
designing for teamwork / inspiring design teams / re-framing complex problems / public experience design
how might we
inspire design teams
by consulting nature?
Point of Departure
teams can get bogged down by complications in the middle of a project, or feel uninspired to continue
reframing is a necessary step in most projects, but it often depends on an unexpected, “magic” connection being made in someone's brain
biomimicry might inspire a reframe, but many of us don't have extensive biological knowledge from which to draw inspiration
hypothesis:
A guided Inspiration Walk through Nature informed by previous research into inspiration, attention, re-framing, and biomimicry can help designers find new inspiration — and maybe even reframe complex problems.
Design Principles

the guide for this Inspiration Walk through Nature should be able to work independently, without live facilitation
but also in a facilitated group of people sharing reflections with each other
be able to be used without need for smartphone
so that a sustained attention to nature can have a chance to spark a new insight
the guide should set realistic expectations for the experience, and offer a coherent sequence of steps
but leave space between the methodical steps for something magical or unexpected to happen
Prototype
First Iteration
small paper booklet with clear, ordered steps; independent of smartphone
includes prompt to view the problem at different scales, inspired by the different scales in nature
includes prompt to consider natural patterns as metaphors for human systems
hand-drawn illustrations make it more engaging; greyscale illustrations help not to distract the eye from the colors in nature
bibliography lends credibility to an unusual activity
in order to validate the users’ leap of faith in using the guide, bibliography also links to examples of the successful use of biomimicry

Testing
tested on three groups: financial service executives, undergraduate anthropology students, MeetUp group members
What I learned through testing:
users not only leaned into it, but drew satisfying and stimulating connections
strangers shared very personal stories with the group
however, possible reframes of personal problems were limited by not seeing them as part of a larger social system
many users are quick to engage in metaphoric thinking — but without an infusion of new information from natural science, their metaphors may only reinforce pre-existing mental frameworks
New Iteration
because testing showed:
that users needed guidance
to expect to reframe their problem, rather than ideate solutions for it
to see their problem in systemic terms (which would allow them to arrive at a reframe by reconfiguring parts of the system)
I changed:
the part of the guide preceding the walk in nature
to set expectations
to cast the initial problem in systemic terms
because testing showed:
some users needed a prompt to learn something new from natural science, in order to get out of their usual way of thinking
I added:
a prompt to do research online during the walk
because testing showed:
the most magical moments of the Meet-Ups were not so much about re-framing systemic problems but about sharing stories of loss with strangers as the pandemic wanes
I added:
debrief in pairs — a moment for each participant to share something from their walk, with just one new person from the group, so that even shy people will leave the experience having shared thoughts with one other person