Smell the ocean... Listen to a CD... See Geese fly south... Draw on the walls... All with a serious purpose in mind. Experience a new kind of business meeting, structured to help you expand your thinking and translate your ideas into action.
CyberQuest™ is a multimedia program for problem solving and innovation support. It draws on the concepts of associative logic and lateral thinking as well as the more conventional sequential logic approaches to problem seeking and solution. It guides the individual user or group through a six step process for coming up with ideas and looking for ways to implement them.
CyberQuest™ Purpose
CyberQuest's purpose is to increase the effectiveness of individual and multiple decision makers. The idea is to provide multimedia "galaxies" of concepts related to a specific problem or opportunity. Then you, the user, work it through. Unlike most Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS), which for the most part feature various computerized problem solving tools, CQ adds hyper-media hardware/software systems and
stimulating and innovative group facilitation procedures and methodologies.
CyberQuest™ Involves a Six-Step Process:
Step 1: PROBLEM DEFINITION AND ANALYSIS. The user enters a short sentence to identify the main aim to be achieved; the client; and the time period in which this aim is to be accomplished.
Step 2: WORD SELECTION. The user is asked to pick four key words from a collection of about 200 CyberQuestTM "Key Words" to describe the aim proposed in Step 1.
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Step 3: GENERATION OF IDEAS. A match is sought between the selected "key words" describing the aim and those from the same list describing "concepts" from such diverse areas as management, sociology, science fiction, engineering, physics, philosophy, religion, and the arts. Sources of these concepts include encyclopedias (printed, CD-ROM's), pictures, audio CDs, sounds, aromas, and video discs.
Step 4: IDEA SCREENING. Each idea generated is screened according to whether it has been used before (successfully or unsuccessfully) and, if not, whether it is worthy of review and implementation; its importance; and the amount of effort needed to implement it.
Step 5: IDEA PACKAGING AND EVALUATION. The ideas are grouped into logical implementation "packages" according to similarity and complementarity. Several implementation concept databases can be accessed, e.g., for marketing, finance, legal concerns, and organizational requirements. Also employed are several evaluation guides, e.g. on design, alternatives, timing, goals and constraints, etc. Detailed implementation strategies can be pursued through Gantt charting and assigning of responsibilities.
Step 6: REPORTING. CyberQuestTM produces a variety of reports depending on the step in the process and the needs of the user. Cases can be saved so as to be available to other users.
CyberQuest™ has been employed in more than 600 cases spanning every topic imaginable. Clients in the private sector have included: Exxon, Merck, IBM, Hoechst-Celanese. In the public sector: the U.S. Social Security Administration and the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center, to
name a few.
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