Creating frames improves cognition

Once a problem space has been developed, designers create frames that illuminate the problem space and solution space.

[A] frame is an organizational principle or a coherent set of statements that are useful to think with. Although frames can sometimes be paraphrased by a simple and elegant statement … they are actually quite complex and subtle thought tools. Proposing a frame includes the use of certain concepts, which are assigned significance and meaning. These concepts are not neutral at all: they will steer explorations and the perceptions in the process of creation.… Frames should therefore be actionable—that is, they should be capable of leading to realistic solutions. For a frame to really come “alive,” it also has to be inspiring and captivating. It should immediately draw forth mental images in the key people involved, and trigger solution ideas through a quick-fire stream of consciousness.^[1]

Useful frames are carefully designed to achieve the following:^[2]

Create “an image that spans and integrates a broad range of issues under consideration and might draw in even more issues from outside the original problem arena.”
Be “coherent, and provide a stable (noncontradictory) basis for further thought.”
Be “robust, in the sense that the images they conjure up in the minds of the participants are sufficiently similar to provide a “common ground” for the discussion of the problem and possible solutions.”
Are “inspiring and original —perhaps not completely new to the world, but at least new to the problem setting.”
Are “very thought-provoking and lively, engaging people’s imagination so their thoughts readily move along in the proposed direction.”

#cognition #strategic