Creative problem solving can be mistakenly labeled as being a gift accessible only to a few selected individuals. The idea that you have to gained spiritual enlightenment or trained for years under a master when in really, it’s all about allowing yourself to look at things from a different perspective.
The principles of this can often be furiously guarded by an agency as a way of extracting more money out of a client. As designers we require the client to completely trust our insights in order for us to get the best possible results, yet clients are the ones who struggle to understand the whole concept leading to projects falling short.
Being a good partner means more than just doing, it means sharing. Universal Favourite did more than simple talk the talk, they reached out to councils across New South Wales. With the idea of ‘not just helping, but enabling’ Universal Favourite developed an approach that encouraged problem solving from a new angle through a beautifully designed pack of 38 cards.
More than just providing a service, Australia’s councils are evolving into community innovators. Their big ideas, better-designed services and improved communications, in near real-time through social media, work hard to create an engaging, sustainable future for the communities they serve.
Each deck featured a range of easy-to-action problem-solving exercises, based on the principles of design thinking. The idea is that for any problem that needs solving, you pick a card at random, and follow the instructions. Different ways of thinking, and new perspectives on a problem can lead to exciting, unexpected solutions.
As a result, councils all over New South Wales have access to design-thinking at their fingertips. Something we all can hope will ultimately help lead to stronger connections and richer experiences for communities all over Australia.
