⭐️ Ideate phase

What is brainstorming

Brainstorming conjures tons of ideas all at once. A brainstorm is a distinct segment of time when you amp up the generative part of your brain and turn down the evaluative part.

The intention is to leverage the collective thinking of the group. Brainstorming can be used throughout the design process: to plan empathy work, to assess products and services, and to come up with design solutions. 

How to brainstorm

Brainstorming technique

Your team’s sole goal is to generate as many ideas as possible, without judgment. Gather in front of a whiteboard and spend 15 to 30 minutes in high engagement “brainstorm mode.”

Be sure to capture every idea, regardless of your feelings about them. You can either assign a scribe to capture ideas as they’re called out or go all-in, each person shares their ideas out loud and puts them on the board themself. Either way, use post-its and stick them up quickly.

You can use How Might We questions to launch a brainstorm. “How might we give each shopper a personal checkout experience?” 


Brainstorming Related Techniques:

 Brainwriting allows ideas to emerge before being critiqued and creates a space for them to be co-created, with multiple owners, and therefore a greater chance of follow-through

Credit

design thinking bootleg by d.school at Stanford University