Creative problem-solving with Six Thinking Hats
The tried and true method for quality ideas and confident UX decisions.
In the ideation stage of the UX design process, there are NO bad ideas (for the most part). You need to think out of the box and you need to think a lot. But what do you do when your team is sitting there twiddling their thumbs, all out of fresh innovative ideas?
Get out your hats.
The Six Thinking Hats is a popular and effective method for out of the box idea generation, problem-solving and decision-making to use with your team. This method has been around since 1985, when it was first published by Edward de Bono. It is a parallel thinking method where all members in the session think the same way at the same time. The direction changes one after the other, until all hats have been worn. The intention is to deal with one aspect or problem or opportunity at one time.
Note: The Six Thinking Hats is not only used in UX but in all types of fields — including business, academia, technology.
The Basics
There are 6 hats. The imaginary hats are identified by color — each representing a different lens or specific way of thinking to assess ideas. It is important to note that it is most beneficial for everyone in the group to wear the same hat at the same time throughout the session. Once you and your team put your hats on, you stick with that way of thinking until the facilitator tells you it is time to swap out hats.
The Hats
White Hat: Let The Facts Do The Talking
Collect data, facts, relevant and objective information about the problem you are working to solve. You need to be unbiased. Be neutral. Please leave your feelings, opinions, negative thoughts and dirty shoes at the imaginary door.
White Sample Questions:
- What information do we have?
- What info is missing?
- How do we get Information?
- What information is important to us?
- Is this valid?
- How do we know?
Yellow Hat: Think Positive, Be Positive
Opportunities don’t happen, you create them. With this hat, focus on opportunities, the positives, the ideal scenario.
Yellow Sample Questions:
- How and why will this idea work?
- What are the benefits?
- How can we make this happen?
- How will this help our users?
- What do we like about this?
- What will our users like about this?
- How can this reach the maximum potential?
Red Hat: Lead With Emotions
Empathy is the heart of UX. Tap into that. What emotions would your user feel if they interacted with this product/idea? Feel their hypothetical emotional reactions and claim them as your own while wearing this hat.
Red Sample Questions:
- How am I reacting to this?
- How do my users feel about this?
- What is my intuition / gut telling me?
- Does this make me angry/ happy/ excited/ nervous/ annoyed?
- Why am I reacting to this?
Black Hat: Critically Think, Cautiously Compare
Be realistic. Point out the downfalls. Image the absolute worst case scenario. Pessimism is your friend in this hat.
Black Hat Questions:
- Is this real?
- Can I trust this?
- What are the weaknesses I see?
- Is there proof of errors?
- What are the risks?
- How will this negatively impact us?
- Why won’t this work?
Green Hat: Creativity is Contagious
Tap into your imagination. Dream up ideas to solve problems. Don’t settle for the first or second. Go for as long as you are feeling the creative powers.
Green Hat Questions:
- How can we work this out?
- What is possible?
- What is an alternative way to solve this?
- Can we combine these together?
- What is holding our team back?
- What is something that could be developed from this?
- How can we create value from this?
- What else can we do?
Blue Hat: Get Organized
This hat is best worn by the group facilitator. This hat is the first hat & the last hat. The instructional hat that explains the structure and rules of the 6 hats method and prepares the sequence the hats will take. Blue hat keeps the rest of the group on track and wraps up the session when appropriate.
Blue Hat Opening:
- Why are we here?
- What do we want to achieve through this?
- How long do we want to wear our hats?
Blue Hat Closing:
- What did we achieve?
- What decisions have we made?
- Where do we go from here?
Take Note
- You don’t need to wear all the hats. You can wear as many or as little as is beneficial to your session.
- The sequence of hats to follow is up to you, your group and often the facilitator makes the call.
Most importantly, have fun with your group. Creativity shines when you’re enjoying the times.
