A framework for better ideation using principles from improv theatre

Getting me to perform improvisational theatre is not something likely to happen. Still, this is my digress into said form of performance as a UXer.

Performing on stage scares me, and I mean literally frightens me senseless. As a consequence, the only time in my adult life I have ever performed on stage was during a fateful company kick. An experience which left me with a black-out lasting an entire afternoon.

Note to self, black outs are not good for either ideation nor creativity.

The one imprint my near stage experience left me, other than the lack of imprints for the rest of the day, was a set of principles for playing improvisational theatre. This framework enables different actors to perform together without scripts or predestined plans. A situation ironically enough not far away from the ideation workshops I usually hold with colleagues and clients.

This framework for improvisational theatre is quite simple, it merely states one prerequisite and six things we should keep in mind at all times when playing.

To begin with the prerequisite, for a shared story to work you need to set the expectations by providing a context for your play. A circle of expectations to borrow the term from Improv.

As players you should offer your ideas to the group, endow others to build further on your ideas, elaborate and extend the ideas others endow on you, accept and incorporate other’s ideas into your own, always avoid blocking ideas, and always respond with an affirmative “Yes, and”.

Principles: Circle of expectations, offer, endow, building, avoid blocking, and always respond with an affirmative “Yes, and”.

Sounds familiar? You will most likely see the same structure in every good ideation workshop, and the lack of all or any parts in every ideation workshop that fails to deliver on its promise.

Entering a stage felt like I was walking towards my own personal gallows, and it did leave me a changed person. Not in a profound way but still slightly changed, or unhinged depending on how you look at it. I have since made an extra effort to present the same framework of sharing, endowment, and affirmation in all the ideation workshops I run.

Try it next time you run an ideation workshop. Use the principles of improvisational theatre as a framework to facilitate for better ideation. You will not be disappointed.

Should you decide that I am not that unhinged, please read my other article on collaboration, ideation, and creative problem solving.

Christian Rick is a UX-evangelist and Project Manager on a mission to design for great user experiences while delivering real business value. When not writing he works at a digital agency in Uppsala, Sweden.

You can find him talking about storytelling, creativity, ideation, and collaboration on Medium and Twitter at @christianrick.

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