Idea Generation and Innovation Activities

At IDEO.org we have seven little rules that unlock the creative power of a brainstorming session.

Customer experience mapping is a method of documenting and visualizing the experience a customer has as they use the product or service. It also maps out their responses to their experiences.

To be used when there is a solution (even in a conceptual stage) that can be analyzed.

Use Craig Raine's poem A Martian Sends a Postcard Home to spur creative thinking and encourage perspective shifting in a group. After a warm-up, you can then use this martian perspective to describe your product or service and gain new insights and ideas.

One of the best ways to explore creativity is through building. Simple low fidelity prototypes can allow us to transform simple (and at times complex) ideas into something physical. In doing so we inevitably open a space for continuing to explore, reevaluate and iterate.

Creativity is connecting things. If you are looking to give your creative mind a workout with a simple concept mash-up, look no further. The more you do this, the better you’ll get at one of the fundamental skills that lead to new ideas, combining elements. We've found a simple online tool from Dave Birss that helps you to define random objects that can form the basis of your creative combination.

You have a wealth of brilliant ideas, and it can be a challenge to select which to take forward to develop further. 

This game will help you decide on, and select winning ideas.

A questioning method for generating, explaining, investigating ideas.

Open Space is a methodology for large groups to create their agenda discerning important topics for discussion, suitable for conferences, community gatherings and whole system facilitation

A problem solving technique to define a problem, challenge or opportunity and to generate ideas.

The sequential building of ideas without evaluation.

1. Review key information
2. Start design work on paper, 
3. Consider multiple variations,
4. Create a detailed solution.

Use a remote-friendly version of the classic note and vote exercise to generate ideas quickly, vote on the most suitable, and turn them into how might we statements your group can move forward with!