Brainstorming essentials
A generative brainstorm is a group discussion that’s meant to generate or explore a lot of concepts in a relatively short period of time. You can then explore those concepts as a group to find interesting patterns. This is part of a process called ideation, which we’ll be doing for the rest of Splatter.
Brainstorms work well when:
There’s a clear goal to be accomplished.
For example, generate at least 20 concepts for a helmet solution.
There’s a good set of questions or constraints to prompt ideation.
Like our How Might We questions on page 64.
Someone takes the role of facilitator.
It’s a great skill to have! See Facilitation Tips for more.
Everyone is dedicating their time and attention.
No mobile phones or multitasking!
The tone of the discussion is open and playful.
During idea generation, no ideas are wrong, or too crazy.
You take time to build on ideas and detect patterns.
Look at the problem in multiple ways. Reframe, add, or remove constraints.
We’ve explored the first few points already. Let’s dive deeper into the last two.