Key ideation techniques

Now you have everything in place for your ideation session, there’s just one thing left to do: Choose which ideation
techniques you’re going to use. Here are some of the most common ideation techniques used by designers:

Analogies
By definition, analogy is “a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject to
another.” An analogy provides a comparison between one thing and another, serving as a means of explanation or
clarification. What does this have to do with ideation and design? The analogy technique compares your situation—or
design challenge—to something you are familiar with, enabling you to look at the problem in a new light and consider
possible solutions. You can learn how to apply the analogy technique here.

Bodystorming
The bodystorming technique gets you to physically experience a situation in order to spark new ideas. If you’re
struggling to get close to the problem, bodystorming is a great way to generate genuine user empathy. How does it
work? You set up a physical experience resembling the problem you are trying to solve, using people, props, or a digital
prototype. Based on your own interactions with, and reactions to, this environment, it may be easier to come up with
ideas.

Brainstorming
Brainstorming is one of the oldest tricks in the book when it comes to generating new ideas as a group. In a
brainstorming session, you verbally bounce ideas off of each other in the hopes of finding a blended solution.

Brainwriting
An alternative to traditional brainstorming is brainwriting. Instead of verbally sharing ideas, participants write down
their ideas before passing them on to someone else. The next person reads these ideas and adds their own, and so the
process continues until each person’s ideas have done a full rotation. All ideas are then collected and placed in front of
the group for discussion.

Brainwalking
This is the more dynamic, physical version of brainwriting. Instead of passing pieces of paper around the room, the
designers themselves move between different “ideation stations”. Just like brainwriting, they’ll add their own ideas
before moving on to the next station.

Challenging Assumptions
As we know, challenging assumptions is crucial to breaking conventional thought patterns and coming up with new
ideas. A popular ideation technique is to come up with a number of assumptions that are inherent to your design
challenge. As a group, you’ll then go through these assumptions and discuss whether they are really true, or if they’re
simply there because they’ve never been questioned. In putting these assumptions to the test, you can determine what
characteristics are really necessary, or which solutions could be used instead .
Gamestorming
Gamestorming is the gamification of brainstorming, and a popular technique for both ideation and problem-solving.
Gamifying classic ideation methods adds an extra element of engagement and interactivity—and helps to suspend some
of the normal “rules” of everyday life.

Mindmapping
Developed by Tony Buzan in 1972, mindmapping is a visual ideation technique that encourages you to draw connections
between different sets of ideas or information. You’ll start by writing a keyword in the middle of the page (normally
related to your problem statement). On the same piece of paper, you then surround this word with any and all ideas
that come to mind. Finally, you’ll think about how these ideas are connected, depicting said connections with lines and
curves—resulting in a visual map.

Reverse Thinking
Reverse thinking can be a fun way to flip the problem on its head and come up with new ideas. The question “how might
we make our online courses more accessible?” could be changed to “how can we make it as difficult as possible for users
to take our online courses?” The solutions you come up with for the reverse challenge can help you to envision what the
opposite might be, leading you closer to the solution you really need.

SCAMPER
SCAMPER is an action-packed checklist that helps you to come up with new ideas for a particular product or design
challenge. SCAMPER prompts the designer to substitute the topic with an equivalent or similar topic; to combine the
original topic with additional information; to adjust the problem by coming up with alternative ways of constructing it;
to creatively modify the topic; to put it to other uses by identifying possible scenarios where this topic can be used;
to eliminate any ideas or characteristics that are not valuable; and to reverse and rearrange the problem in order to
come up with a brand new concept.
Storyboarding
Storyboarding is an excellent technique for bringing a design challenge to life and exploring different avenues in a visual
way. Start by drawing out your user personas—as defined in the empathise and research stages—using images and
quotes to paint a vivid picture. From there, you can draw out various storylines and outcomes, visualizing how the user
feels throughout.

Worst Possible Idea

These techniques are just the tip of the ideation iceberg. Here are some further ideation methods you might like to
explore:
 Creative pause
 Cheatstorming
 Crowdstorming
 Daydreaming
 Provocation
 Forced relationships
 Roleplay
 Visualization
 Wishing
 Sketching and sketchstorming
 Synectics

When deciding which ideation techniques to use, think about the nature of your design problem, as well as the people
taking part in the ideation session. It’s important to choose techniques which are suitable for the group size. At the same
time, consider which methods are most likely to put your participants at ease and elicit the best response among this
particular group of people.

Article Link: https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/what-is-ideation-in-design-thinking/