COMM1120 Chap.1 Innovation Choices Across the Double Diamond
Innovation Choices Across the Double Diamond
The Double Diamond separates the problem space from the solution space and uses divergence and convergence in both. Discover expands evidence and perspectives; Define produces a focused frame; Develop explores and tests alternatives; Deliver selects and communicates a response. The model is a decision rhythm rather than a promise that innovation is linear.
Feedback may send a team backward when a problem assumption or solution mechanism fails.
Creativity generates possibilities, while innovation puts an idea into use for a genuine need and a meaningful benefit. The distinction helps students avoid treating novelty as proof of usefulness. Creative confidence supports exploration by encouraging small starts, learning from failure and iteration from feedback.
Convergence remains necessary because options must eventually be compared on relevant criteria.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Discover before defining the problem
- 02
Diverge before converging on a choice
- 03
Separate creative ideas from implemented value
- 04
Keep a traceable decision record
- 05
Use feedback to revisit an earlier phase
Worked example · free
Open a solution-shaped frame
- +1Name the embedded solution.
- +1Identify the missing problem evidence.
- +1Return to targeted discovery.
- +1State criteria for later convergence.
Key terms
- Double Diamond
- A framework that alternates divergence and convergence in problem and solution spaces.
- Creative confidence
- Belief that useful ideas can be generated and acted upon through practice, feedback and iteration.
- Divergent thinking
- Opening a field of possibilities before judging them.
- Convergent thinking
- Comparing alternatives and committing using declared criteria.
- Innovation
- A novel concept put into use so it meets a genuine need and produces a benefit.
Innovation Choices Across the Double Diamond FAQ
Why should teams delay convergence?
Early commitment can turn research into decoration for a favourite idea. Delaying judgement long enough to gather alternatives improves comparison, but divergence should end once relevant uncertainty has been reduced enough for a responsible choice.
Can the process move backward?
Yes. Testing may expose a weak problem frame, missing stakeholder or unsupported mechanism. Returning to discovery or definition is useful when the team records what evidence triggered the move and what uncertainty it will investigate.
How does creativity differ from innovation?
Creativity concerns generating ideas and alternatives. Innovation adds implementation and value creation. An imaginative concept remains a creative output until evidence and action show that it addresses a real problem for someone.
What makes convergence defensible?
A defensible choice compares genuine alternatives against relevant criteria, acknowledges remaining uncertainty and identifies a next test. A decision log makes the evidence and reasoning visible.
Assessment move
Draw the two diamonds from memory and place a current project decision at each stage. For every convergence point, list the alternatives, evidence and selection criteria. Practise rewriting solution-shaped problem statements so they name a person, situation and desired change without prescribing a channel. Build a weekly divergence and convergence log.
In the divergence column, record what new perspective, source or option entered the project and why it mattered. In the convergence column, record which possibility was selected or rejected, the criterion used, and the uncertainty that remains. This prevents the final story from making innovation look smoother than it was. Use three short drills.
First, take an ordinary product and list observations before proposing improvements; this trains you to keep the problem space open. Second, generate several responses to one evidenced need, including a response that uses no new technology; this exposes assumptions about what innovation must look like.
Third, compare the responses on relevance, user value, feasibility and learning potential, then explain which criterion deserves the greatest weight in that context. For Assessment 1 preparation, practise separating description, personal response, course connection and insight. A photograph is evidence of a moment, not automatic proof of creativity or innovation.
Explain what changed, for whom, and whether the example concerns an idea, implementation or resulting value. Before team work, agree on a phrase that signals which mode the group is using, such as opening options or choosing by criteria. If somebody criticises an idea during divergence, park the concern for the comparison stage.
If somebody adds unrelated options during convergence, ask whether new evidence justifies reopening. Finish revision by teaching the framework aloud without slides. Define each stage, provide one decision example, and describe a legitimate reason to move backward. If your explanation treats Deliver as the end of learning, revisit the role of testing and iteration.
Add a transfer exercise by choosing an unfamiliar service and locating one decision in each diamond stage. Write the evidence required before moving forward, then identify the cheapest test that could overturn the proposed direction. Compare your sequence with a classmate and discuss where each of you converged too early.
Finish by summarising the difference between an attractive idea and implemented value in language that a project partner could use. Ask the partner to identify the evidence needed before either claim becomes credible. Record the answer beside the next project decision.
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