BEYOND
BRAINSTORMING
CanUX
November 27th, 2007

BEYOND BRAINSTORMING
• Introduction
• Creativity
• Are You Creative
• Innovation Processes
• Creative Techniques
• Creativity Tools

BRAINSTORMING @ CanUX
• Design Slam
• Changing the
Rules

BRAINSTORMING
CHALLENGES
1. Lack of process or structure.
2. Lack of skilled facilitator.
3. Lack of skilled participants.
4. No agreement of the problem.
5. Lack of stimuli.
6. Pressure to be creative on cue.
7. Pressure to converge quickly!!!
8. Lack of follow up.

WHAT ARE CREATIVITY
TECHNIQUES?
• Similar to UX
Methods
• Methods, best practices,
frameworks that can lead
to more and better ideas.

BEYOND BRAINSTORMING
• Introduction
• Creativity
• Are You Creative
• Innovation Processes
• Creative Techniques
• Creativity Tools

CREATIVITY

BIG C

LITTLE c

ARTIST or SCIENTIST?

\"You aren't going to have
good ideas, unless you have
lots of ideas…”
Linus Pauling (Nobel Prize
Winning Scientist)

BEYOND BRAINSTORMING
• Introduction
• Creativity
• Are You Creative
• Innovation Processes
• Creative Techniques
• Creativity Tools

PAPERCLIP EXERCISE

USES FOR A PAPERCLIP
Categories of Ideas:
– Shape
– Quantity
– Size
– Physical Properties
– Break Apart

HOW MANY RUNNERS ARE
WEARING RED SHIRTS?

HOW MANY RUNNERS WERE
WEARING RED SHIRTS?

RED
WHITE
BLUE
Which color appeared most?

ASSUMPTIONS

OPTICAL ILLUSION

OPTICAL ILLUSION

OPTICAL ILLUSION

BEYOND BRAINSTORMING
• Introduction
• Creativity
• Are You Creative
• Innovation Processes
• Creative Techniques
• Creativity Tools

THE INNOVATION PROCESS
Jacques Hadamard – describing Henri
5 PHASES:
Poincare’s method for invention:
1. PREPARATION
2. INCUBATION
3. INSIGHT
4. EVALUTION
5. ELABORATION

TH!NKCUBATION

BREADTH

IDEO TECH BOX
“To invent, you need a good imagination and
a pile of junk.” Thomas Edison

BRAINSTORMING HABIT
• Brainstorming only when the
stakes are high is akin to running
a marathon with no prior training.
•Effective brainstorming is not a
just-in-time practice.
•An Arthur Anderson survey
revealed most people (76%)
brainstorm less than once a
month!

TH!NKCUBATION

BEYOND BRAINSTORMING
• Introduction
• Creativity
• Are You Creative
• Innovation Processes
• Creative Techniques
• Creativity Tools

SCAMPER
• S-C-A-M-P-E-R – Initial questions came from Alex Osborn (Creative Pioneer) –
combined into mnemonic by Bob Eberle
• SUBSTITUE – What component can I substitute for something else?
• COMBINE – What can I combine this with to form something new?
• ADAPT – What can adapt or copy from another method?
• MODIFY / MAGNIFY – What can I modify, magnify about this?
• PUT TO OTHER USES – What other uses can I put this to?
• ELIMINATE – What can eliminate from this?
• REARANGE – What if I rearranged the components?

SIX THINKING HATS
WHITE HAT – Data and
Information
RED HAT– Feelings, Intuition
BLACK HAT– Caution,
Negatives
YELLOW HAT – Optimistic
GREEN HAT – Growth, New
Ideas
BLUE HAT – Big Picture,
Overview

MIND MAPPING
1. START WITH CENTRAL
IDEA – Position the central
idea in the middle
1
2. LIST ALL ASSOCIATED
IDEAS – These will radiate
out from the central idea
2
3. LIST ASSOCIATIONS OF
ASSOCIATIONS – Take
3
each associated idea and
repeat step 2

Combinatory Play

BEYOND BRAINSTORMING
• Introduction
• Creativity
• Are You Creative
• Innovation Processes
• Creative Techniques
• Creative Exercise
• Creativity Tools

CREATIVE TOOLS

CONTACT
Kes Sampanthar
Principal, Dir. Innovation
kes AT metamemes DOT com
Sue Sampanthar
Principal, Dir. Operations
sue AT metamemes DOT com
Website: www.metamemes.com
Blog: http://metamemes.typepad.com/beyond_brainstorming