As you might have guessed, thinkering is a portmanteau of the words ‘thinking’ and ‘tinkering’, meaning just that – thinking through tinkering! When we tinker, our hands stay active and engaged with the materials in front of us, while the mind is allowed to wander, and these moments are when some of the richest and most exciting ideas can happen. We advocate for the value of thinkering as an exploratory ideation method regardless of skill level, as even the most experienced interaction designer can benefit from the kind of ‘playful’ freedom the method fosters.

Thinkering is most useful when developing a project concept that involves some form of technology. Open-source platforms such as Arduino², LittleBits³ and Makey Makey⁴ are recommended for those unfamiliar with electronics as they’re well supported, with thorough documentation available online.

While thinkering and physical prototyping are similar methods, a prototype might include technologies in later stages, whereas thinkering starts with technology and focuses on what these components might mean for a design project. This difference in approach enables us to see new possibilities when addressing a design problem.

Thinkering can be used at multiple stages of a design project, from initial ideation, resolving stubborn issues, reframing a project or simply exploring potential alternative features and interactions. Having a plan when thinkering can aid in resolving particular issues you might be experiencing with a project. You might just like to ‘play’ if you’re new to the method or exploring early ideas, although we do recommend setting yourself some constraints no matter what your thinkering goal is. Choose 1 or 2 different pieces of technology as a starting point and see where thinkering takes you!

Consider these points before thinkering:

• Interaction & movement – what styles suits your project?
• Inputs/outputs – what interactions connect to an input, and what is the resulting output? (e.g. A touch sensor triggering a red LED)
• Layering & structure – how will the project’s physical elements be structured? Think about breaking it down into layers and building it up, piece by piece.

Activity

Before you start

You’ll need to source your materials and decide on what technologies you’d like to work with when thinkering. We recommend referring back to our tips on the physical prototyping method as we give some suggestions on where you might source unique, cheap or potentially free materials from! As for technologies, we mentioned platforms such as Arduino², Makey Makey⁴ and LittleBits³ as good places to start – all are just as suitable and have various levels of entry in terms of technical ability so do some research and decide what works best for you on an as-needs basis. There are no electronics, soldering or programming experience needed to develop a simple project using these technologies – while these skills can come in handy, they are not essential and might be worthwhile pursuing further if you’d like to produce more advanced outcomes in the future.

If you do not have access to your own prototyping technologies, it is worthwhile asking your lecturer if you can borrow one! The interaction design discipline has access to a select number of Arduino kits, which contain all of the basic components essential to develop a simple project.

Activity steps

1. Select your materials and technologies.
2. Frame your explorations – this might be using a keyword, a specific goal or aim, the purpose of this ‘framing’ is to ensure that while you’re experimenting with different materials and technologies, the outcome relates back to your project.
   
   You might like to thinker to address a specific design issue, or simply to explore new opportunities. Whatever your goal, ensure that you come back to this before you finish thinkering, as reflecting on your explorations – make sure they’re actually contributing towards your project development in some way.
3. Thinker away! Remember that thinkering is not a linear process and you’ll move back and forth through different activities within the broader thinkering process. Here are some tips on where to start:
   • Build outwards from the technology – what can you do with it?
   • Start with familiar materials – this can be a great way to ease yourself into quite an exploratory process.
   • Combine and break apart things – this can help to familiarise yourself with the qualities of your materials.
   • Think about inputs and outputs – what interactions can be performed by someone? A button push? A motion sensor? A touch sensor? And what happens afterwards? Does an LED blink or a motor spin?
4. Thoroughly document your thinkering process – you might take photos along the way, make notes and sketches. We highly recommend developing a good documentation practice. Consider using Reflective Practice methods during and after thinkering as this provides a good structure for documentation and helping you to uncover insights that can benefit your projects.
5. Storage – will you keep prototypes to further develop later on? Can materials be repurposed for future thinkering or prototyping sessions? Developing good storage habits, much like documentation, will help you to work more efficiently and effectively.

Further reading

• Sundström, Petra, Alex Taylor, Katja Grufberg, Niklas Wirström, Jordi Solsona Belenguer, and Marcus Lundén. 2011. ‘Inspirational Bits: Towards a Shared Understanding of the Digital Material’. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1561–1570. CHI ’11. New York, NY, USA: ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/1978942.1979170.

References

1. Ondaatje, Michael. 1993. The English Patient. Toronto : Vintage Books.
2. Arduino. n.d. ‘Arduino – Home’. Accessed 20 February 2020. https://www.arduino.cc/.
3. Sphero Inc. n.d. ‘LittleBits | Electronic Building Blocks for the 21st Century’. LittleBits. Accessed 20 February 2020. https://littlebits.com/.
4. Makey Makey LLC. n.d. ‘Makey Makey’. Makey Shop. Accessed 20 February 2020. https://makeymakey.com/.

While you may be familiar with the term ‘prototype’ specifically in the context of user-experience and user interface design, this method, which we’ve termed ‘physical prototyping’, focuses on prototypes made from physical materials that are used to explore tangible and interactive qualities of projects that don’t reside on the screen.

It’s important to let go of the idea that a prototype has to possess a certain degree of functionality or finish and a helpful way to do this is think of your physical prototypes as a kind of ‘sketch’, but rather than using pen and paper, you’re using physical materials!

While physical prototypes will inherently take many different shapes, it’s especially important to think about what you’re prototyping for. You might be exploring an initial idea or further refining an existing concept and you might be looking at creating a representation of the entire concept or focussing on a specific element and looking to scope this out in more detail.

Just like sketching forms a vital part of your design process, physical prototyping is an invaluable way to unpack design problems and explore ideas when working on projects that involve interaction with physical objects and materials.

We recommend spending some time developing your concepts first through sketching and once you’ve reached a point where ideas can no longer be developed on paper, sketch out a plan on what you’re going to prototype. In our experience it’s helpful to have a plan to aid in structuring your physical prototyping explorations, while also being open to new ideas that can spark when working with materials.

Some questions to consider:

• What dimension of the project am I exploring? (size, weight, colour, texture, robustness of materials)
• Am I prototyping a piece of the project or the entire project?
• What tools and materials do I need to work on my prototype?
• How will I simulate interactions in the prototype?

Activity

Before you start

The following activity involves prototyping with physical materials and is designed for any skill level. Think about what kind of materials enable movement in your prototype. A good place to start is by experimenting with joining methods, such as hinges, nuts, bolts and screws – anything that enables movement in your project will be suitable.

Activity steps

1. Select 1 movement prompt and 1 aesthetic prompt from the following list:
   • Movement prompts – twisting, bounding, prancing, perching, galloping, scampering, creeping, foraging, galivanting, bounding, leaping, falling, spluttering.
   • Aesthetic prompts – stable, proud, timid, flamboyant, shy, aggressive, perturbed, bombastic, elegant, rigid, sweet, fragile, sarcastic, joyful, exhausted.
2. Brainstorm the different kinds of forms implied by the combination of these prompts, for example, ‘fierce’ and ‘perching’.
   • What might a ‘fierce, perching’ prototype look like? (for example)
   • What kind of movements and interactions might it evoke and enable?
3. Begin the prototyping process by exploring your materials, trying working with temporary joints at first (such as tape and blue-tac). Explore a variety of different ways you might realise your prototype before committing to a single idea.
4. Once you’re satisfied with the direction of the prototype, make some decisions about how you’d like to produce the movement.
   • Try springs, hinges, double-sided tape – anything that enables different qualities of movement!
   • Think about whether part/s or the entire prototype will move.
5. The outcome of your prototyping should be something that evokes the aesthetic and movement qualities from the prompts you selected.

Notes

The QUT Design Workshop, located on the ground floor of J Block at Garden’s point campus is not only a great place to prototype, but also to find prototyping materials! Ask the workshop staff about using spare and scrap materials in your projects.

Reverse Garbage QLD is a not-for-profit in Wooloongabba that diverts waste from landfill and resell all sorts of unique materials that might be worth a look for your prototyping.