The process of brainstorming can be divided into three steps: preparation for brainstorming, brainstorming session and the selection of results. To prepare for brainstorming, it is necessary to gather a team, acquaint all the participants with the rules of brainstorming, and also prepare questions, which will help structure the brainstorming process.
You need to know the expertise of people that you need for facilitating/conducting the brainstorming session, participating in it and filtering the results. Your goal is to use the experience and knowledge of all the teams' participants and optimise the team's potential. It is useful to invite experts from different fields to participate in brainstorming. A multifaceted team might promote a variety of new ideas. Before beginning to brainstorm, you must also nominate a facilitator and get to know the team.
During brainstorming, the main task is to generate as many different ideas as possible and to think outside the box. The Analogy, Powers of Ten and Inversion methods can help you arrive at unconventional and innovative solutions. In order to review ideas after brainstorming, use methods like voting, the 4 Categories method and the Bingo method.
Brainstorming Rules
We block out a chunk of time for brainstorming, during the course of which we will generate ideas but not evaluate them. There are several requirements which are important for the success of brainstorming based on UX industry recommendations:
- Quantity gives birth to quality. The more ideas that are suggested, the greater the chance of finding "diamonds" among them, which will serve as the basis for our future prototypes.
- Do not evaluate or critique at this stage. At this early stage, the task of the participants is to be open to even the most radical ideas in order to stir up their creative potential. Criticism and personal opinions belong in the following stage, where we will analyse and select ideas. Now, it is important to maximise the development of all suggested ideas though collective strength. Do not "fall in love" with your idea and do not allow your personal preferences and prejudices to disturb the process.
- Do not throw away "crazy" ideas. It is possible that these unconventional ideas may in some form lead you to an unexplored solution to the problem.
- Unify and improve your ideas and other people's ideas. Add to and develop ideas together. Unify ideas. It is possible that unifying two ideas could result in a third which is even more interesting.
- Do not interrupt. Give every participant the chance to speak.
- Do not stray too far from the main problem. When generating ideas, always think about your goal, the context and the users for whom you are creating this solution. The user is not you. That person had different experiences, preferences and goals.
- Give your ideas names! The idea will not need as much special explanation if you give it a name, such as a headline in a newspaper. Metaphors often help (for example, "Pocket Bank").
- Make sketches. Sometimes it is much easier to communicate an idea with a sketch, a scheme or a diagram.
How Might We. . . ?
Why use it?
Short questions like How might we…." help to ignite the process or generating ideas. These questions must flow from the design process (requirements for a solution) and the formulation of the problem questions must be of a general character in order to remain open to imagination while remaining within the framework of the given problem and focusing on the user.
How to use it?
- Begin with your formulated problem. Write it on a separate page of the flip chart.
- Divide this larger problem into a number of smaller ones.
- Look at how aspects of your problem can be connected to the question " How might we…?"
Question.
- Explain to the team that we now have to transition from analysis of information to the realm of possible solutions.
- Distribute the stickers and markers. It is best to use the colour of stickers that is different than the one you used for insights. This will help to avoid confusion.
- Ask the members of the team to generate possible solutions in the format of an answer to the question "How might we…?"
Team Warm-Ups
Before transitioning directly to brainstorming, you might do several exercises which will help the participants warm-up and enliven the thinking process, raise team spirit and morale, have some fun and improve current work on the brainstorming.
Here are several examples of exercises:
- In the beginning, everyone stands either in a line or a circle and thinks of a topic. The topic can be anything for example, "Major Spending Patterns", “Why do I use the bank” or “What does money mean for me?" Every participant must name something concerning the given topic. If the participant does not name anything, he or she is removed from the game. The exercise should proceed without pauses at a brisk tempo.
- Stand in a circle and imagine that you are throwing an imaginary hall to one another. Look at the person who you have decided to throw the ball to, and then with some kind of noise, signal that the ball is flying through the air. Then, whoever catches the "ball" should repeat your sound and, with a new sound, throw it to another participant. Try to pass the ball as fast as possible.
- All participants should spread out in a room and wait. Then, one of the participants gives a command that begins with the words "Let's pretend that" and can end the sentence in any manner. Upon hearing the command the participants answer in chorus "yes, let's" and carry out the command. For example: "Let's pretend that we stand in line and do not know how to occupy ourselves", "Let's pretend we do not know what gravity is", etc. After these phrases are spoken, the participants must act them out.
- The leader suggests a topic. For example, "Let's organise a holiday!" Another participant must take up this topic, beginning with the words "yes, and..." (for example "yes and order pizza"). Continue in this manner until all members of the team have taken part. For a sufficient warm up, go through two to three topics.
Brainstorming Sessions
What do you need?
You will need stickers and markers for every participant, several sheets of flip chart paper, a free wall or whiteboard for writing, and a tape for taping the flip chart paper to the wall. Give every participant stickers and markers. The participants will write their ideas on stickers, so it is important to write or draw only one idea per sticker to avoid confusion during the result collection process.
Where to make it?
Find a special room or workspace that is conducive to the generation of ideas. Sit in order to hear and see each other well. It is best to sit in a circle as it helps create a sense of flat organisation, as well as have evervone see and hear each other equally well. Write down the topic of the brainstorming session. Questions like "How might we. ..?" are great departure points for the discussion.
How much time it takes?
It is best to establish a time limit beforehand. This will help focus the working process. Brainstorming requires very intense mental work and therefore, should be limited to 15-30 minutes at any time.
List of questions.
Prepare 3-5 ("How might we ... ?") questions. Write each question on a separate sheet of flip chart paper or divide the whiteboard into sections so that every question has its own column.
Roles.
Usually, during brainstorming, there are idea generators (the team participants) and a facilitator.
Format.
There are many ways to conduct a brainstorming session. Here are two of the most widespread tactics:
- Appoint a facilitator who will write ideas on stickers and arrange them on the whiteboard, flip chart paper or a free wall. It is important that the facilitator writes down all ideas, even if they do not like them.
- Every participant individually writes his or her own ideas on a sticker as the ideas come up and tells the group about the ideas. Clear, logical and persuasive stories help team participants bring their vision to others.