Part 1/2

The master ideation toolbox

10 tools to unleash creativity from anyone.

If we would compare a workshop session to an episode of ‘Murder, She Wrote’, the ideation phase would be equal to the recurring moment where Jessica Fletcher, the main character, feels suddenly inspired and somehow certain on who the killer is. The scene takes place in EVERY episode of the 264 composing the series, and for a Service Designer — with a bit of imagination — ideation can feel pretty much the same.

Recommended to watch btw (in between an ideation session and another) 🤓

Ideation in fact is a creative process’ milestone, a turning point, a vital asset of EVERY well-structured innovation project: as Service Designers, we take on this phase extremely often. However, unlike the TV series mentioned, the solution, in reality, doesn’t come overnight nor by a sudden, ‘magical’ intuition. On the contrary, ideation takes a specific process and tools that allow teams to get creative and collaboratively open to generate ideas.

Let’s quickly review the ideation essentials!

The 3 most typical ideation scenarios:

• Developing directions for new products or services;
• Exploring new revenue streams opportunities and business strategies;
• Finding solutions to intricate customer-centric challenges (i.e. Transform customers’ pain points into delights).

The 3 must-haves for a successful Ideation session:

• Co-creative - It’s essential to include a multifaceted group, best if with different skillsets & perspectives, to build on each other’s ideas;
• Time-boxed - Good rhythm and fast pace are extremely beneficial to create a pressure cooker effect and less room for self-censorship;
• Facilitated - A Facilitator ensures time management, human encouragement, and drive for the group, round after round.

And lastly, the 5 golden rules of ideation:

1. There are no bad ideas 🙅🏽
2. Quantity over quality ✏️
3. Document everything 👀
4. Use & enrich others’ input for stronger ideas 🤜🏾🤛
5. Keep an open mind and a non-judgemental attitude 😎

Though ideation is not responsibility and task for Service Designers only, to the contrary, it concerns literally anyone in the process of making an impact towards better solutions and seeking improved alternatives.

In this article, I collected the first 5 tools of a toolbox composed of 10 hand-picked and solid, mostly well-known ideation techniques that I have been applying in my practice. I aim to share my tips and tricks on how to adapt them to remote dynamics and get the most out of them online. I hope it’ll inspire anyone when planning and running remote ideation workshops in picking tools in line with your context as well as to encourage the testing of new formats. To guide you along the process, I’ll be sharing existing templates out there as well as showing my personal set-ups.

To gain broader, basic context around remote workshops facilitation, feel free to check my previous article. The following will be zooming into the ideation theme.

Ready, set, go!

1) S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

📝 How it works

Step 1) Given a challenge to tackle, each participant can pick one action out of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. list below as a trigger to utilise toward shaping a variation of an existing idea (Note: Using others’ ideas from previous rounds as a starting point is a crucial part of this exercise):

· Substitute: What can I substitute to make an improvement?

· Combine: What ideas, features, processes, or components can I combine?

· Adapt: What processes, features, or components should I adapt?

· Modify: What can I make larger or make smaller?

· Put to another use: What else can it be used for? Who else could use it?

· Eliminate: What would happen if I removed a feature or part of it?

· Reverse/Rearrange: How can we rearrange the current status for an improved solution? What would happen by reversing the process?

Step 2) The facilitator gives 6 minutes for each participant to pick one S.C.A.M.P.E.R. action and sketch the resulting idea.

Step 3) While pitching back the ideas to the team, each participant should also clarify which S.C.A.M.P.E.R. ‘action’ was used to ideate.

💡 Tip

Based on the time available, consider also letting participants come up with ideas for some or all the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. actions of the list, to push them even further. A template listing all the actions with input fields might be a handy way to speed up time and have consistent results from everyone participating.

🚨 Red flag

The degree of interpretation and overlap among some of the actions can at times create confusion (i.e. the action ‘Modify’ might generate ideas not too far from the ones falling into the ‘Adapt’ action cluster). Remember that the purpose of the exercise is to instill a different way of thinking, to look at new combinations able to make ideas stronger and more interesting to pursue: the language is just a prompt, don’t worry about it too much.

🎯 When to use it

• This technique is particularly useful and maximising its potential after a couple of ideation rounds. That way, it allows to best leverage a range of available input, and push ideas to the next level. It’s perfect to enhance individual creativity by building on top of each other’s contributions.
• Every participant can decide which ‘action’ out of the list is found most inspiring to apply, so it’s a good one to pick when willing to leave a degree of personalisation and flexibility to participants within the same exercise.

💻 Online adaptation

I usually ask participants to conduct the exercise in an analogue way, so exactly as described above, by using paper and a sharpie. The main difference is that they’ll need to upload their sketch(es) on an allocated spot in the Whiteboard. Include a post-it or tag where each participant can clarify the type of action they decided to focus on while developing their idea. Feel free to take inspiration from the Mural set up I use below for your custom layout or check this template available in Miro.

Online ideation set-up for the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. technique in Mural.

Participants are asked to: Upload the sketch, write the selected action, add a short title & idea description.

2) Crazy 8's

📝 How it works

Step 1) This extremely well-known technique brought to the spotlight with the Design Sprint methodology, sees as the very first step the demarcation within your A4 paper of 8 sketching areas. (You can do that either by folding the paper 3 times or just by drawing lines enabling the desired composition.)

Step 2) Then set a timer for 8 minutes. The point of this exercise is for each participant — individually — to draw one idea per square, so one idea per minute in order to fill in the whole canvas.

Step 3) The facilitator will notify the team whenever each minute is up and it is time to move on to the next sketching area: no matter how far you’ve gone in your previous square, make sure to follow the rules and move to the next square for optimal results, else you’ll lose the flow.

For a more visual step by step guide, check AJ&Smart’s video here.

💡 Tips

• I always use it in combination with a second exercise that enables the group to consolidate the top interesting elements generated via the Crazy 8’s round, into a more solid concept.
• In case of time being really short, even Crazy 4’s or Crazy 6’s can be utilised. Though the format will be weaker in pushing creativity due to the more limited number of iterations.

🚨 Red flags

• Not very polished and well-rounded ideas as a result: fragments and pieces that can feel a bit disconnected and either too high level or too specific.
• Missing a storyline. That’s why I don’t usually ask participants to share the outcome, but rather keep it for themselves, to feed their creativity and serve as a base to the next rounds.
• In case of a very broad challenge, it might feel less effective. The clearer the target for the exercise and the better the results, in my view.

🎯 When to use it

• The 2 main scenarios: a) Iterate upon one specific idea 8 times; or b) Come up with a series of different ideas to the same challenge. Both approaches can bring good results, but if leveraging the technique to meet the second scenario, pay greater attention to the red flags above.
• As a fast-paced and dynamic ideation warm-up, serving as the opening to multiple ideation rounds.
• Generate UI variations and diverge on initial draft directions.

💻 Online adaptation

Even if participants won’t necessarily be prompted to pitch their Crazy 8’s back, ask them to upload and place their analogue sketch into the Whiteboard in use: you’ll surely enhance greater commitment in doing a better job. Below is my Mural set up for this technique as a reference or feel free to check out and use this template available in Miro.

Online set-up for the Crazy 8’s technique in Mural, used as a warm-up.

Participants are asked to: Upload the sketch, write the research insight they decided to focus on and pick 2 out of the 8 ideas to further refine in a following consolidation sketch.

3) Mash-up

📝 How it works

Step 1) I applied the Mash-Up technique — firstly originated by IDEO — by starting from a mapping exercise on post-its around the context we were looking at. The mapping exercise invites the team to brainstorm around 2–3 topics (i.e. technology; user needs; existing services) to serve as an inspiration and as actionable input for the following Mash-Up step.

Step 2) Each participant is asked to pick one post-it per category and place them next to their ideation canvas to serve as an idea generation fuel.

Step 3) In 6 minutes, participants are expected to individually come up with a solution that embodies the 3 elements picked up from the mapping.

💡 Tip

Repeat the same process twice for ideal results. Ask participants to pick different input combinations as prompts for the Mash-up. The powerful creative boost enabled by the technique will unleash even more then.

🚨 Red flag

Make sure to have a straight sequential flow in the agenda between the mapping exercise and the Mash-up. I happened to do an additional Crazy 8’s warm-up in between the mapping and the Mash-up, and by the time of the Mash-up step, the momentum gained in the mapping was kind of lost.

🎯 When to use it

• The exercise creates a nice bridge between the exploration of the problem space — which is enabled by the mapping — to the actual generation and sketching of ideas.
• To leverage existing research in an interactive way. The 2–3 themes part of the mapping enable a triangulation of inputs that enrich the creative process towards unusual, creative combinations.

💻 Online adaptation

Below is the Mural set up I used for this tool as a reference.

The Mash-up’s mapping in Mural, from one session my colleague Marjorie and I facilitated together.

The set-up for the Mash-up technique in action: 3 selected insights from the mapping on a side + the final sketch/concept resulting from them.

4) Round Robin

📝 How it works

Step 1) Participants start by filling in a How Might We Question, as the first task of the template. Everyone can either go ahead by using the same HMW Question or that can vary per participant in case multiple challenges should be tackled at the same time (speedy session).

Step 2) Then, still keeping the same arrangement, each participant sketches out a solution for it and passes the paper on to the participant on her/his left.

Step 3) The receiver is expected to review the idea and write down one or multiple reasons why the sketched solution would fail. The paper gets passed on to the left once more.

Step 4) Ultimately, in this round participants are asked to come up with solutions to prevent the failures addressed, and make the idea stronger. The same participants iterating on the solution with improvements will be the ones to pitch the idea to the rest of the team.

💡 Tip

Support visual sketches with keywords and text so that when passing on the ideas to the next participants, they can more easily and quickly act upon them.

🚨 Red flag

Use clear handwriting for a smooth flow and optimal results. Make it clear to participants to make an effort in this sense, otherwise many questions will come up and that will interrupt the sequence of steps, which is not ideal.

🎯 When to use it

• Collaborative divergent thinking in action: the tool leverages each other’s input in a highly iterative and fast-paced process, enhancing the group synergy within ideation.
• This exercise is also useful to gather feedback and refine exiting ideas. The first two steps such as How Might We Question and idea description/sketch will be — in that case — already filled in. By involving people outside of your team into completing the other following steps, you can collect precious input to address potential failures and uncover opportunities.

💻 Online adaptation

When replicating this exercise online on a Whiteboard, participants get allocated, specific spots to start from (numbered or with a unique colour/letter). Whenever it’s time to switch, instead of passing the physical paper along, participants will move their focus to the next spot to their RIGHT (i.e. If I started at spot ‘a’, I will move to spot ‘b’ and then spot ‘c’). Clear, visual instructions on the online template as well as the voiceover guidance from the facilitator, will remove participants from any doubt on how to proceed, step by step. Below is my custom Mural set up for this technique as a reference or feel free to check out and use this template available in Mural (in collaboration with LUMA INSTITUTE).

Round Robin template in Mural, in case of a common HMW question for the group to tackle.

Visual guidance and written instructions on the online template ease participants along the process. As a first step, participants are asked to sketch an idea on paper and upload the picture to the allocated spot (1).

Round Robin template in case of multiple HMW questions to tackle. Each participant gets the chance to add an HMW question before moving to the next steps.

5) Random word/image

📝 How it works

I tested this technique internally as an explorative way to diverge a bit from the standard approach we were using. It revealed to be effective and fun, to the point that I kept using it on multiple other occasions.

Example of physical Randow Word cards. Same can be done for Random Image. In case of a remote workshop, you could also think to send the cards to participants via post, as part of a wider Workshop Kit enhancing the exprience.

Step 1.a) After handing over one A4 and one sharpie per participant — in case of Random Word — let each participant pick one random card hiding a random word beneath, or if you’d prefer the digital way, open a random word generator and assign one random word to each person, one by one. It’s a fun group ritual before jumping into ideation mode!

Step 1.b) In case of Random Image, the only difference is that each card should uncover a random image instead, or if you’ve got plenty of visual material laying around, just cut out images to recycle what’s already available. The objective here is to leverage the external trigger (word or image) as a constraint and inspiration to generate a solution to the challenge in question.

Step 2) After 6 minutes of individual sketching, follow with a round of short pitches for each idea generated.

💡 Tips

• Allow one ‘skip’ possibility while assigning random words. Participants shouldn’t give up too easily but at least be familiar with the term that came out. Remember that you want to enhance creativity, not sabotage it!
• If you are up for making custom cards for this exercise — which is a fun side design activity — look into ways to make the final cards reusable to maxime efforts. I happened to go for the cheap way in the past and the result ended up being one-off only due to the poor durability. Go for thick paper, laminated effect or plastify the cards if you can. It’ll be surely a bit more expensive but it’ll then become a long term resource for you and the team.

🚨 Red flag

In the case of framed challenges with rigid brand constraints, this technique might not be the best pick. Results could easily feel off-track and not very in line with the purpose. It would still be a good idea though to use it as a warm-up round on a different topic, to break the ice.

🎯 When to use it

• Push creativity beyond known and existing references.
• Shy participants: The fact that you are basically asked to solve a mini-game (come up with an idea that relates to THAT image or text) triggers your brain and decreases overthinking as well as the fear of others’ judgment.

💻 Online adaptation

Below is my Random Image Mural set up for this technique as a reference.

Mural set-up for the Random Image exercise. Based on the challenge at hand, you can select the most relevant images to include in the collection for participants to pick from.

After picking one image from the given collection, participants are asked to map out potential ways in which that image could inspire a solution. This micro step will ease participants in the following sketching phase.

Here below is my Random Word online set-up in Mural, or feel free to check out and use this ‘Random Word Brainstorming’ template available in Miro.

Mural set-up for the Random Word exercise. Based on the challenge at hand, you can select the most relevant words to include in the collection for participants to pick from.

Or else assign one word per participant — exactly as you could do face to face — via a random word generator like this one here

Feeling confident about setting up and run an ideation session is a great asset for any role somehow involved in shaping and driving innovation, at a big and small scale. Picking the right tools and methods, at the right time, as well as being able to pull out an effective and context-relevant online set-up for those, will make your life extremely easier and the results more valuable. Hope the first part of my reviewed collection above will ease you along this path!

Stay tuned for the next 5 tools, tips and virtual set-ups, in part 2!

And you, what is your favourite ideation tool when running a remote ideation session? Any advice or additional tips to share? Would love to hear in the comments below!

Thanks for reading! 💛 If you have feedback to share, feel free to say hello 👋🏽

The UX Collective donates US$1 for each article published in our platform. This story contributed to UX Para Minas Pretas (UX For Black Women), a Brazilian organization focused on promoting equity of Black women in the tech industry through initiatives of action, empowerment, and knowledge sharing. Silence against systemic racism is not an option. Build the design community you believe in.