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Imagine that you can’t find a solution to a complex work problem. You feel that there is a solution, it’s somewhere nearby, but you can’t “find” it. For example, you can’t find an obvious bug. This also happens with ordinary everyday tasks - everything seems simple, all the data and conditions are right in front of you, but the answer just doesn’t come to mind. It’s like a forgotten word or song that’s on the tip of your tongue, but you can’t remember it.
The usual standard methods and templates are not suitable here. You have to invent something new, but the brain can’t “switch” — it’s always trying to go along the well-known, well-trodden path. But when the task is finally solved, we feel like real winners — it’s always nice to overcome a difficult problem and find the best solution for it.
What to do in such cases? How to approach such problems? How to make your brain think creatively?
The duckling can stand on your desk next to your computer, or you can just imagine it. When a difficult question arises in your work, ask it to the duckling. The idea of talking to a toy duckling, and even more so to an imaginary duckling, seems a little strange. But everything will fall into place when you remember that the correct formulation of the question already contains half the answer.
If, for example, you can't find an error in the procedure, you can explain to the duckling step by step in detail what each line of code does. They say that this helps to quickly find the erroneous fragment. Of course, you can try to explain something to yourself, but for some reason this does not give the same results, and it is not as fun.
Instead of a duckling, you can use any other interlocutor. It can be a mini-figure of Lego or a pot with chlorophytum. I know several developers who have placed clay frogs in funny hats near their computers. I also have a personal feathered "consultant" on my desktop. In the end, you can always talk to your favorite cat. The main thing is that you feel comfortable telling a real or imaginary interlocutor about your problem.
Rubber Duck and the Hallway Conversationalist / Wikimedia Commons
The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper once said before his radio appearance: "So these are the main issues that will be discussed on the radio show tomorrow. I need to make sure that they are simple enough for a less educated audience to understand. Howard, read it and tell me what you don't understand." Sheldon's friend Howard Wolowitz, being an excellent engineer, MIT graduate and astronaut who visited the ISS, was understandably very upset after such a statement.
Essentially, Sheldon used a method that renowned usability expert Jakob Nielsen called “hallway testing.” The idea behind this method is to ask an uninformed random person to test a prototype of your app, website, or document.
So, you catch the first employee you come across in the hallway, preferably one who is not connected with development, sit him down in front of the computer and insistently offer him to work with your prototype. For example, to perform some action in the program. And at this time you yourself stand behind him and are surprised by his incomprehension and stupidity: you yourself have already performed this action hundreds of times.
Jakob Nielsen writes that with the help of "corridor testing" you can find up to 95% of errors related to usability and ease of use. The scope of application of corridor testing is much wider than checking the operation of an application or a site. This way you can check texts, architectures, ideas. This method helps to get the opinion of an unbiased, inexperienced person who sees your project for the first time. Those who used the "corridor testing" method say that they learned a lot of new and extremely unexpected things about their brainchild.
If you have a problem or a task that you can't find an answer to, try explaining it to your hallway companion. He has an advantage over the duckling in that he can answer you. And the answer may be quite stupid, but be sure to listen to it. You might want to exclaim: "What, was it possible?!"
Throwing away all your knowledge is not easy: you can’t just turn off your memory and intellect. But for the sake of solving a difficult problem, it’s worth trying to look at it as if all your knowledge doesn’t exist. This is where our hallway companion will help us. If you don’t have one, you can talk to a duckling. They will help you find a solution from the category “It’s so stupid that it might work.”
Rubber Duck Pros / Wikimedia Commons
There is a well-known story on the Internet about how, at the dawn of space flights, the Americans spent a long time and persistently inventing a pen that would write normally in space. In the end, they spent a lot of money on research and came up with a high-tech solution. And the Russians simply wrote in space with a pencil.
Sometimes it's useful to stop being a serious professional for a while and try to think more simply. Stereotypes and inertia of thinking often prevent us from looking at a problem from a different angle. But a rubber duck or a corridor companion are always ready to come to our aid.
Source
The usual standard methods and templates are not suitable here. You have to invent something new, but the brain can’t “switch” — it’s always trying to go along the well-known, well-trodden path. But when the task is finally solved, we feel like real winners — it’s always nice to overcome a difficult problem and find the best solution for it.
What to do in such cases? How to approach such problems? How to make your brain think creatively?
The duckling method
Rubber duck debugging is a method that helps you find an answer to a complex question or solve a difficult problem. The idea behind the method is that you delegate the task to a mental assistant — a rubber duck.The duckling can stand on your desk next to your computer, or you can just imagine it. When a difficult question arises in your work, ask it to the duckling. The idea of talking to a toy duckling, and even more so to an imaginary duckling, seems a little strange. But everything will fall into place when you remember that the correct formulation of the question already contains half the answer.
If, for example, you can't find an error in the procedure, you can explain to the duckling step by step in detail what each line of code does. They say that this helps to quickly find the erroneous fragment. Of course, you can try to explain something to yourself, but for some reason this does not give the same results, and it is not as fun.
Instead of a duckling, you can use any other interlocutor. It can be a mini-figure of Lego or a pot with chlorophytum. I know several developers who have placed clay frogs in funny hats near their computers. I also have a personal feathered "consultant" on my desktop. In the end, you can always talk to your favorite cat. The main thing is that you feel comfortable telling a real or imaginary interlocutor about your problem.
Corridor testing method
You can appoint one of your colleagues, relatives or acquaintances as the interlocutor. The main thing here is that the performer of the duckling role has nothing to do with the development. Only in this case your interlocutor will not only not laugh at your stupid mistakes, but will also be able to offer a completely new and unexpected solution to your problem. In the same way, you can additionally check the finished solution.
Rubber Duck and the Hallway Conversationalist / Wikimedia Commons
The Big Bang Theory's Sheldon Cooper once said before his radio appearance: "So these are the main issues that will be discussed on the radio show tomorrow. I need to make sure that they are simple enough for a less educated audience to understand. Howard, read it and tell me what you don't understand." Sheldon's friend Howard Wolowitz, being an excellent engineer, MIT graduate and astronaut who visited the ISS, was understandably very upset after such a statement.
Essentially, Sheldon used a method that renowned usability expert Jakob Nielsen called “hallway testing.” The idea behind this method is to ask an uninformed random person to test a prototype of your app, website, or document.
So, you catch the first employee you come across in the hallway, preferably one who is not connected with development, sit him down in front of the computer and insistently offer him to work with your prototype. For example, to perform some action in the program. And at this time you yourself stand behind him and are surprised by his incomprehension and stupidity: you yourself have already performed this action hundreds of times.
Jakob Nielsen writes that with the help of "corridor testing" you can find up to 95% of errors related to usability and ease of use. The scope of application of corridor testing is much wider than checking the operation of an application or a site. This way you can check texts, architectures, ideas. This method helps to get the opinion of an unbiased, inexperienced person who sees your project for the first time. Those who used the "corridor testing" method say that they learned a lot of new and extremely unexpected things about their brainchild.
If you have a problem or a task that you can't find an answer to, try explaining it to your hallway companion. He has an advantage over the duckling in that he can answer you. And the answer may be quite stupid, but be sure to listen to it. You might want to exclaim: "What, was it possible?!"
There are no stupid questions and stupid answers
If you can't find a solution to a complex problem, maybe you're taking the problem too seriously? We all consider ourselves professionals, we have a wealth of knowledge and skills. We are used to solving complex problems using equally complex tools. But sometimes this seriousness plays a cruel joke on us and prevents us from seeing the simplest solution to the problem.Throwing away all your knowledge is not easy: you can’t just turn off your memory and intellect. But for the sake of solving a difficult problem, it’s worth trying to look at it as if all your knowledge doesn’t exist. This is where our hallway companion will help us. If you don’t have one, you can talk to a duckling. They will help you find a solution from the category “It’s so stupid that it might work.”
Rubber Duck Pros / Wikimedia Commons
There is a well-known story on the Internet about how, at the dawn of space flights, the Americans spent a long time and persistently inventing a pen that would write normally in space. In the end, they spent a lot of money on research and came up with a high-tech solution. And the Russians simply wrote in space with a pencil.
Sometimes it's useful to stop being a serious professional for a while and try to think more simply. Stereotypes and inertia of thinking often prevent us from looking at a problem from a different angle. But a rubber duck or a corridor companion are always ready to come to our aid.
Source
