Innovation is big in business today. Everyone wants to innovate. The first step of innovation is ideation. The ideation process can take multiple forms and can be faciliated in multiple ways. Below are five ideation tools that you can use to formulate new ideas.
1. Classic Brainstorming
Most are familiar with brainstorming, so I feel no need to explain the general process. However, remember these tips to ensure you maximize you or your team’s ideation session.
Defer Judgment: Do not judge ideas as they are shared. In fact, it may be better to wait until after the brainstorming session before discussing them at all.
Go for Quantity: Set a time limit and a goal for the number of ideas to come up with.
Don’t Limit Your Imagination: It’s easier to bring a wild idea back down to reality than to make a tame idea compelling.
Build on Ideas: Keep momentum moving forward and push the boundaries of your imagination.
2. The Scamper Method
This tool takes an existing idea and turns it on its head. It is useful when you want to take an existing product offering or technology and use it as a catalyst of a new idea.
Take an idea and then ponder these questions:
Substitute: What component can be substituted from the existing idea? What process or component can be used instead?
Combine: Can this idea be combined with other ideas or marketplace offerings? Can we combine purposes, applications, or materials?
Adapt: What else is like this? Is there an existing offering that can be adapted to fit this idea?
Modify: What can you add or increase? How can you change the meaning, primary use of, or purpose? What can you subtract, shrink, streamline?
Put to Other Uses: What else can it be used for? What other markets might be interested in this idea?
Eliminate: What can you get rid of or omit? What can you do without?
Rearrange: What if you rearranged or reversed patterns or assumptions? What can you interchange, transpose, or reconnect?
3. Silent Brainstorming
Each person on the team takes a sheet of blank paper, draws three columns, and writes the business challenge / question at the top of the sheet. Then, without talking, each person writes down one idea in each column. When finished, each person tosses their sheet into the center of the table, and then grabs someone else’s sheet. Team members then complete the second row on their new sheet and toss it back into the center of the table. This swapping of sheets should continue for a set period of time or until a set number of swaps. This is a great way to get a variety of ideas very quickly.
4. In Their Shoes
Take a mental excursion to find a new perspective from which ideas can be generated. This exercise can help if you have a specific market segment, consumer group, or business challenge in mind. Sit back, relax, and close your eyes. Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer group that is targeted by your idea. Imagine the sights, sounds, tastes, feelings of the consumer; use all of your senses. Reflect on your thoughts and how they relate to the idea. Or perhaps put yourself in the minds of an imaginary consumer and think about that person’s traits, personality, world-view, demographics, etc.
5. Forced Connections
This is a great exercise for getting your creative juices flowing, because it forces team members to find a relationship between the challenge and seemingly unrelated topics. To start this exercise, each team members visits a site such as http://google.com/images and select a random image. It can be anything, the more unique the better. Then take turns discussing each image. Brainstorm a list of the attributes, qualities, characteristics, and feelings associated with each object in the image. Discuss how each of these items may relate to your business challenge / need.
