Opportunity
I used to always think that opportunity had almost everything to do with being in the right place at the right time, and very little to do with what I did personally. I’ve also realized that I haven’t been paying attention to opportunity like I need to.
I recently posted (without description) a drawing of a model of the design process which contains three possible outcomes for any design project: Problems, Solutions, and Opportunities. I’ll try to explain some of those elements a little bit more here, but I mostly want to focus on Opportunity, the most unique of the three.
Problems
Problems are not something that you create when engaged in a design project—although they are unfortunately a common result —but rather, problems are things that are identified. It often takes a creative process to truly uncover the true nature of a design problem.
Solutions
Solutions are the most obvious, and most commonly expected outcomes for the work of a designer. In fact, it is often stated that “solutions” are the only domain of the designer. The client comes to us with a problem, and we—as designers—solve it by creating something.
Opportunities
Opportunities are the most difficult, but potentially the most important. They are described as favorable circumstances, and lie somewhere in-between problems and solutions. They require elements of both finding” and creating. They are very different than solutions, and it is very possible to find or create valuable opportunities that do not have problems nor do they require solutions.
It is this requirement in a design process, that of “creating” opportunity that is most often overlooked. We tend to get so caught up in uncovering problems, that we forget to look for, uncover, create and take opportunities. We also tend to get myopic about solving puzzles and we forget to use our problem solving skills to create opportunities.
Just as there are an endless number of solutions to any given problem, there are an unlimited number of opportunities waiting to found, and even more that only need to be created. The more work you put into creating these opportunities, the more there will be, and the better they will likely be. The best part about opportunities, is that unlike problems—which are “found”, and solutions—which are “built,” opportunities are simply taken.
what are some examples of opportunities in the design process? i can see in my own projects that the most exciting outcomes often have nothing to do with the original problems or desired solutions. can you give us some examples of opportunities, and perhaps where to look for them when creating?
Jason:
I’m still trying to figure this thing out, and I agree with what you said about how the most exciting outcomes have nothing to do with “problem solving.”
The main point, I think, is that design is not always about “problem solving.” I think that I was fed this idea (that designers are problem solvers, and that design’s main purpose is to solve problems). While it is important to solve problems if there are problems, when it comes to technology, I think there are many more things that can be done that don’t necessarily solve any existing problems, but they do offer real value.
I’ll have to work on providing some better examples—I also don’t know if there’s actually any way to search out opportunities, other than to not get too focused on “problem solving.”
i love the concept, and i’ve been thinking about it quite a bit since you pointed this out. i think an opportunity can be any positive outcome or situation from the process of properly identifying and designing the solution. if you are successful in the design process, unintended and fantastic consequences can happen as a direct result of your work; without properly doing either of those, those opportunities are lost. last week i used this diagram to explain how a great night out with my wife came about, and to explain an exciting new project that resulted from good work on another.
what i’d still like to figure out is how to better recognize these opportunities and how to create them at will..