Back in 1987, five-year-old me stood in front of a beige box in my grandmother’s bedroom and marveled at the animations I saw on the connected SVGA monitor. I was playing Math Blaster Plus and saving the universe from critters using the power of math, which I don’t recall being particularly good at but I enjoyed nonetheless. Within a few short years, we replaced DOS with Windows 3.1 and I took a tiny first step in digital art with MS Paint. These early games and versions of Windows were my first interactions with computers and defined not only my childhood but my experience with technology many years later. Like many designers, I eventually switched to the Mac, but now - over 30 years on - I’m looking at Windows 11 to find out how I feel about switching back to the operating system of my youth.

My friend Lars, a software engineer, only wears black. One day I was rummaging through his bookshelf and found a copy of Why Do Architects Wear Black? by Cordula Rau, a compilation of quotes from architects on their choice of wardrobe colors, black or otherwise. This seems to extend to designers and innovators; Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, would only ever present on stage wearing his iconic black turtleneck. This inspired Elisabeth Holmes, disgraced founder of failed technology company Theranos to do the same. Certainly my home city of Berlin is known for both its creative scene and wardrobes full of identical black T-shirts.

Over the years I’ve tried introducing other colors into my closet. A red dress, a blue jacket. Despite my honest efforts, they seem to remain unworn.

So why do designers wear black? Are we minimalists, purists, or perhaps simply unimaginative? I’ve asked a few of my fellow designers.

You probably know the scenario: you’re a designer (or another creative role) facilitating a workshop with project managers, leadership or stakeholders. Try as you might to encourage participants to ideate around user journeys, the room pivots to discussions on technical hurdles or focuses on individual silos instead of an end-to-end product vision. You may have even heard “I can’t draw” at least once during the workshop.

The truth is that motivation to ideate creatively doesn’t come as easily to some as it does to others, and encouraging others to ideate has as much to do with setting as it has to do with facilitation. Here are a few ways in which you can plan and run your workshops in order to enable participants - even the most conservative ones - to try their hand at creative thinking.