3 Phases of ideation

Diverge

Converge

Prioritise

ideation

three phases of

DIverge

ONE

Brainwriting _{JUST WRITE!}

This technique to push you to generate as many ideas as you can in a short amount of time. It focus on building ideas upon your teammates' and foster creativity through collaboration.

Mind Map _{BE NON-LINEAR}

A mind map is a tool used to capture and catalogue creativities and knowledge from the team. It works best when there is a clearly defined problem statement and topic expert(s) in the team.

Brainwriting

Work alone and write down ideas pertaining to your challenge. You will have 2 min to write down as many ideas as you can. Quantity is the key here.

STEP 1

STEP 2

Placing your post-its with ideas on your idea card/A3 paper.

STEP3

Pass your idea card to the next person, and repeat STEP 1 on your teammate's idea card and be inspired.

Mind Map

Draw lines out from the centre as you think of topics or important facts, stakeholders or tasks that relate to your challenge.

STEP 2

Dive deeper to uncover the next level of information and repeat STEP 2.

STEP 3

Connect, link and inter-link relevant topics and information. Mark down their relationships.

STEP 4

Write the challenge/problem statement you're exploring in the centre of a page

STEP 1

converge

two

Affinity Mapping _CLUSTER

Basically a fancy term for clustering. It can be overwhelming after the initial round of post-its explosion. Transform the post-its board into an affinity map by grouping ideas and remember to label the overarching theme of each cluster.

Insight Statements

Affinity Map

Prepare a large working surface. Wall, whiteboard, online whiteboard, flip chart. you name it.

STEP 1

Go through the post-its and group ideas together into categories. Discuss and regroup as needed.

STEP 2

Take note of patterns and connections. You should narrow down a few ideas and then label the overarching themes.

STEP 3

Creating Insight Statement

For each theme/cluster identified the affinity map/mind map. Rephrase the theme into a short statement.

STEP 1

Insight statement is more than observation and information. It is a well-informed statement that resonate with users and convey why your project/idea should exist. It should inspire actions or spark creativities.

GUIDE TO INSIGHT STATEMENT

Creating Insight Statement

Check all the statements against your challenge, project scope and goals. Discard the unrelated one and merge those that are similar. You should have no more than 5 statement at this stage.

STEP 2

Take another look on the statements and refine them further. Make sure they convey the sense of a new perspective or possibility. You should arrive at 2-3 insight statements that capture the core actions and impacts of your idea. It good to have some outsider perspectives on the statements.

STEP 3

PRIORITISE

three

2X2 Grid _{RANK THEM}

Critical Reading _{QUESTION THE BEST IDEA}

A set of tough questions to ask if the ideas are valid, insightful, actionable, meaningful, unique, focus and exciting. Be critical to get the best of the best.

WOW-NOW-HOW

IMPACT-EFFORT

WOW-NOW-HOW

Rank your ideas base on feasibility & originality

IMPACT-EFFORT

Rank your ideas base on impact & effort needed

Quick Wins
This is the sweet spot – the low effort, high reward area. Solutions to make a quick, substantial impact.
Marjor Projects

Critical Reading

Take note, evaluate and adjust.

STEP 2

Select one idea and the team need to answer the 4 keys questions:

STEP 1

1. What's the point? – What is your team's angle?

• What is your team's framework?
• Is it user-centered, Need-based, and Insight-driven?

2. Who says? – How valid is the idea?

• Is your position supported by findings from users?
• Is it a distillation of findings?
• Is this applicable outside of one colorful interview?

3. What's new? – What is the value-add?

• Have you articulated your findings in a new way?
• Are they placed in the context of a user?
• If your idea doesn’t feel new, try being more specific.

4. Who cares? – How is the idea significant?

• Your team should be excited at this point!
• Is this work worth doing? If not, ask yourself why?
• Reframe/rephrase until you get it right