Idea Generation Part II
How might we statements
- How might we more effectively heat water?
- How might we create a heating system that is sustainable?
Brainstorming session set up
The brainstorming session took place on November 1st in Ramsey Minnesota at 12:30 pm in the basement of my house. The session lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes. The time was divided up with a 10 minute introduction, 30 minutes of idea generation, 20 minutes of idea categorization and selection, and 15 minutes of improve game play prior to the idea generation segment.
To complete the brainstorm session the materials used included construction paper with corresponding colors for each person, double-sided scotch tape for application to the idea board, permanent markers, candy (for dopamine enhancement) which included Jolly ranchers, Oreos, and dark chocolate with almonds.
The games played to encourage the contributors to be more open minded and to feel more relaxed included, Zip Zap Zop, Word Spine, and the original game created for this activity called Mime-Spine.


Brainstorming contributor overviews:
Marguerite (a.k.a Maggie)

Maggie is 20 year old student who is a Junior at the University of Minnesota. She is a student in the College of Liberal Arts and is very interested in promoting compassionate action, sustainability, and environmental preservation.
Paul

Paul is 20 years old and from Anoka Minnesota. He works for Sprint as a salesman and enjoys spending time with his friends skateboarding or being outdoors. His expertise are in human connection and understanding consumer demands. His job has exposed him to several technological products.
Lexi

Lexi is a student at the University of Minnesota studying through the College of Education and Human development. She has a background in business, marketing, and chemistry. Her interest in chemistry influences many aspects of her day to day living.
Mathew

Mathew is a 22 year old from Andover Minnesota. He is an appliance installer who has several years of experience with mechanical components and technologies. He has a developed understanding of how appliances function and perform. His experience and knowledge can be applied to many different functions of an Electric kettle.
Overall, the brainstorming session was a success with all of the contributors expressing their positive views on it. Most of their highlights were from the improvisation activities as well as the candies enjoyed throughout the process. The experience during the brainstorming session has allowed me to see how group productivity can be affected by positivity as well as welcoming environmental conditions.
Original warm-up activity
Mime-Spine
The original warm-up activity that I developed in order to increase idea generation potential, creativity, and open-mindedness is called mime-spine. The game was developed by combining the art of miming with the improv game of word spine to generate a silent story that individuals create as a group. Through this activity Each individual performed an action that contributed to the overall story and each action builds upon the last. The rotation of turns followed a clock-wise pattern and every person had to be passed at least 3 times to complete one story. This activity can be completed as many times as the group would like.




Key elements of the session
Major Categories
Idea organization before sorting:
The idea categorization prior to sorting was random and non specific to any pattern.

Idea organization after sorting and before voting:





Idea organization after voting:


10 best ideas- The 10 best ideas included all of the ideas from the 3+ Stickers category as well as two ideas from the 1–2 Stickers category. To decide which ideas were the best from the brainstorming activity, we selected the most popular (based on sticker count) and then analyzed feasibility and possible consumer appeal. The ideas which are depicted above in pictures include:
- Hand-Heater
- Hot plate
- Solar powered cup
- Arc generator
- Massive kettle
- Hot cup
- Campfire
- Induction kettle
- Hot cold machine
- Self-cleaner
Total number of ideas- The total number of ideas was 71 at the end of the brainstorming session.
Ideas Per Minute Per Person (IPM)- According to the ideas per minute equation, at 30 minutes my group should have been able to generate at least 120 ideas [30(min) x 4 (people)=120 Ideas]. The average number of ideas per minute with the value of 120 is 4 ideas per minute [120(ideas)/30 (minutes)=4 ideas per minute]. For my group the ideas per minute averages to 2.36 which was calculated as follows: 71(ideas)/30(minutes)=2.36 ideas per minute. Unfortunately, my group fell short by approximately half but did exceed the minimum requirement [quantity>1.0 ipm]. After the brainstorming session ended I considered the results and thought that the under-performance could have been attributed to the group members’ individualized interests and backgrounds not being related to product design and idea generation specifically.
Voting criteria- The voting criteria for all categories was group consensus. When sorting the different ideas, the group began by silently organizing the ideas and then once a general outline was visible they discussed their thoughts and fine tuned the categories. Once the ideas had been categorized, they were voted on by personal preferences and majority rule. Each group member (including me for voting) was given 10 stickers for a total of 50.
Main take away- One pattern that I noticed through conducting this activity was the connection between the different contributor backgrounds and the types of ideas they generated. It was realized that many of the ideas generated by each group member highly related back to their own interests and backgrounds. Lexi for example has a significant scientific background and the science-based category was mostly composed of her ideas (represented in pink). The Natural Processes category was significantly dominated by the ideas generated by Maggie and Paul (yellow and orange respectively) both of whom enjoy the outdoors and also care about environmental protection. This pattern realization has caused me to understand why it is so important to include people with diverse backgrounds. From this activity it appeared that people will generally tend to generate the most ideas that connect to their own personal interests and experiences. If every person in the group has the same backgrounds and interests, the final results for ideas will be substantially limited.
Top 10 Ideas
- Thermo-Kettle
- Color changing kettle (temperature dependent)


3. Kettle tunes. (Kettle music player when brew is complete)
4. Kool-kettle (heats or cools liquids)


5. Digi-Kettle
6. Hot water dispensed from refrigerator


7. Kettle purifier
8. Retractable compact kettle


9. Gravity pot
10. Hand-held heater (The Handy Heater)


