Ideation Guide

Brainstorm ideas in structured yet creative ways

Collaborative brainstorming sessions are a way to generate a large quantity of ideas to solve the identified challenge(s), as ideation is all about quantity rather than quality.
Ideation makes it possible to explore different potential solutions from many different points of view and combine alternatives until a sound idea emerges.

GOAL

Generate many ideas

PARTICIPANTS

Designers, Architects, End-Users

TIME NEEDED

45 - 60 minutes

PHASE

Design

Before You Start

Create a Problem Statement
You have created a Problem Statement in the Discover phase and you are using it here to follow up on it. If you don’t have a Problem Statement yet, we recommend to create one with the following method:

Create a Problem Statement

Materials you will need

Templates for Download

Steps

  • 2 minutes

Select the challenge

Select the challenge you will ideate for.

This will be the Problem Statement, aka “How might we question” created in the Discover phase (see “Before You Start” above).

  • 3 - 5 minutes

Select an ideation or brainstorming method

Select an ideation or brainstorming method that helps to generate ideas, and brainstorm silently.

There are several brainstorming methods you can choose from, depending on the time you have, number of participants and type of ideas you want the team to generate. Take a look at the following methods for reference:
• 6-3-5 Brainwriting*
• Ideation Sprint*
• 100 ideas in 30 mins*
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*Registration to MURAL is required

  • 10 minutes

Share your ideas

Share your ideas with the team one by one and cluster them as they get presented.

  • 10 - 30 minutes

Name the clusters and repeat steps 1 - 3 using a different ideation method

Cluster related or similar ideas together after every round. You can revisit the cluster criteria and cluster names once all rounds are finished.

  • 5 minutes

Select the best ideas through voting

The amount of votes for each participant depends on the number of ideas and participants available.

When voting, you can decide to vote on the ideas or the clusters based on the granularity of the clusters. If the clusters are broad and contain many different ideas, it is better to vote on the idea level.

You're done!

You have now reached an agreement on the best idea(s) to follow up on and can move on to the next recommended step, to Create an Idea Napkin.