Ideas can often grow exponentially — especially if the participants are encouraged to think quickly without fear of judgment. Rapid ideation uses the power of groups to create a volume of new ideas/solutions to evaluate shortly thereafter.
To get started, assemble a group of at least 3-4 people who may be directly, or even indirectly, involved in your project. Then, find a space that is conducive to your session (warning: these sessions can sometimes get loud — so be considerate of your neighbors) and get ready to write/sketch fast using a Post-it® Dry Erase Surface or Post-it® Big Pad sheet.
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Before inviting participants to generate ideas, take 10 minutes to discuss your audience. Who are they? What do they want? What do they need? Briefly role-play as a group to put yourself in their shoes and start addressing the realities of the situation.
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Next, spend 20 minutes discussing the scope of the project. What are the budget and time parameters your project is dealing with? How can these parameters potentially shift? Think of best- and worse-case scenarios to set the framework for your discussion.
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Now it’s go time! Use the next 40 minutes to brainstorm ideas/concepts that address your project’s needs. Have everyone in your group participate and encourage them to write/sketch their idea to help articulate their points.
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The final step to this process is testing. Spend 20 minutes examining the ideas and filter out the ones that don’t necessarily address your project. Then, act out the best ones from the viewpoint of your audience — how would your audience interact with your idea? What are its strengths and weaknesses? Sketch out a user-flow to refer to as necessary.
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Finally, record the session by taking photos/documenting your rapid ideation session. This will serve as a resource/framework to keeping your ideas focused and action-oriented.
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Find the products that bring this method to life at post-it.com/collaborate
