The document discusses critical thinking techniques for making decisions faster. It suggests recognizing how influences like reciprocation, social proof and authority can affect decision making. It also recommends recognizing personal habits that influence decisions. The document then covers generating ideas through techniques like deferring judgment, piggybacking on others' ideas, and freewheeling. It discusses focusing ideas by using affirmative judgment, considering novelty, and staying on course. Brainstorming with Post-It notes and brainwriting are presented as idea generation techniques. The goal is to achieve "creative shortcuts" for every decision.

1. Critical Thinking for Creatives:
How to Make Decisions Faster

2. Obligatory family photo

3. Cute Kid 1
Cute Kid 2

4. Not so much

5. Micro Decision
Large Life Decision

6. 17%
42%
42%
Daily Micro Decisions
Large Life Decisions
Actual Work

7. Goal:
to train our minds how to control our
micro-decision-making process in
order to solve more problems, faster.

8. 10%
25%
66%
Daily Micro Decisions
Large Life Decisions
Actual Work

9. Why do we take so
long to make
decisions?

10. We Stereotype
• Automatic, stereotyped behavior
• Stereotyping is a type of shortcut
• good: Patterns = shortcuts
• bad: Desktop patterns vs. Mobile patterns

11. We Stereotype
• Automatic, stereotyped behavior
• Stereotyping is a type of shortcut
• good: Patterns = shortcuts
• bad: Desktop patterns vs. Mobile patterns

12. Problems arise when good and
bad stereotypes/shortcuts
conflict with each other.

13. We want to achieve
the ‘good’ shortcuts

14. “ …We need shortcuts. We can't be
expected to analyze all the aspects in each
person, event, and situation we encounter
in even one day.
...Without them we would stand frozen–
cataloging, appraising, and calibrating–as
the time for action sped by and away. As
the stimuli saturating our lives continue to
”
grow more intricate and variable, we will
-Robert Cialdini PH.D.

15. How to recognize
the things that
cause us to

16. r
#1: Recognizing How
We Are Influenced:

17. r
#1: Recognizing How
We Are Influenced:

18. r
#1: Recognizing How
We Are Influenced:
• Reciprocation

19. r
#1: Recognizing How
We Are Influenced:
• Reciprocation
• Commitment and Consistency

20. r
#1: Recognizing How
We Are Influenced:
• Reciprocation
• Commitment and Consistency
• Social Proof

21. r
#1: Recognizing How
We Are Influenced:
• Reciprocation
• Commitment and Consistency
• Social Proof
• Liking

22. r
#1: Recognizing How
We Are Influenced:
• Reciprocation
• Commitment and Consistency
• Social Proof
• Liking
• Authority

23. r
#1: Recognizing How
We Are Influenced:
• Reciprocation
• Commitment and Consistency
• Social Proof
• Liking
• Authority
• Scarcity

24. 
#2: Recognizing Our
Habits:

25. 
#2: Recognizing Our
Habits:

26. 
#2: Recognizing Our
Habits:
• Daily routine

27. 
#2: Recognizing Our
Habits:
• Daily routine
• Scheduling: Family and friends

28. 
#2: Recognizing Our
Habits:
• Daily routine
• Scheduling: Family and friends
• Heritage: Family and friends

29. Convergent and Divergent Thinking

30. Create
Informati
Reduce
Informati

31. • Generate new ideas
Create
Informati
Reduce
Informati

32. • Generate new ideas
Create
Informati • Probe problems
Reduce
Informati

33. • Generate new ideas
Create
Informati • Probe problems
• Explore attributes
Reduce
Informati

34. • Generate new ideas
Create
Informati • Probe problems
• Explore attributes
• Identify patterns
Reduce
Informati

35. • Generate new ideas
Create
Informati • Probe problems
• Explore attributes
• Identify patterns
Reduce • Prioritize
Informati

36. • Generate new ideas
Create
Informati • Probe problems
• Explore attributes
• Identify patterns
Reduce • Prioritize
Informati
• Make decisions

37. • Generate new ideas
Create
Informati • Probe problems
• Explore attributes
• Identify patterns
Reduce • Prioritize
Informati
• Make decisions
•Create plans

38. yes please!
Let’s get Pragmatic!

39. 1g
What to do with a lot of options?

40. 1g
What to do with a lot of options?
• Isolate the options

41. 1g
What to do with a lot of options?
• Isolate the options
• Categorize the options

42. 1g
What to do with a lot of options?
• Isolate the options
• Categorize the options
• Time Task

43. }B
Identifying a problem, error
or opportunity

44. }B
Identifying a problem, error
or opportunity
• Is it Functional?

45. }B
Identifying a problem, error
or opportunity
• Is it Functional?
• Is it Contextual (having/needing context)?

46. }B
Identifying a problem, error
or opportunity
• Is it Functional?
• Is it Contextual (having/needing context)?
• Is it Presentational?

47. e
Generating Ideas
When you generate ideas,

48. e
Generating Ideas
When you generate ideas,
• Strive for Quantity

49. e
Generating Ideas
When you generate ideas,
• Strive for Quantity
• Defer judgment (both positive and negative)

50. e
Generating Ideas
When you generate ideas,
• Strive for Quantity
• Defer judgment (both positive and negative)
• Piggyback

51. e
Generating Ideas
When you generate ideas,
• Strive for Quantity
• Defer judgment (both positive and negative)
• Piggyback
• Freewheel

52. v
Focusing on Ideas
When you focus ideas, you

53. v
Focusing on Ideas
When you focus ideas, you
• Use affirmative judgment

54. v
Focusing on Ideas
When you focus ideas, you
• Use affirmative judgment
• Consider novelty

55. v
Focusing on Ideas
When you focus ideas, you
• Use affirmative judgment
• Consider novelty
• Stay on Course

56. v
Focusing on Ideas
When you focus ideas, you
• Use affirmative judgment
• Consider novelty
• Stay on Course
• Be deliberate

57. Brainstorming with Post-It Notes

58. Brainwriting for Rapid
Business Requirments

59. Let’s Write!

60. How do we get to
creative shortcuts for
every decision?

61. Socratic Method
Technique which induces the learner to examine
his/her internal and external perceptions and to
describe in detail what s/he discovers there:

62. Socratic Method
Technique which induces the learner to examine
his/her internal and external perceptions and to
describe in detail what s/he discovers there:

63. blade of grass

64. Walt Whitman's
dictum:
If you observe closely enough
even an ordinary blade of
grass, you will discover the
universe.

66. Time to Play
$20,000
Pyramid!
Please form
teams of 3 people

67. Things that
appear in a
mobile app
Things that Types of
are project color
roadblocks systems
Things you Ways to
Ways to
find in a collect
style a font persona requirements

68. Things that
appear in a
mobile app
Things that Types of
are project color
roadblocks systems
Things you Ways to
Ways to
find in a collect
style a font persona requirements

69. Things that
appear in a
mobile app
Things that Types of
are project color
roadblocks systems
Things you Ways to
Ways to
find in a collect
style a font persona requirements

70. Things that
appear in a
mobile app
Things that Types of
are project color
roadblocks systems
Things you Ways to
Ways to
find in a collect
style a font persona requirements

71. Things that
appear in a
mobile app
Things that Types of
are project color
roadblocks systems
Things you Ways to
Ways to
find in a collect
style a font persona requirements

72. Things that
appear in a
mobile app
Things that Types of
are project color
roadblocks systems
Things you Ways to
Ways to
find in a collect
style a font persona requirements

73. Things that
appear in a
mobile app
Things that Types of
are project color
roadblocks systems
Things you Ways to
Ways to
find in a collect
style a font persona requirements

74. Things that
appear in a
mobile app
Things that Types of
are project color
roadblocks systems
Things you Ways to
Ways to
find in a collect
style a font persona requirements

75. Things that
appear in a
mobile app
Things that Types of
are project color
roadblocks systems
Things you Ways to
Ways to
find in a collect
style a font persona requirements

76. epilogue

77. A Practical Application of
Critical Thinking For Creatives

78. Using critical thinking to examine how the
characteristics of the Menu and Widget
areas of the Wordpess CMS effect decision
making

79. Why Wordpress?
It’s very popular, yet very complex.

80. Step 1: Listing Characteristics

81. Step 2: Categorizing Characteristics

82. Step 3: The Question
“What characteristics could have a
negative affect on decision making?”

83. Step 4: Testing Our Findings
Using Heatmap Tests and Five Second Tests

84. We also surveyed our testers to
find out their level of Wordpress
experience

85. The Heatmap Results

86. Heatmap Results Breakdown

87. Five Second Test Question:
What stood out on this page?

88. Five Second Test Results

89. Step 5:
Using these results to make
re-design suggestions

90. Such as higher contrast,
for better visibility

91. A preview area, that highlights the
area you are working on

92. The addition of the words ‘Add Menu’

93. think faster!