Published on | Prototyping: From UX to Front End — Medium Natalia Tsymbalenko

Use these 3 methods to generate distinct ideas in the group or by yourself

You have defined a problem that you want to solve creatively. Use these 3 well-known methods for creative problem solving: 6 thinking hats, SCAMPER, “Crazy 8s”.

I have tried them on my project. I have spent 30 minutes per technique by myself. Each technique gave me 4 diverse ideas on an average.

Setting up the scene

For this project, we have completed the problem defining phase, at the end of which we have crafted the design challenge:

How might we proactively provide moms with real-time, easy access to needed support before and after childbirth so they can better transition into motherhood and care for their child?

Well defined challenge (problem) is key to an effective brainstorming session, whether you are doing it alone or in a group.

I put on a board “sense making” deliverables, such as a persona , a master customer profile , and a mind map, so they provide me a context during ideation session.

Keep distilled research findings visible while brainstorming possible solutions

6 thinking hats

Edward de Bono developed the Six Thinking Hats method in 1985. It is a discussion framework that defines six metaphorical hats which represent different modes of thinking.

<a href="https://medium.com/media/71dca92f78d48c1360e0673d33894a7d/href">https://medium.com/media/71dca92f78d48c1360e0673d33894a7d/href</a>http://www.debonogroup.com/six_thinking_hats.php

I have practiced this method alone to methodically review the problem statement — “How might we provide a realistic understanding of motherhood to enable moms to ask for help”

I have used a sequence: Yellow, Black, White, Green, Red, Blue hats.

Under yellow hat, I have drawn examples of what is working today.

Under black hat, I have noted current problems with the existing solutions.

Under white hat, I have stated the fact — how often we have a problem and how severe it is.

Once I have setup the context and constraints, I was able to move to the green hat to generate ideas.

Red hat helped to asses the ideas. And I have finished with the blue hat to setup an action plan to test the idea out.

SCAMPER

SCAMPER is a mnemonic that stands for:

Substitute.
Combine.
Adapt.
Modify.
Put to another use.
Eliminate.
Reverse.

You use the tool by asking questions about existing products, using each of the seven prompts above. These questions help you come up with creative ideas for developing new products, and for improving current ones.

<a href="https://medium.com/media/c09fc48d82314746fc55f66d2b629e0e/href">https://medium.com/media/c09fc48d82314746fc55f66d2b629e0e/href</a>

I have used current solutions on the market to do SCAMPER on them to come up with a fresh combination of components to generate a new product/service.

The wildest idea — to setup a network of scouts to help out new moms in their neighborhood

“Crazy 8”

It’s a fast sketching exercise that challenges people to sketch 8 ideas in 8 minutes (not 8 variations of one idea or 8 steps of one idea, but 8 distinct ideas). The goal is to push beyond your first idea, which is frequently not the most innovative, and generate a wide variety of solutions to your challenge.

I like how NNGroup uses these techniques, they recommend refinement rounds after the first initial round. Second round constructs the big idea, while third develops the scenario/flow.

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/facilitating-design-studio-workshop/

“Crazy 8s” had given me the biggest quantity and diversity of ideas.

Read next post where I will share how I have used value proposition design idea generation tools to contribute ideas to my idea pool.

This is a post from series #productdesign where I practice product design and customer development.

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How to generate diverse ideas in 30 minutes was originally published in prototypr on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

How to generate diverse ideas in 30 minutes

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