The document discusses inspiration and how it relates to the creative process. It summarizes interviews with designers, developers and marketers on their views of inspiration. Some key points are that inspiration is important for both big ideas and maintaining motivation. While inspiration cannot be forced, there are techniques like taking time, changing perspectives, making observations, and studying the work of others that can make a person more open to inspiration. The document concludes that finding inspiration is personal and depends more on one's own mindset than any specific method.

1. Let‘s Talk about Inspiration
UXcamp 2014

2. Why am I doing this?
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3. !?
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4. Interviews
Sabrina Aderkast – Design Student / Artist
Markus Günther – Author (Xorafedi)
John Janus – Java Developer
Nadine Mischke - Marketing
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5. What is inspiration?
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UXcamp Europe, Pascal Clausen: Finding Inspiration 66
„The process of being mentally stimulated
to do or feel something, especially to do
something creative.” - Oxford Dictionary
Image: Alan Miller: Philosophy and Inspiration https://www.flickr.com/photos/liquidindian/427162166

7. What is inspiration?
Integral part of creative process
If creativity is a skill to combine given elements to something
new, inspiration is the way these elements are gathered
MG: „A kind of fuel for work, but also a foundation. When you're
inspired, you get an input and work with that. Still there remains
a part of it which can't be explained.“
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8. There is no right or wrong in
inspiration
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9. How important is inspiration?
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10. How important is inspiration?
JJ: „In Development it can be more about finding your way into
work and problemsolving. There is some kind of basic structure
or convention that you follow, but you also have your own vision
of how to do things.“
MG: „I think you need to seperate between big inspiration, kind
of like the starting idea and little inspiration to keep going when
you already started working on something.“
NM: „You are always looking for the best solution for your tasks
and in a way you're applying what inspires you to your own
situation. You see what is different or what is missing. It helps
finding new projects“
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11. But what does that mean for us as
UX-Experts?
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12. You can seek inspiration but you
can‘t force it
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13. There still is sudden inspiration…
…but it‘s also about pushing yourself in the right direction
SA: „If you already got an idea of what you want to do you can
work in that direction.“
NM: „It‘s a 50/50 ration beetwenn seeking and being inspired“
MG: If you start seeing the world as full of potential stuff you can
work with and start combining your observations in your head,
you can train being inspired.
You can seek inspiration but you
can‘t force it
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14. 19.06.201407
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UXcamp Europe, Pascal Clausen: Finding Inspiration
How can you find inspiration?
Image: zev: because who's to say we are the only ones? https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddleoak/6153761489

15. Take your time
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Take your Time
Image: Eduardo Amorim: Paz a vocês, amigos : ) https://www.flickr.com/photos/bombeador/3130004800/

16. Take your time
Trying to get lost in thoughts
Silence, Nature, time for yourself...
For me: public transportation
MG: „Boredom can be used as a way to gather inspiration.“
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17. Change your point of view
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Change your
point of view
Image: Daniel Kulinski: frog perspective https://www.flickr.com/photos/bombeador/3130004800/

18. Change your point of view
Take a step backwards
Write down or visualize the problem (e.g. mind-maps, user
storys, flowcharts)
Talk to someone to people(especially form a different domain)
NM: „I find inspiration while talking with people, about their
views or the way they work.“
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19. Observation
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Observation
Image: Spreng Ben: Quarters Only – New York https://www.flickr.com/photos/sprengben/5441103463/

20. Observation
In general beeing open minded and paying attention at the right
moment
How do random people react to situations (Guerilla Usability
Testing)
NM: „Through daily life, like for example if I see a colour or
design I really like:“
SA: „Take a relevant term and just start searching the web,
jumping from one topic to another“
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21. The work of others
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22. The work of others
Not only the obvious...
… if you look closely even a salt shaker coud be inspiring
Sparks your own creativity
All of my interview partners look at other works for inspiration
Look at the details and try to imagine the process behind it
Trying to think in what if scenarios
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23. Architecture
Andrew Zusman - Architecture As Design Inspiration
http://usabilitygeek.com/architecture-design-inspiration/
“Architects, like digital designers, consider both organization and flow.”
Many similarities in context, constraints and resources
Author calls it: “…a beautiful merger of art and science”
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24. But, should we really spend much
time looking at the work of others?
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25. But, should we really spend much
time looking at the work of others?
Aren't we (intentionally or unintanitonally) copying?
Can we be truly innovative, by looking at what everybody else did?
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26. Final thought: It's less about
the mehthod or technique,
than about yourself

27. Sources
Oxford Dictionaries: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/inspiration?q=inspiration
Andrew Zusman - Architecture As Design Inspiration http://usabilitygeek.com/architecture-design-
inspiration/
Images
Slide 6 Alan Miller: Philosophy and Inspiration https://www.flickr.com/photos/liquidindian/427162166
Slide 14 zev: because who's to say we are the only ones?
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fiddleoak/6153761489
Slide 15 Eduardo Amorim: Paz a vocês, amigos : )
https://www.flickr.com/photos/bombeador/3130004800/
Slide 17 Daniel Kulinski: frog perspective https://www.flickr.com/photos/bombeador/3130004800/
Slide 19 Spreng Ben: Quarters Only – New York
https://www.flickr.com/photos/sprengben/5441103463/
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