Analytical thinking for designers

Analytical thinking is the ability to break a situation into parts, compare the facts and reach a conclusion based on data rather than gut feeling. You structure information, look for how the pieces relate, and that lets you pick the best option out of everything on the table.

For a designer it is one of the core skills. The deeper you dig into a problem, the more ways to solve it you see, and the more angles you can look at it from.

Here is what I think helps to train it.

1. Don’t stop at the first solution

Found one? Look for another. Think about what you might have missed, go over the information a few times, and only then draw conclusions.

2. Ask how things around you work

Why does this happen? How does it work? What caused it? Answer honestly and skip the easy way out: dig in until you have a complete answer.

3. Draw a mind map

A mind map is a way to visualise your thinking. Put the key idea in the centre, say “Developing analytical thinking”. Around it add everything related: methods, obstacles, causes. Then expand each branch with new associations, and you end up with a picture of your own thought process.

4. Keep a notebook

Write down your goals, how you plan to reach them and what happened. If you missed a goal, do a post-mortem: find the reasons and analyse them.

5. Simulate situations

Invent a scenario with a problem and try to solve it. Write out the steps, and again, don’t settle for the first answer.

6. Learn something new every day

Pick a topic you care about and find one new fact about it each day.

7. Analyse everyday situations

Practise critical thinking: question things and check the facts when you watch the news or read a book. Notice details, look at things from a new angle and hunt for non-obvious connections.

8. Solve logic puzzles

Chess, word games, rebuses all work. LogicLike is a nice place to practise. RPGs and strategy games on a console or PC help too.

9. Read three “boring” books

• Mindfuck — Petra Bock
• The Organized Mind — Daniel Levitin
• A Technique for Producing Ideas — James Webb Young