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CREATIVE TECHNIQUES
● OUTLINE
Morphology
Analogy
Empathy

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MORPHOLOGY AS A CREATIVE
DESIGN TECHNIQUE
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
 Meaning of Morphology

 Morphology as Creative Design Technique

 Origin of Morphology as a Creative technique

 Processes, Morphological charts and Practical Examples

 Advantages and Disadvantages of Morphology

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MEANING OF MORPHOLOGY

 The term morphology is Greek and is a makeup of morph- meaning

‘shape, form’, and -ology which means ‘the study of something’.

 Morphology therefore, generally means the study of the shape, form and
the various components that come together in making something.

 For humans, the different parts that constitute the body form the
morphological structure. The arms, head among others are examples.
Same can be said about machines and other products.

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MORPHOLOGY AS A CREATIVE DESIGN TECHNIQUE

 Morphology or morphological analysis as it is more commonly known, is

the technique of splitting a problem or product into its components and
looking at possible options for each part of the problem/product.

 In this way, all aspects of a problem/product are thoroughly investigated.

 This technique relies primarily on two main principles: decomposition and

forced association.
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MORPHOLOGY AS A CREATIVE DESIGN TECHNIQUE

DECOMPOSITION
 This problem-solving approach to problem solving seek to break down
the situation, problem, product or item under scrutiny into its component
parts.
 Each part may then be scrutinized and understood independently (as well
as individually improved). Decomposition thus uses a 'divide and conquer'
approach.
 A danger in decomposition is that improving parts does not always
improve the whole, and can even cause unforeseen problems.

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MORPHOLOGY AS A CREATIVE DESIGN TECHNIQUE

 An example of decomposition in car manufacture

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MORPHOLOGY AS A CREATIVE DESIGN TECHNIQUE

FORCED ASSOCIATION
 The simple principle of forced association is of 'banging things together'
that have not previously been brought together, or at least not recently.

 This principle seeks to blindly combine different components of the

previously decomposed problem, product or situation in attempt to come
out with new conceptual designs.

 Another term used for this is bissociation.

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ORIGIN OF MORPHOLOGY/MORPHOLOGICAL
ANALYSIS

 Morphological analysis was developed in the 1960s by an astronomer and

astrophysicist called Fritz Zwicky, the same proposer of dark matter.
 He developed this analysis for exploring all possible solutions to a
complex problem. It is used when exploring new and different ideas. As
morphological Analysis provides a structured inventory of possible
solutions.
 Zwicky applied this method to such diverse fields as astrophysics, the
development of propulsive power plants and propellants.

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ORIGIN OF MORPHOLOGY/MORPHOLOGICAL
ANALYSIS

● A picture of Fritz Zwicky, the originator of morphological analysis.

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PROCESSES IN MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

 Define the problem, product or idea and split it into various parts.

 Label the groups reduce them to manageable number.

 The next step is to fill a grid or grids with lists of parameters arranged
along the axes.

 Eliminate those combinations that are impossible or undesirable to

execute, put aside those that you do not want to eliminate but do not
want to execute, and develop as many of the rest as possible.

 This is made simple by use of morphological charts.

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MORPHOLOGICAL CHARTS
 A morphological chart is a visual way to capture the necessary product
functionality and explore alternative means and combinations of
achieving that functionality. For each element of product function, there
may be a number of possible solutions.
 A morphological chart is a tool that represents a large qualitative
design space. These charts list the functions identified for the design
problem, and the means (solutions) that can perform each function.
 Combining one means for each function will produce a potential
integrated conceptual design solution.

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EXAMPLES OF MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

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EXAMPLES OF MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Canvas
Materials Paper Wall Window Wood

Japanese MarquetryBleed
Ink Graffiti Painted glass
styleBlotting paper rates

Motor oil floating in

Oil Murals
glass tank
Appliqué with dyed
Dye Stained glass
strips
Applied directly Wood and clay
Clay
over brickwork sculptures
Glued then Blown onto glued Translucent
Leaves
painted over wall colored leaves 15
ADVANTAGES OF MORPHOLOGY
 It can be used in exploring new and different ideas.

 It can be used to force a different way of thinking.

 It is a quick and faster way of developing new ideas.

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DISADVANTAGES OF MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

 Improving parts or individual components of a product does not always

improve the whole product.

 Unforeseen problems can be caused since the morphological analysis

technique is more of a ‘trial and error’ technique.

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ANALOGY
PRESENTATION OUTLINE

● MEANING OF ANALOGY IN DESIGNING

● ANALOGY AS CREATIVE DESIGN TECHNIQUE
AND HOW IS USED IN THE DESIGN PROCESS
● TYPES OF ANALOGY
● ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
ANALOGY
WHAT IS ANALOGY?

● A comparison between one thing and another, typically for the

purpose of explanation or clarification.
● An engineer is like the ocean bottom creature that lives in the
vicinity of a vent that spews molten materials from deep inside
the earth is an example of Analogy.
● Analogy in literature can be compared to metaphor and it is
known as ‘analogous’ in the Greek language.
● An engineer always mimics nature to design his artefact
TYPES OF ANALOGY

● There are two types ;

● Analogies that identify identical relations. An
example is black is to white and on is to off
● Analogies that identify sheared abstraction. An
example is raising children is like gardening –
nurture them and be patient
ANALOGY AS CREATIVE DESIGN TECHNIQUE
AND HOW IS USED IN THE DESIGN PROCESS

● In designing there are individual steps to follow.

● Define the problems
● Generate analogies
● Find similarities
● Select any of the analogies that look interesting
● Use description and similarities to generate ideas
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
ANALOGY

● Advantages
● The universality and effectiveness of the method, its
accessibility, simplicity and ease of implementation
● An effective way to overcome the inertia of thinking,
a tool for enhancing imagination and creativity.
 DISADVANTAGES

● The success of the method directly depends on the degree

of imagination of the participants. The analogy technique
is closely connected with the methods of associations,
bisocciations and metaphors.
Products produced by companies
by using conceptual design analogy

● In the mid-1990s, Mercedes-Benz wanted to design a

car, but not just any car, and through not just any design
approach. Mercedes-Benz sough to design a vehicle that
was at once aerodynamic, safe, efficient and to achieve
all these goals while drawing from a single, overarching
theme. Mercedes-Benz turned its gaze to nature for
inspiration.

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PICTURE OF MECERDES BENZ AND THE
BOX FISH.
This shows the analogy or similarities used to construct
the car based on the box fish.

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EMPATHY

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DEFINITION
Empathy is defined as the ability to understand the thoughts or emotions of
someone else. Basically, empathy is the ability to discern the concurrent
status of another. Empathy in design means keeping the user in mind
throughout the process of designing . It means being aware of what a user
needs or what a user may want thus is a user-centered design approach.
Empathize is the first stage of the design thinking process.

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PROCESS
● Empathize
● Define
● Ideate
● Prototype
● Test

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EMPATHIZE
Empathy is the first step in design thinking because it is a skill that allows us
to understand and share the same feelings that others feel. Through
empathy, we are able to put ourselves in other people's shoes and connect
with how they might be feeling about their problem, circumstance, or
situation. Some questions to consider:
● What is the person feeling?
● What actions or words indicate this
● feeling?
● Can you identify their feelings through
● words?
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DEFINE
The next step is to define the above feelings and identify the main problem
to be solved. It's important that, throughout this process, students use
language that is identifiable, positive, meaningful, and actionable. Instead of
focusing on the negative side of the problem and the lack of options, steer
students to using language that is positive, empathetic, and will direct them
toward solution-based thinking. Defining the problem is part of the process
of shaping a point of view our own and others’ about the problem.
Therefore, the framing should inspire the
group, the student, or the entire class to
find solutions.
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IDEATE
This process is where ideas are generated students can learn empathy here
when you teach them new and different ways to find solutions to a problem.
There is no single right way for a great idea. Here are
a few strategies that you can encourage:
● Mind mapping
● Brainstorming
● Sketchnotes
● Inquiry

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PROTOTYPE
In the prototyping phase, students get to make and create the solution to the
problem. Empathy helps them see that they're in the first step in a longer
process. A prototype can be changed, altered, re-evaluated, and recreated
many times based on the needs of the users (either the students themselves
or someone else). This process also helps students to recognize that failing is
part of learning, and that it's OK to fail. Failure, however, needs to be
analyzed so that we learn and grow from our mistakes.

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TEST
During testing, empathy plays a key role in shaping of the user's
experience. Focus on showing and not telling. This helps the users to
create their own experiences, and also helps us to identify how to
improve their experiences next time. The opportunity for empathizing is
important at this stage, because one is able to see the user's experience
and hear his or her thoughts, feelings, and ideas. Testing also helps to
shape our point of view in relation to the user's point of view.

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