Often faced with an impending deadline, UX designers need a foolproof method for battling creativity blocks. Ideation helps designers develop various and broad ideas on a topic without judgment. Ideation focuses on the quantity of ideas rather than quality, although the end goal is to create a high-quality, user-centric design solution.

With more ideas generated, designers have a greater variety of potential solutions to narrow down, which means there is also a higher chance that one of these ideas will lead to the best possible solution. After ideas are formed and expressed, later analysis will clarify which ideas the designer should pursue.

Main Characteristics of Every Ideation Session:

Judgement-free: Judgement stifles creativity; thus, all criticism must be postponed.
Documentation: Recording the session could mean simply taking notes or including anything to help express an idea, both of which may later inspire other ideas.
Collaboration: Working with a group inspires diverse thinking and idea generation.

Designers need to fully understand their target users to define a specific ideation problem in ideation. The ideation session should highlight improving user experience without limiting ideas to “real-world” practicality. Even wild ideas can be scaled back to fit within the design constraints if they fully address the problem at hand.

Best Practices:
Create a safe space for team members to express their ideas in a judgment-free zone.

Plan ahead for an ideation session and set a time limit.

Define the specific problem beforehand to assign more session time to problem-solving.

Encourage wild ideas that could lead to creative pathways.

Promote quantity over quality of ideas, so the team has an increased likelihood of finding an effective answer.

Use the theory “1+1=3” to encourage collaboration and allow team members to build on each other’s ideas.

Allow team members to sketch out visuals to communicate their thoughts better.

Brainstorm

Brainstorming with a group, no matter how small the group size, combines all team members' collective experience and knowledge to generate innovative ideas. With the right intentions, brainstorming allows team members to engage, listen, share insights, and build on each other's ideas.

Braindump

In a braindump exercise, all team members unleash their thoughts on a design problem by “word vomiting” onto a paper or sticky note. This technique gives shy or quiet individuals an opportunity to input their opinions without disruption. After a given time limit, participants share a few thoughts about each of their ideas and stick them on a collective board. Any idea duplicates can be grouped together to maximize variety. Then, the group decides on the most ideal solutions to elaborate on.

Brainwriting

In brainwriting, participants write down their thoughts and pass their ideas around in a group. As each idea is passed along, members build on their associates' ideas. The practice is best completed silently and prevents criticism of other members' ideas. The notes can be passed around at least three times, with each person having three to five minutes to elaborate on the ideas given.

Brainwalking

Like brainwriting, group members walk around to new “ideation stations” instead of passing notes around in a circle. This helps people move around and increases energy and participation levels.

Worst Possible Idea

Instead of tackling the best solution, participants in a Worst Possible Idea exercise race to come up with the wackiest and worst solution. This technique helps break the ice in an ideation session by reducing tension and anxiety amongst the group. Some of these terrible ideas may inspire the best solution later, but the primary purpose is to help the team be more outspoken and adventurous.

Mindmap

The primary issue is the focal point of a mindmap. At the center of a page, designers write down the problem they want to solve. Then, designers add ideas, thoughts, and solutions around the central problem statement. Then, they connect their ideas with lines to its minor or major thought.

Sketch

Visuals are perfect for expressing ideas, encouraging more creative thinking, and inspiring more ideas. Sketches aren't always masterpieces; rough sketches allow designers to move more quickly through their thought processes. Since this technique relies on visuals, it opens the gateway for designers to think more creatively and abundantly. It also encourages more artistic forms of group discussion and self-expression.

Storyboard

Humans are innate storytellers. Creating and sharing stories helps us communicate, learn, discuss, and explore endless possibilities. Storyboarding offers a medium to create a story surrounding the problem at hand. By bringing a situation to life, storyboarding allows us to explore the dynamics of that situation and work through additional possible obstacles or innovative solutions. This can also help groups or teams feel more involved with a project.

Bodystorm

In a bodystorm session, group members act out situations to fully understand the primary issue. This can come in many forms of physical activity, but the goal is to keep the team physically motivated and think outside the box (or meeting table). Bodystorming combines empathy, traditional brainstorming, and movement to increase energy and participation levels within the ideation session.

SCAMPER

The SCAMPER technique uses action verbs to stimulate ideas: Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to Another Use, Eliminate, Reverse. This method helps designers work around obstacles to create new ideas or build on existing ideas by asking seven questions.

Gamestorm

The traditional brainstorm session quickly becomes dull without active participation. Gamification, however, enhances brainstorming to improve team involvement and collaboration. Any game-based group activity qualifies as a gamestorm, but a few examples include:

Fishbowl

Team members gather in two circles around each other. The inner circle actively discusses their thoughts about the problem and collaborates to form possible answers. In contrast, the outer circle observes and records what they believe are the most important ideas and conversation points.

Anti-problem

Rather than focus on the real problem, participants solve the anti-problem to look for possible answers that can be reversed to solve the true problem. This helps prevent creativity blocks for members who get stuck focusing on the issue while creating new ideas that still relate to the problem space.

Cover Story

Participants create a cover story containing a headline, important quotes, and relevant imagery. These help with vision generation and developing a coherent representation of the problem and its solution.

Prototype

Prototyping typically comes later in the design process but creating rough prototypes in an ideation session encourages participants to think quickly, make decisions, and develop new ideas. Essentially, you build to think. Eventually, these prototypes may prove useful to develop a more complex solution.

Creative Pause

Creative pause is less an ideation technique and more an ideation accessory. At some point, designers will reach a mental block from overstimulation. A creative pause tells the designer to step away from the situation and return later with a clean slate, new insights, and perhaps a fresh coffee. The goal is to let proactive thinking lead the ideation process, not reactive thinking.

Photo by Alessandro Bianchi on Unsplash

Idea generation is a grueling process but also an important art form. Ideation sessions help designers combat overthinking and creative blocks. While brainstorming is the most used technique for ideation, it is certainly not the only method. In fact, the best approach to ideation may not be a single method but a combination of many.

Ideation Techniques Download

Dam, R. F., & Siang, T. Y. (n.d.). Introduction to the essential ideation techniques which are the heart of design thinking. The Interaction Design Foundation. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/introduction-to-the-essential-ideation-techniques-which-are-the-heart-of-design-thinking

Dam, R. F., & Siang, T. Y. (n.d.). Learn how to use the best ideation methods: Brainstorming, Braindumping, brainwriting, and Brainwalking. The Interaction Design Foundation. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/learn-how-to-use-the-best-ideation-methods-brainstorming-braindumping-brainwriting-and-brainwalking

Harley, A. (2017, January 15). Ideation for everyday design challenges. Nielsen Norman Group. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-ideation/

Tran, L. (2016, April 1). Innovation: Better problem solving with the scamper method. InLoox. Retrieved March 8, 2022, from https://www.inloox.com/company/blog/articles/innovation-better-problem-solving-with-the-scamper-method/

Ideation: Techniques for Idea Generation