In the past when solving problems, I tried to immediately dive in and solve the problem as fast as possible. I never documented essential information such as the background behind the problem, what I expected my final outcomes to be, what constraints and challenges I expected to encounter during the problem solving process. This would often lead me to miss important details of the problem, my solution did not perform like I expected it to and often not solve the problem entirely. After learning important design strategies from my faculty mentors and instructors in MAE 451 and other design classes, I learned the value of going through the entire design process. Now my problem solving methodology always starts out by first analyzing the problem background and really understanding the motivation behind the project. I utilize tools such as a fish bone analysis, surveys and polls to figure out the root causes and reasoning of why something is a problem. I document these findings in a report where it easy for someone to understand why I'm doing something. As many problems are user centric, I found understanding the motivation behind a project and getting opinions from the end user, made it much easier to communicate my final results to stakeholders.

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I discussed with my friends and family how they solve problems and what steps they take. My family said they usually also jump straight into the problem but try to at least have a written list of important information. My friends who are in STEM fields or deal with problem analysis on a regular basis were similar in their beginning approaches to solving a problem: jumping into the solving phase too quickly and missing key details. They mentioned that they improved their skills vastly by using visual tools such as matrices and scoring graphs to weight certain aspects of the solution to help them focus on what they think is the most important part of the solution. I really found this interesting as I can find myself overwhelmed at times by the plethora of information I have to key track of from users and research I performed. These tools seem to really help in the decision making process and sorting through background information.

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To help develop my creative thinking and analysis skills, I have consulted the written resources provided by Dr. Olewnik on the UB tinkering course and Engineering Intramural website. His resources on problem solving methodologies really helped me in the progression of my 451 project. His flowcharts on types of engineering problems and an article he posted, Everyday Problem Solving in Engineering: Lessons for Engineering Educators, written by David Jonassen have really opened my eyes on how problems are formulated and solved. I also enjoyed reading The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman where he writes about how common use devices were made and how it effects the people who use them.