Hello and welcome back.
In our previous lesson, we explored the Adapt technique. We saw how borrowing principles from a distant field like architecture could inspire novel solutions for bra design, such as using concepts from suspension bridges or geodesic domes to create lift and shape.
Today, we move to the fourth letter in our SCAMPER mnemonic: M for Modify. The learning outcome for this lesson is to apply the Modify technique to alter aspects of an idea to explore new possibilities. As we alternate between your areas of interest, we'll shift our focus back to relationship dynamics and analyse how modifying key elements within a "Vee" relationship can help manage common challenges.
1. Understanding the "Modify" Technique
The "Modify" technique prompts us to change an attribute of an idea. Unlike "Substitute" (swapping a part) or "Adapt" (changing the context), "Modify" focuses on altering the inherent qualities of the concept itself. The most common ways to modify something are to magnify (enlarge, heighten, add to) or minify (reduce, shrink, lessen) a specific feature.
Let's start with a clear definition and some guiding questions that form the core of this technique.
A Guide to the SCAMPER Technique for Design Thinking
The article 'A Guide to the SCAMPER Technique for Design Thinking' from Designorate, provides an excellent and concise explanation of this technique.
Please read the section titled 'Modify, minify or magnify'. Focus on the definition and the list of guiding questions. These questions are designed to systematically push you to think about what would happen if you changed the scale or attributes of your idea.
As the article suggests, this can be about changing the scale ("What if the product is double the current size?") or changing the process itself ("Can we change the process so that it works more efficiently?"). This is a powerful way to explore variations and uncover improvements. Research in creative fields, such as the study on fashion design we referenced previously, often finds that designers intuitively "modify" existing ideas to innovate.
2. The Core Actions: Magnify and Minify
Let's break down "Modify" into its two primary actions: Magnifying and Minifying. Thinking about these two opposites provides a structured way to brainstorm.
- Magnify: To amplify, add, or extend. What can you make bigger, stronger, more frequent, or more prominent?
- Minify: To reduce, lessen, or remove. What can you make smaller, less frequent, less intense, or even eliminate?
Given your background in statistics, you can think of this as adjusting the weights of different variables in a model. By magnifying the influence of one variable or minifying another, you can observe how the overall system behaviour changes. In social dynamics, just as in a statistical model, altering the "parameters" of a relationship can lead to vastly different outcomes.
3. Application: Modifying a "Vee" Relationship Dynamic
Let's apply this to a practical scenario in your area of interest.
Scenario:
Consider a "Vee" relationship involving a husband, a wife, and the husband's partner (the metamour). The structure is stable, but tensions are emerging.
- The Wife feels her one-on-one time with her husband is being eroded and feels insecure about her position.
- The Husband (the "hinge") feels stressed, trying to meet the emotional and time needs of two partners.
- The Metamour feels her relationship exists in a vacuum and lacks the social integration she desires.
The goal is not to "fix" the relationship in one move, but to generate a wide range of possible adjustments that could be discussed and tested.
Your Task:
Use the Magnify/Minify framework to brainstorm adjustments for the relationship. Below is a table. I have completed the first row as an example. Your task is to complete the remaining two rows. For each "Aspect to Modify," consider what you could increase (Magnify) and what you could decrease (Minify), and then analyse the potential outcomes of each action.
Take about 20 minutes for this exercise. Think like a social researcher analysing the potential effects of an intervention.
| Aspect of the Relationship | Magnify (Increase/Amplify) | Potential Outcome of Magnifying | Minify (Decrease/Lessen) | Potential Outcome of Minifying |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Communication between Wife and Metamour | Example: Schedule a weekly coffee or phone call, create a shared group chat for low-stakes topics. | Could build empathy and a supportive friendship, reducing the wife's insecurity and the metamour's isolation. Might also increase friction if personalities clash. | Example: Limit direct communication to logistics only (e.g., coordinating schedules via the husband). No expectation of friendship. | Could reduce immediate conflict and give both individuals space ('Parallel Polyamory'). Might also increase misunderstanding and the wife's sense of exclusion. |
| Scheduled One-on-One "Date Nights" | ||||
| Shared Social Time (All three attend events together) |
(Please take your time to complete the exercise before continuing.)
Example Solutions
Here are some possible ways to fill out the table. Compare these with your own ideas—remember, the goal is divergent thinking, so your ideas may be different and equally valid.
| Aspect of the Relationship | Magnify (Increase/Amplify) | Potential Outcome of Magnifying | Minify (Decrease/Lessen) | Potential Outcome of Minifying |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled One-on-One "Date Nights" | Increase the frequency and/or make them "sacred" (unbreakable) for both the wife/husband and metamour/husband pairings. | Reinforces the security and importance of each individual relationship. May reduce the husband's flexibility and increase scheduling complexity. | Reduce the number of formally scheduled dates in favour of more spontaneous time. | Could increase flexibility and reduce pressure. Might also lead to one partner feeling neglected if time isn't distributed equitably without a formal schedule. |
| Shared Social Time (All three attend events together) | Actively plan group outings, host events as a trio, and present as a cohesive family unit to friends. | Increases the metamour's sense of integration and normalises the relationship structure for their social circle. Could be stressful for the wife if she is not ready for that level of integration. | Limit group hangouts to rare, special occasions. Each partner maintains a mostly separate social life with the husband. | Reduces pressure on all parties to "perform" as a happy unit. Can increase the metamour's feeling of being a "secret" or secondary partner, and compartmentalise the husband's life. |
By systematically magnifying and minifying different aspects, you can move beyond a single problem-solving track and generate a portfolio of options. Each option has potential benefits and drawbacks, which can then be evaluated based on the specific needs and personalities of the people involved.
Conclusion
In this lesson, we dissected the Modify technique from the SCAMPER framework. We saw that it is a direct method for innovation by altering the attributes, scale, or form of an existing idea.
Here are your key takeaways:
- Modify as a tool for change: It involves systematically exploring variations by either magnifying (adding, amplifying, strengthening) or minifying (reducing, lessening, weakening) key features.
- Analytical Brainstorming: Framing modification as magnifying/minifying allows for a structured analysis of potential positive and negative outcomes, which suits a researcher's mindset.
- Practical Application: We applied this technique to a "Vee" relationship scenario, generating a range of potential adjustments to manage common tensions related to time, security, and integration.
In our next lesson, we will move to the "P" in SCAMPER: Put to Another Use. We will explore how to find entirely new contexts and applications for an existing idea, product, or skill. For that lesson, we'll return to your interest in lingerie design.