Conceptual thinking is, in my opinion, one of the hardest tasks when it comes to being a designer; but i'm getting better at it slowly.

Our final year project allows us to pursue whatever we want to. Tackle any issue, target any niche. This freedom is equally exciting and terrifying. With any previous project, we've been given a brief that would out line an issue and help guide us to a result. But now the metaphorical training wheels are off.

I started by writing down some topics and issues that interest me. This would help to steer me in a straighter path.

One of my go to methods to come up with ideas is a basic mind map. While this is just the start of the process, it really helps me to get all my thoughts down on paper in a somewhat organised structure. I wrote down an issues that directly or indirectly affect me. Once I wrote down the issue I start to write some related topic or even some possible solutions around the word. This helps me develop links and possible ideas through finding common related issues.

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I also took a look at some of the Final year students projects to develop a list of some of the other possible paths I could take. This helped to make a more structured brief for myself by comparing what previous students have come up with. I went through the IXDGrad page and wrote down key words to build a repository of projects. I can then refer back to this if i'm feeling stuck. For example I could look back on the list of words and realise I haven't explored possible gamification apps or a particular topic

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