Rapid questioning to supercharge your process

Back in TU Delft, during my Masters, we had a very interesting course on the Design Process. One of the key topics of discussion was around reflection, and the ways in which designers could actively reflect on the work which they do.

Reflection in Action. (Reflecting on your work while you’re doing the work)

Reflection on Action. (Reflection after having done the work)

Essentially, one should reflect on their work all the time. While we reflect, that’s when the real learning happens.

However, there is also the trouble of having done too much reflection. This involves a fine balance about thinking about the past work, present actions as well as the enacting our future self in the right way.

This might..err.. sound a bit complicated. To ease things up, I’d made a video around how one could navigate this.

This process is not just for design but for various facets of life.

When we look at cab drivers, we believe that they are better drivers especially judging them based on years of experience. However it would be silly to evaluate primarily on the years of experience. You might have been a cab driver for 10 years, but still be okay-ish.

The actual skill of driving is inculcated when we do these two actions: reflection in action, reflection on action.

That’s also one of the tactics adopted by extreme learners who involve in rapid reflection for a shorter period of time to achieve the same skill level as compared to a more experienced learner.