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Homework answers / question archive / One of the particular pleasures of a Sherlock Holmes mystery comes from how the great fictional detective pulls together seemingly disparate elements of a crime scene into a coherent story that makes sense of all the clues
One of the particular pleasures of a Sherlock Holmes mystery comes from how the great fictional detective pulls together seemingly disparate elements of a crime scene into a coherent story that makes sense of all the clues.
Holmes uses deductive reasoning to connect the dots into a pattern that explains the situation at hand. He uses both physical clues as well as observations about human behavior and speculations about how these connect.
When Holmes reveals his conclusion you are often struck by the elegance of the way all the strands tie together. What you’re appreciating is the logic of the deductive process, but also the lateral thinking involved in connecting the dots.
A&A 121 | Design, Design Thinking and Creativity
College of Arts and Architecture
Penn State University
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tip of the |
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iceberg |
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CREATIVITY |
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CHALLENGE |
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Use a physical trace |
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to reveal a hidden |
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pattern in your |
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everyday world |
By looking for the revealing trace –the ‘tip of the iceberg’, so to speak - we can approach a problem from the other side: identify a phenomenon in the world that is noticeable to you (and perhaps only you, my dear Watson) and work backwards to figure out what caused it.
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In this creativity challenge, you are challenged to do a bit of sleuthing about the world around you. You are asked to identify a physical trace in the world that, once you look more closely at it, reveals something - hopefully surprising! - about the way people engage and interact with their environment.
WHAT YOU ARE ASKED TO DO
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watch out! |
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Please, strive to get beyond the |
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surface level observation: |
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unexplained tracks in grass or |
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snow are not in themselves inter |
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esting unless they’re there for an |
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interesting reason. |
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“Yup, someone walked here. But why? |
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And what are those other lines all about?” |
This is as simple as it sounds. Consider it as what you’d say to a friend about something you notice: “Hey, you know what’s weird? When you’re walking over by the so-and-so building, did you ever notice that….”
The trace must be caused directly by the behavior: a track in the grass or snow, a sign of wear, or an oddly placed item. Footprints reveal ‘desire lines’ people follow for particular reasons. Tables, chairs, and plants left outside reveal residents who move their living room into public space and confidently leave it there. Things left behind are traces, as are traces left behind after use. Especially interesting is when these traces reveal unexpected or unanticipated uses such as traces of skateboarding on park benches.
In the photo, be sure to include enough of the environment around it for someone else to understand the context and what is happening. Also, no people unless it is absolutely
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watch out! |
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You might notice a behavior or |
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activity, but you must |
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show |
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a |
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physical trace |
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of that activity |
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. |
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This means something that is |
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there when your behavior or |
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activity is not happening. |
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In fact, you should be able to |
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take a picture without any |
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people in it at all! |
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critical to your story! |
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4 |
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. Ponder deeply about what is going on, |
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and start crafting a story... |
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Start your story by idenitifying the tip of the iceberg |
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you’ve found. You might even start with ‘You know |
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what’s weird?....” |
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A paragraph or two should do the trick, |
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but |
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you must include the four elements below |
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: |
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a description |
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of the trace |
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( |
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the ‘tip of the iceberg’ physical trace we can |
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see in the photograph) |
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the pattern of |
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human behavior |
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that is causing that trace to occur. |
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your insight into |
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what lies behind |
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( |
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or under!) the pattern |
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- |
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Why is this sort of behavior happening? |
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What are the incentives, disincentives, |
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- |
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structures, relationships, or feedback |
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loops involved? |
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- |
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Does the behavior present a problem or |
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an opportunity? |
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a proposal for a thing |
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one could design as |
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an intervention |
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that affects the sort of activity you identified. |
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Be careful now: |
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it has to be an idea for a physical, real |
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- |
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thing... but not simply a sign. Signs are things |
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that communicate; their physical presence |
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usually matters less than the message! |
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it can support or deter the activity or be |
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- |
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havior you’ve identified, depending on your |
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viewpoint. |
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- |
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go beyond the simple fix to the specific |
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problem at hand; your intervention should |
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address the sort of thing, not just that thing. |
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- |
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the strongest interventions directly corre |
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spond to the driving force behind the human |
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behavior itself - use that insight you had |
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about the ‘why’! |
Watch out for the really insightful analysis and even a designerly intervention! Here are three minutes on YouTube all about them
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“Why indeed is that weird? |
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I say, my good man, it’s elementary!” |
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Pittsburgh’s parking chairs are a great example of a tip of the iceberg with an associated set of human behaviors. |
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A HANDY CHECKLIST TO |
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KEEP YOU ORGANIZED |
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? |
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Do the exercise, with |
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photo, description, and |
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intervention. |
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? |
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Go to Canvas and submit |
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your project |
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After you’ve submitted, |
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read the “what it’s all about” |
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write-up. |
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5. |
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Put your project together into a Word file |
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Be sure to include a title, your photo(s), and your insightful |
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write-up with the four elements. |
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6. |
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Submit your project on Canvas! |
