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Design by Reversal
While design by inversion focuses on changing a design idea or concept, problem reversal focuses on changing how you think about the problem itself.
Consider this example. If the problem is one of stopping a leaky roof, then the reverse is to stop a leaky floor – i.e. rather than stopping the leak in the roof, vent the leak to the floor (and then just drain it). Obviously you can't just reverse one problem and solve it in a trivial way. The point of reversing a problem is to promote so called lateral thinking, which is a $50 way of saying “coming up with really new ideas.” So, reversal is more about reversing the way you think about a problem or a design, rather than reversing the design itself. Some other examples of reversal include the following.
| Problem | Initial Solution | Reversed Problem |
|---|---|---|
| You need to stop groundwater from entering a pit being dug. | Put up a barrier that forces water around the pit. | Instead of trying to stop the water, suck it forward with a vacuum system, into a pipe that you can route off-site. |
| Designing a playground so that children will tend to not walk in front of the end of the slide where then can be struck by other children coming down the slide. | Having a large open space at the end of the slide so that children can jump out of the way. | Turn the end of the slide so that children are directed immediately towards another activity with a staging area (e.g. a ladder they can climb). |
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