When designing a product or software it’s important that you have ideation sessions. These are sessions where anyone involved in the product gets together and starts brainstorming solution ideas. There are many different ways to do this. I personally really enjoy using sticky notes, white boarding, and creating wireframes.
These techniques help the free flowing of idea and to discuss and see which ideas are the most viable. After the ideation session there are several different methods of grouping and reviewing the idea.
Here in this post I’m showing some of the methods I prefer when conducting an ideation session.
Sticky Notes
Everyone writes the ideas they have on sticky notes and then we group like ideas, throw out the non starters, and begin to isolate which ideas are best.
Whiteboarding
Whiteboarding, writing all your ideas on a whiteboard can also be every effective but it also has it drawbacks. With whiteboarding everyone says their ideas as someone writes them on the whiteboard. This can a very dynamic and engaging process but sometimes people who are shy may feel left out because they are less likely so speak up.
Wireframing
Wireframing is another ideation method. You can state the problem and have various people on the team wireframe the the solution they have in mind and then review and compare them. You can also as the designer, create wireframes then present them to the team and get feedback before a lot of design work is completed.
There are actually many methods to ideation, the key to find the one you think works best for you and your team. It’s also fun to experiment with a variety fo them in different sessions, it also make it fun for your team.