10 Tipsfor EffectiveCreativeBrainstorming

by JoshuaJohnsonon 28thFebruary2010with 22 Comments

Brainstorming can either be a creative gold mine or a time wasting disaster. Brainstorming is often discussed in relation to a business environment. In college, nearly every one of my business school textbooks had an entire chapter dedicated to the concept. Though creative brainstorming is in many ways a different beast due to its visual nature, many of the same concepts apply. Today well take a look at ten tips to consider before you pull your creative team into a brainstorming session. When applied properly, they can drastically increase productivity and quality of results.

#1 Assigna Moderator
Assigning someone to guide the brainstorming session into a productive direction is an absolute must. Though the entire point involves the free flow of ideas, this can quickly get completely off track and out of control if not kept in check.

WhoShouldBe the Moderator?

Choose someone who knows the project scope intricately and is seen as an authoritative figure. This person should not dominate conversation or even present many ideas but instead drive the conversation away from unproductive or hostile conversation and towards original thought and successful teamwork.

HowShouldthe MeetingBe Managed?

Whoever you choose to be the moderator (be it yourself or someone else) should be an outgoing, social person familiar with providing direction in a non-authoritarian manner. The conversation should be eased in different directions, not forced. Remember that you want people to feel comfortable throwing out ideas and not afraid to change the topic or say something unconventional.

#2 IdentifyGoals

Its best to begin a brainstorming session by briefly stating an overview of the project. Even if everyone present is familiar with it, the refresher is a good way to get their brains in the right place. After stating what the project entails, clearly state the goal of the brainstorming session. Never go into a brainstorming session without a clear idea of what you want out of it, otherwise youre setting yourself up for a phenomenal waste of time.

GoodGoalsvs. Bad
As you consider what you want to get out of the meeting, make sure the goals you set are very specific. You should be able to tell immediately after the session ends whether or not the goals you set out were met. Be wary of vague overarching intentions such as Create the best website ever. Instead focus on achievable and measurable results such as Identify 10 possible ways to improve the homepage user interface.

SMARTGoals
For more information on creating productive goals, check out Setting Smart Management Goals from dummies.com. As a brief overview, SMART is an acronym for:

Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time-Bound

#3 Set a TimeLimit

Obviously, youll have to end the brainstorming at some point. However, it may not always be the best idea to ideate until people simply stop talking. Try setting and announcing a firm time limit at the beginning of the session. The significance of the announcement is that it ensures everyone knows that the agreed upon goals must be met by a certain time. If youve got a strong team, this will encourage them to stay on track and really crank out as many ideas as possible within the allotted timeframe.

HowLong?
It sounds like a copout, but it really does depend on the scope of the project. Just keep in mind that its easy to get burnt out. If youre tackling a fairly large project, split each phase or category up into its own session with breaks in between so everyone involved can give their mind a rest. Also, if time permits, consider spreading the sessions out over several days and/or dividing your team into different groups to cover more ground in a shorter time.

#4 WriteDownand/orSketchEverything
Be prepared at the start of the meeting with sketchpads, stickies, or a large amount of whiteboard space for everyone involved. Remember that every idea, good or bad

should be briefly written or sketched out. Never imagine that youll simply remember the important things that were said. Otherwise, three days later youll be scratching your head trying to figure out how you could forget all those great ideas.

VisualBrainstorming

Dont fall into the trap of thinking that brainstorming is purely for the boring informational stuff, it can also be a valuable tool for hammering out visual themes, making interface improvements, and experimenting with different layouts. If youre tackling a visual project, be sure to bring lots of scratch paper. As someone throws out an idea, encourage everyone to quickly sketch out what it might look like. Misinterpretations can strangely enough work in your favor at this stage. If someone throws out an idea to four people who all interpret it very differently, it quickly becomes five ideas! Never assume that just because you were the originator of an idea that youll be the best person to bring it to life. Instead, eagerly await seeing how others can improve or rethink the concept.

#5 Dont Judge
This concept might be a bit overstated but it is absolutely essential to effective brainstorming. At the beginning of the process you want to shoot for quantity over quality. Rather than taking five minutes to discuss reasons why a particular idea is bad or good, just take every idea and move along.

Time isnt the only factor in play here either, more importantly is the mood of the room. An ideal brainstorming environment maximizes the number of ideas put forth by removing any peer pressure regarding the quality of the suggestions. If someone in the group is too afraid to speak up for fear of rebuttal or rebuke, the entire session is compromised and productivity will suffer greatly.

Eliminatethe WeakLink

If there is a particular person in your group that is intent on making snide comments or harsh castigations against the ideas of others, your only two choices are to let them continue to undermine your entire purpose or to simply ask them to sit this one out. The no judging concept is pretty simple so if anyone just cant contain themselves then theres no reason to keep them around as they are obviously just looking to build themselves up or support their own agenda. Perhaps they can return when it comes time to sort through the ideas and decide which ones actually have merit.

#6 Embracethe Ridiculous

If you really want to see the value of brainstorming, dont simply avoid judging unrealistic ideas, actually encourage them. As strange as it sounds, the very best ideas are often born from the very worst. Ask questions like, what if money were no option? or what if our time table were three times as long?

Lookfor Inspirationin the Outlandish

After youve arrived at a satisfactory number of initial ideas, start to encourage discussion of those that seem really over the top. Examine what makes these ideas appealing and how you can strip away the unrealistic aspects until you arrive at something that retains some of the attractiveness of the original idea but is actually achievable. For instance, lets say youre designing a news site and someone suggests an interactive 3D experience where users control a character that swims through a virtual underwater world of headlines and pictures to navigate the content on the site. After some realistic discussion regarding the lack of a flash developer, this crazy idea could simply turn into a two-dimensional nautical theme for a site titled NewsShark. Granted, the end product is no where near as exciting as the original, but it definitely has merit on its own and would have never been thought up without discussing the unrealistic water world concept.

#7 Start General,EndSpecific

If youre the moderator of the brainstorming session, your job is to gently steer the conversation towards a productive output. Heres what you should keep in mind as the meeting progresses.

ShotgunBlast
Similar to the spray of ammunition from a shotgun, the initial ideas should be numerous and widespread. If you hear too many similar ideas, encourage participants to stray from that topic by suggesting something completely unrelated. Remind them that there will be a time later to flesh out specific ideas. The point initially is diversity of thought, not unity.

LaserBeam
This is where the quality of ideas suddenly becomes important. As the meeting progresses, hone in on and refine the best ideas while eliminating those that dont effectively address your goals. Its best to pair down your selection to only three or four good ideas that you can focus on shaping and improving as a group. After youve determined the specific nature of the ideas, break off the session and assign each idea to a small team and plan a time to come back as a group to evaluate the progress of each team.

#8 Lookfor SynergyPotential
As you begin to trim your selection of ideas in the step above, beware of viewing the possibilities in black and white terms. Its not always the case that the furthering of one idea must mean the death of another. There is often potential for creating synergy among originally separate suggestions.

Get the Big Picture

Hang all the suggestions up around the room where everyone can stand back and have a look at them as a set. Then discuss ways to combine entire ideas or to selectively mix elements of two or more weaker ideas to form a stronger whole. Try

using stickies or thumb tacks to move certain ideas from place to place to see where they fit the best.

Be Democratic
If you come across an idea that most people like but are split as to what to partner it with, put it to a simple vote. Just be aware of the fact that open voting among immature adults can cause unwanted division and an inability to cooperate effectively. If youre worried about this with your team, simply keep the voting anonymous to avoid the headache.

#9 AvoidGroupThink

Theres a fine line between a team that productively cooperates and one that suffers from too much cooperation. The moderator should watch intently for signs of group think and steer the conversation accordingly.

Whatis GroupThink?

Group think is a phenomenon that occurs in decision making groups that seek to eliminate conflict entirely. In an attempt to escape the frustrations of lengthy arguments or the embarrassment of being the squeaky wheel, individual members avoid promoting ideas that are beyond the realm of the generally accepted norm. Groups with one particularly respected or vocal member are very susceptible to this behavior as members inevitably begin to agree with this influential leader. Its great to have positive reinforcement and agreements within the group, but not at the expense of critical thinking, creativity and ultimately, quality. As group think increases, the quality and diversity of the ideas being presented sharply decreases.

Playthe DevilsAdvocate
If your group is suffering from excessive uniformity, try taking of the role of the devils advocate by asking tough questions and presenting multiple alternatives to ideas that are raised. As the moderator, make it a point to audibly praise those who even begin to question the will of the majority. This positive reinforcement for creative thinking will not go unnoticed by other members of the team who will hopefully follow suit in presenting their own arguments and original thoughts.

#10 Includean Outsider

My final suggestion for effective brainstorming is to include at least one person in the group who doesnt belong. For instance, if youre working with a team of designers, try throwing in a developer to add some diversity to the mix. Or better yet, grab someone who knows absolutely nothing about creating websites or developing attractive user interfaces.

Whyit WontMessThingsUp
You might be thinking that including a non-designer in design-related decisions is just asking for trouble. After all, this outsider will be on a completely different page than everyone else in the room and their suggestions will no doubt be off the wall and way off target. To this argument I say: exactly. Bringing someone in who actually thinks more like an end user than a designer will give you an inside track into a normal persons brain. Designers often have a strong, unwavering tendency to design for other designers instead of every day people. Including one or two people to shake up your otherwise uniform group will further enable you to avoid the group think scenarios in the previous tip.

WhoTo Include
As youre selecting candidates to include in your session, theres a few things to keep in mind. The first thing to think about is the personality of the candidate. If theyre brilliant but shy, odds are they wont add a single thing to the group. Similarly, if theyre loud and obnoxious, they could do more harm than good. You also want to consider the content being discussed and whether or not the candidate will even be able to achieve moderate comprehension of the topic. Throwing your copywriter in with a bunch of seasoned PHP developers is akin to making them watch a foreign film with no subtitles. Again, not very productive. Finally, youll want to consider going beyond including a single outsider by inviting multiple people from different areas of the company to join the session. If your topic is something that most people can grasp, such as basic visual design or website contest ideas, you might find that the input of a developer, a writer and a layman is

collectively invaluable when compared to the input of just one of these on his/her own.

The IDEOWay
For more inspiration on creative brainstorming, Ill refer you to the experts: IDEO. This company lives and breathes innovation and is among the most productively creative corporations on the planet. Theyre a lot like a modern day Edison Invention Factory, continually churning out game changing ideas, designs and inventions. To see them in action, check out this inspirational (though a bit outdated) video of IDEO redesigning the shopping cart from the ground up. Video: Inside IDEO

Conclusion
The above ideas represent just a few ways to get your design brainstorming session off to a good start. Use the comments below to let us know how you handle brainstorming sessions and whether or not you think they are ultimately a good method of generating quality design ideas.

How to brainstorm creative ideas: 15 killer tips

Oct 17, 2012 11:18 am3 comments

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Stuck in a design rut? Weve got a quick cure to unblock your imagination! Rob OConnor of creative consultancy Stylorouge offers his ti s on ho! to unblock your imagination"
Stuck for design inspiration? Struggling to get started on a project or still looking for a suita le angle?
#$%&R'(S&)&*'

!on"t feel ad: it happens to the est of us# $ou just need a %a& to kick &our rain in gear and get the ideas flo%ing# 'hich is %h& %e()e put together a series of tips to help &ou rainstorm more effecti)el&, follo%ed & fi)e fantastic apps &ou can use to make sense of the rainstorming process#

'ords: *o O"+onnor of St&lorouge. Also read: How to overcome creative block

01# ,e unselfconcious

-ak ing notes is important, or &ou(ll lose track of %hat &ou said

.t St&lorouge %e emplo& a s&stem of meetings %here %e thro% things around unselfconsciousl&# /eople ring in note ooks and talk a out things the&()e found that could come in useful# $ou don(t ha)e to meet to generate ideas 0 it can also e part of a more general catch0up#

02# 1et the timing right

2or man& people, late morning is a good time to e creati)e# /eople tend to e a it more laid ack after the&()e had lunch, so morning is often prefera le# 3he first da& of the %eek isn(t necessaril& ideal, either, although %e reak that rule & thro%ing ideas into our -onda& morning catch0ups#

04# 5ook outside for inspiration

5oo k for inspiration outside of the area of design &ou(re %orking on 6t(s nice to e a%are of %hat(s happening in the design field, ut &ou can e e7uall& 0 and often more 0 inspired & the things &ou see outside of design# 2or e8ample, &ou(re %orking on a project in)ol)ing a ook co)er, &ou shouldn(t e starting out & taking inspiration from other ook co)ers#

04# 1i)e full disclosure

9)er&one in)ol)ed in generating ideas should kno% e)er&thing a out the rief# 6 don(t like to hold an&thing ack 0 %e(re all )er& transparent here# 9)en if there(s something that 6 don(t think is particularl& important, 6(ll still include it and just make it clear this is secondar& information#

0:# ;uestion the

rief

.ski ng 7uestions goes to the heart of the rainstorming process 3he process of coming up %ith great ideas is partl& a 7uestion of anal&sis# $ou should e 7uestioning e)er&thing and asking &ourself: does this full& ans%er the rief? 6s it a good solution? $ou need to e as o jecti)e a out &our o%n su jecti)it& as &ou can#

0<# Sit around a proper ta le

!on(t sit around coffee ta les that are too lo%# 3here(s a fashion for hotdesking and eas& chairs, ut it(s actuall& much more creati)e if &ou(re at a proper meeting ta le# 6t rings &ou much closer to people %hen &ou(re not scattered around like &ou(re in a li)ing room and design inspiration can strike#

07# 1o

ack to

asics %ith ph&sical

things

'al k a%a& from the computer and em race ph&sical tools like paint rushes Some studios lose their clutter, ut %e()e got paints, rushes, paper oards and scalpels for people to use %ith their hands# 'hen &our designs e8ist on a computer &ou can start to feel like it(s not a ph&sical e8perience, so these are reminders#

08# ,e honest
6t(s reall& important to e honest %hen &ou see %hat other people are suggesting and %hat tear sheets the&()e rought in# 6f someone is 100 per cent ehind an idea ut the& kno% no one else is, it(s going to encourage them to make sure it reall& is a good idea from an earl& stage#

0=# /la& %ord games to generate ideas

'or d games are a great %a& to generate ideas and think laterall& 3r& using %hat &ou might call (essence %ords( to get &our ideas do%n 0 %ords that encapsulate the spirit, personalit& and message &ou %ant to put across, e)en if the& seem cra>&# . da& or t%o later &ou might find that something resonates %ith %hat(s on &our mind#

10# 3ake a

reak and let things sink in

6f %e()e got time, %e(ll share ideas and then take a reak for a couple of da&, so %e can let each other(s ideas sink into our o%n minds# 3he second time around, it(s often much more fruitful, and %e tend to ha)e more )isual material at this su se7uent stage#

Now check out these 5 top apps for design inspiration... 01. MindNode

3he -ind?ode mindmapping app is the perfect tool for rainstorming and organising &our creati)e thoughts -ind?ode is an intuiti)e and eas&0to0use mindmapping application that %ill help &ou generate ne% ideas and organise &our thoughts# i+loud @ !rop o8 support means &ou al%a&s ha)e &our mindmaps %ith &ou#

02. Moodboard

+oll ect, organise and share things that inspire &ou %ith -ood oard Organise &our inspiration %ith -ood oard, a great app for creating mood oards on &our i/ad# 'ith this nift& little tool &ou can easil& collect, organise and share the things that inspire &ou# 2eatures include 12 custom ackgrounds, 12 custom frames to enhance images and the a ilit& to add, scale and rotate te8t on &our oards#

03. OmniGraffle

Om ni1raffle has an e8tensi)e toolset and is a )er& fle8i le can)as for designing 'ith the a%esome Omni1raffle app &ou can create diagrams, flo% charts, org charts, and illustrations# 5ast month the app had a major update that added ne% dra%ing tools interface as %ell as etter support for i/ads %ith retina displa&s# .t just under A:0, it(s price& for an app ut it(s e8tensi)e toolset makes it %orth e)er& penn&#

04. myPANTONE

+ho ose a colour, an& colour %ith /antone(s mo ile app m&/.?3O?9 +olour giant /antone(s mo ile app m&/.?3O?9 is a must0ha)e for e)er& designer# +le)er soft%are allo%s users to capture o)er 14,000 pantone colours & selecting specific part of a digital image# .nd not onl& that, it also creates colour palettes for &ou and then stores them in its (porta le colour memor&( section for future use#

05. iDesi n

i!es ign has a uni7ue dra%ing tool, %hich allo%s users to sketch accuratel& %ithout fingers getting in the %a& i!esign allo%s &ou to (make professional 7ualit& designs, illustrations and technical dra%ings on the mo)e using &our fingers(# 3he 2! )ector dra%ing and design app for the i/hone and i/ad has a uni7ue offset dra%ing tool, %hich allo%s &ou to dra% accuratel& %ithout &our finger getting in the %a&# . great tool to 7uickl& sketch do%n ne% ideas on the mo)e#