Finding alternative solutions to existing problems first involves identifying a potential challenge. One recommendation that I learned in one of my design courses is to take a close look at all aspects of your daily life and see what generates anxiety or frustration (or some other negative feeling prompting a call to action).
One area that came to mind is the traffic signal. While the traffic signal is a necessary solution to preventing accidents at three and four way intersections, the existing solution is far from ideal. Let me share a few examples that I’m sure you may have thought of - but first, let’s start with the basics: what do you see?
- Tangible: Light pole, cabling, traffic signal box, colored lights, general infrastructure
- Intangible: Predictability, Disregard for signal
Using these as a basis, what are some of the problems?
- Single points of light – little surface area and positioned away from the traffic below which introduces risk; cars that are far away from the signal are also at risk given their inability to see the signal.
- Power / infrastructure costs – the more intersections in a given area, the greater the long-term costs.
- Wasted energy – vehicles are required to stop at predictable times and there is no reclimation of energy due to braking.
- Accidents - Accidents are still very much the norm and there is no way to completely prevent such accidents.
- Increased traffic congestion – traffic does not continuously flow, thus leaving room for increased congestion and risk.
Worded differently, we can start to articulate some of the possible objectives:
- Increase traffic signal visibility.
- Reduce / eliminate infrastructure costs.
- Improve / reclaim lost power due to vehicle idling.
- Prevent and further reduce the number of accidents at intersections.
- Improve traffic flow at intersections.
These are all solid objectives, but they are fairly random. Are we trying to reduce electrical costs across the board, improve safety or reduce vehicle emissions? As you can see here, true innovation depends a lot on the objective you are trying to address. To this point, what is the biggest return on investement? Going a step further, who are you representing using this innovation perspective? Argueably, in order to develop the best overall solution, you have to take a closer look from all perspectives and bundle these objectives using a single vision statement.
In my next post, we’ll start to brainstorm looking at the problem from all angles.