Level 3 exam — Creativity & Problem Solving

Exam — fresh questions

12 questions to validate structured methods: Design Thinking, six hats, lateral thinking, empathy and combining methods.
Answer everything, then click Check: your score and explanations will appear.

3.1 · Recall

1. What is Design Thinking's core principle?

Start from available technology Start from the user's real needs Start from the allocated budget Start from your own assumptions

It combines empathy, creativity and rigor, centered on the user.

3.1 · Application

2. Sara hesitates between polishing alone for six months and testing a simple version tomorrow. What to pick?

Decorate without observing users Polish alone to impress Test a simple version with users early Wait for the ideal budget before any test

Testing a simple version with users avoids investing in a failed solution.

3.2 · Application

3. In a meeting, each defends a mode (facts vs emotions) and it blocks. What does Sara do?

Let people vote without exploring Have all wear the same hat, in turn Remove emotions on principle Assign one fixed hat to each person

Parallel thinking explores all angles without personal confrontation.

3.2 · Recall

4. Which hat matches risks and weaknesses?

Red (emotions) White (facts) Yellow (benefits) Black (caution: risks)

Black = caution (risks, weaknesses); yellow = benefits, red = emotions, white = facts.

3.3 · Application

5. The team repeats more counters with no effect. What lateral reflex for Sara?

Challenge one obvious fact and bypass the problem Reproduce the procedure identically Dig the same hole deeper Reverse the budget without thinking

Lateral digs elsewhere: question the obvious instead of facing head-on.

3.3 · Application

6. Lateral or vertical thinking: how to decide?

Both exclude each other definitively Lateral replaces all logic Lateral generates the breakthrough, vertical develops it Vertical alone is always enough

They complement each other: lateral produces breakthrough ideas, vertical evaluates and develops them.

3.4 · Application

7. A user asks for a shorter form. What does Sara look for?

She blindly shortens the form The implicit need behind the request (fear, loss) A new logo for the form A budget to redo everything

Observation reveals the real need (reassurance, auto-save) behind the expressed request.

3.4 · Decision

8. Sara writes a persona among colleagues, with no user met. What verdict?

Enough: reality will come later alone Perfect: fast and rigorous Risky fiction: it formalizes internal biases Useless: personas never help

An invented persona formalizes our biases; it must rest on interviews and observation.

3.5 · Decision

9. What is the right overall approach for Sara?

Decide first, understand after Test before any understanding Generate then frame afterward Frame → generate → decide → test

You understand the problem, generate widely, decide, then test.

3.5 · Decision

10. Facing a tense group debate before sorting, which sequence?

6 hats to calm down, then matrix to decide Collect ten methods without practicing Vote blindly without framing or generating Brainstorm alone then impose the choice

Each phase has its tool: hats structure the group, the matrix prioritizes rationally.

3.1 · Decision

11. What is the order of the Design Thinking stages?

Prototype → empathy → direct test Test → ideation with no empathy Ideation → test → empathy Empathize → define → ideate → prototype → test

You understand, define, generate, materialize, test — iterating.

3.2 · Application

12. Which hat does NOT exist in Bono's method?

Grey (permanent indecision) Red (felt emotions) Blue (group organization) Green (creativity and ideas)

The six hats are white, red, black, yellow, green, blue.

What's next?

Score ≥ 80%: move to Level 4 — V3 (sort and group ideas, impact/feasibility matrix, low-fi prototyping, test and gather feedback, decide and move to action).
Score < 80%: revisit sections 3.1 to 3.5 via their 48h challenges (Design Thinking, 6 hats, lateral thinking, empathy, sequencing) — each explanation above restates the concept — then retake the exam.