Creative Craft is the relentless pursuit of making to foster new understanding. Build the creative confidence to bring any idea, whether it be a product, environment, service, performance, policy, or business, to a realization where it can be tested with an audience. Innovators with a diverse prototyping skillset can adapt the fidelity and resolution of each prototype to serve the current stage of development.

Contextual awareness is the exploration of a problem’s impact and root causes to discover new opportunities for innovation. Examine how the issue plays out at scales ranging from the individual to worldwide and consider the problem’s relationship to users’ basic and high-level needs. Innovators who reconsider a problem in its full context can define a project scope that contains tangible and impactful issues.

Empathy is the act of reconsidering the problem from the user's point of view. Approach users with tolerance and an open mind and use conversation and direct observation to learn how they perceive the issue. Innovators who take on their users’ viewpoints can prioritize problems that hold value for multiple stakeholders.

Entrepreneurial sustainability is the pursuit of a business model that enables long term growth. Verify how users value the solution to a problem and pursue options that balance required resources and cost with this perceived value. Innovators who first validate the business case for their problem can work towards enduring solutions.

Rapid Iteration is the progressive refinement of an idea through feedback. Put each iteration of the product in contact with users and observe whether prototype and user have the desired interaction and emotional reaction. An innovator who repeatedly builds, tests, and learns from user feedback can ensure each design change advances the product’s purpose.