YD+I: the Art of Creative Exploration

YD+I: the Art of Creative Exploration

YD+I: a new response to a changing world

The times, they are a’changing –the world is confronted by an ever more volatile and complex reality. These patterns of change are difficult for companies and institutions to deal with,
because they were shaped as a result of forces that belong to a situation that is not there anymore… and the old ways of working are definitely out of date. But what should you do then? How can you prosper in the new environment?

Designing questions

Designers traditionally create value through the design of objects, environments, systems and services. They are trained to be the brilliant creators of our future worlds. But nowadays our cultural landscape, technological environment and societal makeup are changing very rapidly. It is getting harder and harder for designers to find out how to create value through designs… Designers need to step back from their traditional focus on the creation of solutions and look at the questions, before they can start to design.

The art of creative exploration

Really innovative design is not just about coming up with an original solution - it always involves the creation of a new question, and a new context to approach the issues . Albert Einstein is quoted as saying that “a problem can never be solved in the context in which it arose”. We agree with him that all the deep problems that we face today have fundamental questions behind them. These questions cannot be answered within the current context: the old ways of working will not help us anymore, we need to create a new context before these questions can be tackled. This what YD+I stands for. In a rather fluid process, going forwards, backwards and forwards again, constantly switching between ideas and reality, facts and questions a new type of design process is collectively shaped by all involved. This what we call a creative exploration, creating new pathways for revolutionary design projects that open up new ways into the future.

The YD+I adventure

A real creative exploration is an adventure. It cannot be planned beforehand, because what happens in a creative exploration is always steered by the content. In all YD+I projects there of course is an agreed goal and a general direction, but what we discover when we are on our way determines where we go. We are always in new territory, laying down a path by walking. This open, sensitive YD+ I approach involves intense learning. The many iterations that are needed to overcome obstacles can in the end only be successfully negotiated by working together very closely, as designers and partners. A YD+I project is a true exploration – an adventure for designers and partners alike.