The term idea (from the ancient Greek ἰδέα idéa "shape," "appearance," "archetype") has different meanings in general language and philosophical usage. In general language, it is understood as a thought according to which one can act or a model to which one is oriented... https://de. wikipedia.org/wiki/Idee
Welcome to the zone of solutions! In the last few weeks, we have been in the zone of problems, and I have introduced you to the first three phases of the Design Thinking process: 1. Understanding and 2. Observing was about gathering as much information as possible. The analysis and consolidation of findings from phases 1 and 2 are analyzed and consolidated in phase 3. Defining Perspective.
The knowledge generated helps us create a persona, the essence of the ideal product, service, or process user. Creating a persona based on dedicated desktop research and conducting interviews and surveys helps us to understand the background, experiences, behavior and mindset of our users, their goals and needs, problems and challenges, as well as options and alternatives.
Based on this, ideas for solutions can be developed to solve the user's problems.
The goal of brainstorming: Finding diverse answers to questions
Do you remember Paula Giegler? You met her in our last article. Paula has specific problems and needs related to energy supply that her energy provider could solve.
So in the ideation phase, we brainstorm on the questions we defined in phase 3 -focusing on our persona Paula:
- How could we encourage citizens' initiatives to participate in the energy transition?
- How can we quickly offer advice to citizens?
- How can we improve our customer service when citizens have questions?
- How can we efficiently offer services and products?
- How can we foster collaboration among citizens to leverage shared green solutions?
- How can we become the first point of contact for energy issues?
How you can develop ideas
Quantity over quality is the goal of this phase! I always ask our team members to collect and sketch at least 100 ideas within 30 minutes*(you should see their faces: 'What? How are we supposed to do this?').
This approach is like picking many flowers to arrange a beautiful bouquet for our persona (the users of our services, products or processes).
The second challenge besides the timebox is the request not to write down ideas but to sketch them. (What? I can't draw! - is usually the first reaction).
Team members individually start drawing their ideas on post-its for about 6 minutes. This also helps silent participants to contribute. Then they share, consolidate, and group their views on a virtual or digital whiteboard, such as Miro. (It's a joy to see their faces as they immediately understand that they can sketch and that pictures are worth a thousand words!)
(*I've never seen a team develop 100 ideas in this short time, but playful competition and time pressure encourage creativity!)
It's time to make decisions
At the end of the ideation phase, the team has to decide which idea they want to prototype. This is the third challenge in this phase because it feels like they have to throw 99 of their 100 picked flowers into the trash can. But remember, if the selected idea doesn't work, you have many more in the drawer (or vase).
More inspiration for brainstorming
The Ideo offers some more ideas from brainstorming and ideation, such as
- Mash-up: Mix strange things to come up with new ideas;
- E-Storming: Ask friends and colleagues for their ideas via email;
- or create an idea wall where you can collect ideas from passers-by.
Next week, I'll describe how you develop a prototype from your collected ideas. Stay curious!
Andrea Kuhfuss, co-founder and CEO of QLab Think Tank GmbH