibilities. We just met an important character in our story who will return in a bit - all the possibilities. Now, when your designer friend starts to ask the good questions, answer everything with something like 'I don't know, anything is good'. Finish the talk by telling them nothing matters to you and that they should just make something they like, that they think will work for you. Don't specify colors, themes or sizes.

Now watch the color drain from their face. It's like holding a lollipop out to a toddler, then eating it yourself. Their face look like Ernie's after Bert tells him he finally signed the lease on that hip townhouse in the up and coming, gentrified part of the city and is moving out. You just removed all constraints, and introduced them to your new best friend, all the possibilities.

What usually happens here is the person working on your project will have difficulty starting, because they are in the middle of a very blank page, with no direction. When we do ideation sessions at work, this happens a lot. With an endless list of possible ideas, its hard to find any idea, and in a session with users who don't do this usually you've increased their reluctance to offer up the first idea.

By introducing another character, constraint, to your story you give designers a place to start. Even if they hate your constraint, they will create ideas that are completely opposite of that, and now you've started them on a path. Constraints can also be used to lighten up a session; we sometimes add funny constraints just to get people out of their own heads and thinking more creatively.

Have you used constraints? Have your teams struggled with idea sessions because they can't get started? As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on the process or your experiences. Keep designing, be well.