Process
How we go from a brief to a finished design.
Three steps
Each step comes from a research result: model ideas converge, taste is personal, and revision drifts back to the usual.
01
Generate widely.
Every idea starts from a different seed, so the set covers far more ground than a model’s usual answer.
02
Let the person choose.
People pick blind. Their picks teach the system which way they lean, and how far.
03
Develop with care.
The chosen idea becomes a model and drawings. A critic reviews every round, and new outside material keeps it from going generic.
The roles
Each role is a model with one job. The founder sets the brief and makes the final calls.
- DesignerWrites many ideas for the brief, each from a different seed.
- DirectorKeeps the brief, the person’s picks and the schedule in view.
- ModellerTurns the chosen idea into a model and drawings.
- CriticReviews every round and says what is still generic.
What it made
Our first brief was the eVolo Skyscraper Competition. The process produced three ideas on territory, gravity and time, shown on the home page, and combined them into one design.
Where each part stands
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Live
Framework
How more than a thousand people think, written so a model can reason like them.
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Experiment
The blind-pick test
Pick your favourite of four short pieces, ten times, and see whose thinking your taste follows.
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In research
The seeded generator
Makes many different ideas for one brief. Seeded ideas are far less alike than plain ones (similarity 0.42 to 0.58 against 0.77 to 0.81).
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In research
The distance scale
Measures how far an idea is from the usual answer, on one scale from 0 to about 2.
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Building now
The personal selector
Learns a person’s taste from their picks. Target: match them at 80% of their own consistency within 40 picks.