Discussing Design: Improving Communication and Collaboration through Critique

by Adam Connor

The Six Thinking Hats is a facilitation technique created by Edward de Bono, M.D., and described in the book he authored of the same name. The six hats method uses colored hats to represent different ways of analyzing a problem space or design. Throughout the session the team will switch hats to change perspective. Following is a description of each hat: White hat The white hat takes the focus and puts it on facts alone for analysis, with no speculation. Yellow hat The yellow hat represents looking at the positive, focusing on what is working. Black hat The black hat focuses on concerns, difficulties, or why something might not work. Black-hat thinking is often seen when someone plays the role of devil’s advocate. Red hat The red hat focuses on feelings that participants have in response to what they are analyzing. Hunches, fears, emotional responses, and personal likes and dislikes all make up red-hat thinking. Green hat The green hat focuses on creativity and generating new concepts and understandings. Blue hat The blue hat identifies the individual who is managing the discussion, determining its focus, goals, and so on. It is the one hat that is not shared by the group.