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Divergent & convergent thinking 1:05
A 65-second explainer of Divergent & convergent thinking, narrated over the same demo you can try yourself.
Try the interactive Divergent & convergent thinking demo
What this video covers
Divergent and convergent thinking are the two complementary modes design swings between. Divergent thinking opens up - generating many ideas, options and possibilities without judging them. Convergent thinking narrows down - evaluating, comparing and choosing among them. Good process deliberately separates the two, because trying to create and critique at the same time does both badly.
Watch the rhythm: first the field opens out as ideas pile up with no judgement (divergent), then it narrows as you cluster and choose (convergent). Try to do both at once and you get the worst of each - timid ideas and no decision. Separating them is the whole trick: diverge to explore widely, then converge to decide - that alternation is how good design actually moves forward.
