Convergent thinking is an ideation mode which designersPeople who are engaged in the production of functional products, services and systems use to analyze, filter, evaluate, clarify and modify ideas they have generated in divergentDivergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. It typically occurs in a spontaneous, free-flowing, "non-linear" manner, such that many ideas are generated in an emergent cognitive fashion. Many possible solutions are explored in a short amount of time, and unexpected connections are drawn. Following divergent thinking, ideas and information are organized and structured using convergent thinking, which follows a particular set of logical steps to arrive at one solution, which in some cases is a "correct" solution. The psychologist J.P. Guilford first coined the terms convergent thinking and divergent thinking in 1956. thinking. They use analytical, vertical and linear thinking to find novel and useful ideas, understand the designDesign shapes ideas to become practical solutions and propositions for customers and users. Design is all around us, everything man made has been designed. The majority of designers work in teams, following a design brief and a process towards realising a commercially driven product, building, system or service space possibilities and get closer to potential solutions.
The term was coined by Joy Paul Guilford as the opposite of divergent thinking. It generally means the ability to give the "correct" answer to standard questions that do not require significant creativityCreativity is a characteristic of someone or some process that forms something new and valuable. The created item may be intangible or a physical object. Scholarly interest in creativity is found in a number of disciplines, primarily psychology, business studies, and cognitive science. Creativity is a tendency to generate, make or recognise ideas, propositions and possibilities that bring into existence something new, innovative or different. Imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are both original and of value. Creativity is the ability to create items that inspire and inform others, often in aesthetically pleasing ways. Creativity is thinking outside of society's norm. It is being able to express oneself in different varieties of arts - painting, poetry, sculpture, style, fashion, etc., for instance in most tasks in school and on standardized multiple-choice tests for intelligence.
