Functional Fixedness
Functional Fixedness
Functional fixedness is like a temporary brain freeze that stops junior artisans, like you, from seeing creative ways to use everyday objects. It happens because your brain quickly connects an object to its main job, making it hard to see any other uses.
For example, if you need to draw a neat semicircle on a bookmark, your mind might instantly say you can only use a normal math tool like a compass or a circle template.
In your MST (Manufacturing, Science, and Technology) projects, this rigid mindset can hold you back from finding unique solutions to design and drawing challenges.
Overcoming this mental block is how the best artisans breakthroughs happen. As an MST teacher, I even got stuck in this trap myself when I thought a standard circle template was the only tool my students could use for their designs.
However, one of my students broke through this mental barrier perfectly. Instead of giving up when she lacked a template, she looked into our recycling box, found a Tide detergent bottle cap, and realized it was the exact size needed to trace her bookmark curve.
Not only did it work perfectly, but the bulky cap was actually much easier for her to hold and trace than a flat plastic template!
As a student of design, you can defeat functional fixedness by taking the time to analyze your design problem, look at materials for what they can do rather than what they are meant to do, and choosing the absolute best tool available around you.
Functional fixedness is like a temporary brain freeze that stops junior artisans, like you, from seeing creative ways to use everyday objects. It happens because your brain quickly connects an object to its main job, making it hard to see any other uses.
For example, if you need to draw a neat semicircle on a bookmark, your mind might instantly say you can only use a normal math tool like a compass or a circle template.
In your MST (Manufacturing, Science, and Technology) projects, this rigid mindset can hold you back from finding unique solutions to design and drawing challenges.
Overcoming this mental block is how the best artisans breakthroughs happen. As an MST teacher, I even got stuck in this trap myself when I thought a standard circle template was the only tool my students could use for their designs.
However, one of my students broke through this mental barrier perfectly. Instead of giving up when she lacked a template, she looked into our recycling box, found a Tide detergent bottle cap, and realized it was the exact size needed to trace her bookmark curve.
Not only did it work perfectly, but the bulky cap was actually much easier for her to hold and trace than a flat plastic template!
As a student of design, you can defeat functional fixedness by taking the time to analyze your design problem, look at materials for what they can do rather than what they are meant to do, and choosing the absolute best tool available around you.
